"BY WIRELESS."

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 639, 16 October 1909, Page 6

"BY WIRELESS."

LINKING .Up: SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. ; ' -IMPORTANT SCHEME. : ■'■ The ,advance.'. of wireless telegraphy is-on every side/ manifest. '• Mr. Marconi, already founder.' of a' trans-Atlantio service,-now .purposes an Empire-girdling scheme. . At sen, wireloss telegraphy, is a means, of supplying important news to vessels in transit, and re■ceivihg.same from them. In several instances it has resulted in the saving o£ a great number of lives, the'-vessels wrecked having been fortunate; in the. possession: of apparatus by which they were able to project electric wavewords telling of their extremity. ■ A great forward'step was taken quite recently by the British Government, when the Postmaster-General ,(Mr;':Sydriey. Buxton), an-, numiced that:. the-..post office', has, purchased all the•ilaroorii.-coastal."wireless" 'stations,.ex ; cept the. two. (at Poldhu, Cornwall, and .Clif'den, Ireland), which are used for communication' with;; America. ■■••' -'.. ; '■'■;• .";'

',' 'Sir Josoph '.'Ward; on his'return'from. England,' .said :-:"I:, feel cojifiden't .thatj-.wC'.aje ap r pro'aohing wonderful 'developments. ter-:of.:.wirelessS'commiinioation.i-• In. fact, I knowrr-but,-probably,that..is cpnfidential.iii'At ,:' f The .'.Times''"' scheinp'r 'of■..'stations placed 'in' such-pssitioh-as :to make .world 'Com-: muhication 'pcisiblev'is'.quite'practical;", and. Could be established."';''.' ''•'.',''',,':'■ r.'.•:'"'.',':''."■• : ■ : Apother significant-bit..bf.'.newsfcamo! over.: the■, cable : f rom> Melbourne ': a . few. days : ago, - :when it'was 'Stated I 'that the l .Commonwealth: Government was considering a scheme for'linking.up .Australia.and New Zealand with' the; British-owned South Sea" Islands.:'•: 'We'?, are : ehablo,;to : day. to"publish" a;'complete diagram: of -the -, -isoheme"-in-' : the'..present; issue,.'whicb systemihas:been;br6ught under the. notice of■: 'the^'.-Commonwealth''authorities by.'.the.Pacific' ■'Radiotelegraph';'Company,,"Ltd;.'/.-' Circle:,on ■circle',', as" will-be. seen,': .the' 'several "systems; .jWiIV.-radiate.from the' niost'important.British' pbsses3ions' i iri:-this piirt'of'the'worldi'eaoh' arc intersecting, the'next.''The spread 'Of; trade across those wide 'still mire' 'thegrowth of trade which ",,'i'sj .anticipated when communication becomes ' real and immediate, instead 'of slow: and" induced: this. gTeat project. '■'~'..■- .':;•• ,*' '•■' ; •■■ Cirole by. circle,', the system may be expected; .'to develop' until, north: of "the, equator,, the! Carolines, .Marshall, : .and Gilbert",isla'nds,; are, also in touch .with -the'whole,, of.; the.'south;': and at Port :Moresby, at some easten point in Australia,' and ati'tne extreme north- of' New; Zealand, the : stations of .the Commonwealth ■and the Dominion can speak:to every/distant. island where th,e 6hips are loading..phosphate',' .copra, or beohe-de-me'r; . The ' Pacinc., jcable; ■runs right through -the.rings : : through; which' .the invisible'' Waves .'.will be'.carrying, their, messages;' and,' -whenever' necessary/ the', sysr 'tem could., be linked': with ; it.;; at;; immediate' notice. ■■:• •"''.:.;.:".■'''' Provided-sufficient support is forthcoming, it it' is proposed .'in the first' instance', to establish and maintain radio communication between Fiji, ■and'.the'following ■'■■'■._',' '-;. ' '>■.'! (1) Samar'ai or. Port Moresby, Papua. , . ''-, (2). The., New, Hebrides. -' ~:.• ,', ■-~.• ,■"" (3i The .Solomon' Islands. .■' .'■.-■ (i) Ocean Island.., ~'.:.. '.'J: .'. .V ■'-."'•' \y. (5) T0nga..,..;.- , : . V :;;., ■ :'.. (G)'Earotonga. ~ '.;.. : .' - ,'■ ■•':". :, ' , ....(7) Tahiti.". ' •■";;. .-.'.■ . .''.'."'; •-, (8) Pleasant, Island.;,:,' . \. : ,;. ..... (9) Samoa. ;. , ~'

