ETHEGRAPHS AT SEA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 420, 1 February 1909, Page 6

ETHEGRAPHS AT SEA.

The lesson of the■ recent' collision, between the White Star,liner Eepublic and the emigrant ■". steamer '■ Florida,,. when ethergrarns transmitted from the -liner brought.numerous vessels to, her aid,-has not been lost oh the United States. .According to'a cable inessago , which we; publish to : day, a Bill has.been ': introduced •into, Congress "for the.'' compulsory instal-. lation of ethergraphs on all ocean-going vessels. American and European waters, where installations, of wireless holography are: eo frequent that? waves Btttt out would almost certainly. be inter-; 'cepted, the ■ precaution ■ seenis. no moro, than natural, and it'is possible that, by its means offian travel in the Old World will soon have lost ■' its- last remaining dangers, as it has already lost its elements of isolation and monotony. The range'of the "wifeless" message dispatched,from f a ship's mast is ordinarily 300 miles, and any Marconi instrument which is within that radius is influenced by and records the communication. 1 This range, however, docs not so much as suggest, the possibilities of the system.. The special apparatus installed on H.M. cruiser Indomitable, which parried the Prince .of Wales to 'Canada last year, flashed messages, continuously across a distance of 1600 miles, and Me. Marconi, is .confidant of soon eclipsing even this record. The value of the installations for general purposes Has been much increased by 'an international' agreomont, ' which came into force last July, providing for compulsory intercommunication between the difforont systems of -wireless telegraphy. The nations bound by this agreement, including Great Britain and. practically all hor colonies, are pledged to refuse to license, on board a ship or at shore stations, tho apparatus of any system/which declines to'accept the principle of intercommunication with other systems. Thocasoof the Eopublic is not tho only instanco in which wireless telegraphy has been of sorvico to a vessel in distress.' ;An English journal recently stated that "in innumerable instances tho efficiency of the Marconi system for. summoning assistance to distressed ships has been proved.; It is not.too much to say that the loss of thousands of pounds, not to mention incalculable hardship, and misery, Has been averted through its instrumentality." New. Zeal&nders can recall moro than one mishap in Australasian waters, in connection with which deep and prolonged anxiety would havo been prevented, if steamers had bech provided with wireless telegraphic equipment. The value of such equipment in. these seas, however, would not be commensurate with its value in , northern waters, owing to the abnonco o£ land stations for the recoptjtioo of ."wireleee"- messages. ■ Thia ia a

drawback , which may bo remedied before very long, for tho Commonwealth Government is, inviting tenders for wireless installations between Sydney, ■ Capo Yorker Port Moresby (New. Guinea), and possibly Torres Strait, and these, pro* posals form only one portion.Of a much wider scheme. Tho New Zealand: and Australian Governments are ako\ considering an offer t6 link,up, by -wireless telegraphic stations, Australia, , New. Zcsk land, ' t Suva, Fiji, .Pagb-Pago,. Samoa, Fanning Island, Honolulu, and San Francisco. . If. this project should materialise—and in that case it is capable of large expansion—the compulsory '.'.installation ; of ethergraphs on New Zealand's ocean-going, steamers would probably bo demanded, if the shipping authorities did not moot the position of their oWd accord. ■' ' ;■.'■ -.-..' ; .■}'.•; '■-. -, .;■.■■.■' , ■'•.'.■'