Evening star., 1931-12-06


radio world this week. Most
spectacular in radio history
is the 30th anniversary Saturday
of the sending of the first wire
less signal across the Atlantic
December IL, 1901. 1t was almost
exactly four years later, Deem
Der 10, 1905, that probably the
first use of radio to rescue YES
sci in distress was recorded.
Today the use of radio as a
means of protecting those who
go down to the sea in ships and
those who navigate the aerial
highways, and it's we'll established
international autobiography
and radio o-telephony services, has
priority over almost any other Of
the manifold uses of radio. Even
/ broadcaSting, an unforeseen out
growth of those early efforts, is a
secondary service to the safety
of-life aspect of radio.
Thirty years ago the 27-year-
old Guglielmo Marconi demon
Strated to a doubling world that
signals could be flashed across
the seas without wires. On Sig
nal Hill, near st. Johns, New
foundland, he rigged up his crude
but effective receiving station and
flew an antenna by means of a
kite. At Poldhu, on the south
west shore of England, his assist
ants were manning spark trans
mitter from which at given mo-
ment they were to tap out the
letter "S"-its three dots chosen
because they were the simplest
in the code to send.
Marconi cabled to his assist
ants when he would be ready.
Shortly after noon, through the
earphones, he elatedly heard the
three dots clicking out the letter
IS" They were repeated again
and again, and his assistants
heard them, too. The test was
successful the next day also. The
world was convinced, even though
the late Thomas A. Edison, when
informed by newspaper reporters,
drily declared: Il don't believe it. "
Fame and riches soon came to
the young Italian inventor, and
it was not long before American
and British military and naval
officials, who had watched with
interest Marconi'S transmiSSlonS
of full messages from the decks
of vessels off the Irish and Amer
lean coasts in 1899, were adopt
| ing radio as standard equipment
| for their needs. One of the
! earlier successes achieved by
Marconi was the covering of the
Americas Cup races for New
York newspaper from a vessel
| following the contestants in Sep
tember, 1899.
From the United States Light
| house Service we learn that radio
was used December 10, 1905, to
rescue the crew of the Nantucket
lightship, which had sprung a
leak during a severe gale. After
all other means had failed. Will
liam E: Snyder, Navy electrician
assigned to the vessel on orders
from Chief Electrician Burbank,
kept spelling out the world help
in both international and Morse
codes. At that time the now well
known distress signal IS 0 S" had
not yet been adopted.
| Mr.. Snyder says he received no
replies from any ship, but the
naval radio station at Newport
heard the call and answered. The
lighthouse inspector on shore was
informed and the tender AZalea
left New Bedford at once for the
rescue. 1t reached the scene on
time, took the lightShip in tow
and started back for New Bedford
The vessel leaked steadily and
finally the pumps were useless
After five or six hours the light
ship had to be abandoned. It's
crew of 13 were taken aboard the
AZalea just 10 minutes before the
lightShip foundered and sank.
More spectacular, perhaps, was
the rescue January %, 1909, of the
steamship Republic in the COLI
sion with the steamship Florida
This has generally been called the
first demonstration of radio as q
safety measure at sea. It is a
fact that Jack Binns (now with
the Hazeltine Coz, the operator
aboard the Republic. tapped out
the S o S message that made il
possible to rescue the passengers
| and crew of the vessel. But the
J Lighthouse Service episode ante
| dates this one by more than three
wears. Radio again played a spec
tscular role, of course. on Apri
IA, 1912, when the S. S. Titanic
/ struck an iceberg in the Atlantic
and sank.
|
t0NE by one the instruments o.
~ the Svrnphony orchestrae orr