Evening star., 1925-11-29

| |HROCGH it's chain of 40 high
powered and 95 intermediate
| shore radio stations, the Navy
| i is always in direct touch with
| the whole world and, of course,
! it's war craft at home and abroad.
| This radio station investment cost the
Government approximately S23 100000,
| but in view of its constant official use
| and in emergencies, commercial and
| humanitarian service, it is regarded as
worth far more.
| Governmental dispatches, most of
them secret; naval orders and, in many
| instances, important messages per
| tanning to aid. relief and the safety of
| life are flashed instantly to any point.
Sometimes the Naval Radio Service
distributes news items of Importance
| frequently beating the press services.
| One of the first examples of what
| the radio facilities of the Navy could
| do was demonstrated prior to the
| transatlantic flight of the NC planes
| in 1919. Just previous to the main
| flight, when the three planes were fly
| ing up the coast from Nantucket to
| Newfoundland, several newspaper cor
respondents were gathered In the radio
| room in the Navy Building, waiting
| for news of the first lap of the long
| trip. Nothing had come in from
| Comdr. A. G. Reed, time was hanging
| heavy and the conversation swung to
| more speedy subjects.
| One of the big press association re-
porters mentioned that his association
!, could flash news to every part of the
| country within minutes by wire. In
the spirit of jest a naval officer replied
! that the Naval Radio Service could
| flash news to half the world in that
! time by radio. One of the correspond
ents, upon hearing this statement, left
the room, seemingly with some OBJ
scure but malign intent. SO the Off
| Ger Immediately established commune
cation with Comdr. Reed and various
| stations of the network, as well as
with a few men-of-war in various parts
of the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of
! Mexico. The correspondent soon re-
| turned with a message from the AS
sistant Secretary of the Navy to
Comdr Reed asking him how he was
and sending best wishes.
This message was Immediately dis
patched to Reed and at the same time
! quoted to various stations in the naval
radio system. Reed replied in about
| minutes, as follows:
Thanks for your good wishes. NC-4
is 20 miles southwest of Sable Island
making S5 miles per hour"
This reply was also dispatched by
radio to the stations of the network.
! Acknowledgment were quickly re-
ceived from Paris, London, Rome, Nor
! way, Panama Canal San Francisco
and vessels on the Atlantic. The mes
sage was also intercepted by Il United
States naval vessel in Turkish waters.
A few seconds later the message had
been received in Honolulu, Guam and
the Philippines. The entire operation
from the time the Assistant Secre.
tary's message started on it's way until
the delivery of Reeds reply to the
various parts of the world, took only
minutes and % seconds.
| Distance meant nothing. In that
little room could be- pictured, within a
few seconds. the planes in the air
vessels on the sea and under the sea
the SHOWS of the north and the palms
of the South Sea Islands.
X X
THE Navy was on the job in radio
early watching every move. In
1902 the New York Herald arranged
with Mr.. Marconi for the installation