A local, service-is: also .proposed 1 -for the Society. and Marquesas'lslpnds. 'The'capital outlay,re-. quired to"-.'.establish radio • communication. ivith ! the above 'islands is.;■'estimated, at - between • '^do.OOO ; • and '-£7/0,000,. whilst, the, annual, cost Of'upkeep: will "amount to. over. , The' 1 Co6t of .operating, a wireless.station, varies with' its communicating power.and the ■number, of; messages transmitted; £i'n day is.foundL to-be about the Cost, of .working asmall installation.: Stations capable-of working 1000 miles, and over require > very, special apparatus land,, skill; ui.' 'operating to, ensure? success: ..Thoy;, .cost from '.£lO upwards : per -mile, - -according .to, ■their, position and the.local : conditions under which: they are operated..;. ■ •.;,,'■:' . •"'V.'.' Even the tourist who nowadays goes on the romantic.'South; Sea" trip,, following a recognised- and stereotyped route,'wanders out of •touch:with', his.fnonds .in ;Austral ia - '..'•Tbe trader, who'roams, further 'afield, vanishes from ken' altogeher for weeks or months at a time.'Tho'cruisors.which police the islands —whether.'British,;Gorman, or. French—plunge for a while 'into, the unknown. The recent disappearance of' the Imperial Gorman jovornment yacht "Seestern" is an example.of the obscurity with which Pacific waters are veiled. It is-trade,'however,--which ■ suffers .most fromthe Pacific silence,. A-land well-known.is a land busily'developed; when the market can speak readily with a settlement, even in the midst of the ocean, it will readily buy and leadily sell: .-It-is claimed that a vessel, trading in the.South': Seas, if the wireless'circles were •really-spread'over :them as in the,chart here printed, could be in constant' touch with: owners or agents; the keen business man behind her enterprise, ; on,almost:,the ,very day when: she collected " her cargo,, could know whether to eell or to hold for-greater advantage.

MARCONPS EMPIRE-GIRDLING, SCHEME. Tho following sections are included in Mr Marconi's Empire-girdling scheme (illustrated in the accompanying diagram) —

igland-Malta;!l600 miles; Malta-Cairo, 1050;

Cairo-Aden, 1300; Adon-Bombay, 1650; BombayColombo, 600;.. Colombo-Singapore,' 1550;- Singa-pore-Perth,'2loo; Perth-Adelaide, 1200; Adelaide • Sydney,-700; SydneyWollington (New Zealand), 1200; total,, 12,950 miles. "Branching from this chain- at Singapore," explains Mr. Marconi; "would be the link to China—a ICOO-mile service' between Singapore and Hong-Kong." To Africa, Mr. Marconi has tentatively mapped out two east, ono west. Thcso may be outlined .thus:— East Eoute.—Aden (from Australian" "chain") to Mombasa, 1180 miles; Mombasa-Durban, 1900; Du'rban r Cape'Town, 700; total, 3780 miles. ■ West: Eoute.—England to Tlathurst, 3060; Bathnrst-Sierra. Leone, 100; Siorra Leone-St. Helena, 1500; St. Helena-Cape Town, 1700;' total, 6660 miles. "An alternativo route to India and Australia connecting these■ countries with. West could be affected by. erecting . a station at Mauritius—22oo miles from Cape - Town—and 'one, at Nelson Island, 1450 miles from .Mauritius and 1000 miles from Colombo." Air. .Marconi adds that the'wiroless communication .with .the western ■ hemisphere is already made by the stations .at Clifden (Ireland) and Glace

: Bay (Cape Breton), This is a•' distance of 25U0 :miles. -'■'.-;.'.■•'■■■ ;;.'... ' ■:■:■'- ■ ■■"' :•'-■■ ■';■■ , ''"Also in my Imperial chain,'.' he added; "is .'a:.station'-.'at: Montreal .to ' cbmunicate .'Mith 'Jamaica,',l9oo..miles -away, and also with' Guiana; 1300 miles from Jamaica.: And. -''the.'.Britfsn' Guiana-station; would; also"offer a direct, link with Bathurst (Western .Africa),' 27d0' miles "away," '■;■■'■.„ ■'"'"•.