Dramatic Moments. THE BIRTH OF WIRELESS

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 108, 31 January 1935, Page 7

Dramatic Moments. THE BIRTH OF WIRELESS

There is a little hut on the Newfoundland coast. It is a poor sort of shelter, and can do little more than keep the full force of the winter wind away. There are three young men who seem to be pottering about. Inside are queer instruments so queer that an old sailor who has strolled down to the cliffs strokes his chin and smiles rather pityingly at the lunatics who wander about like restless spirits. Above the hut is a mast, and linked by 400 feet of wire is a huge kite flying in the wind, something to be seen miles out on the grey Atlantic. There is certainly nothing spectacular in all this, but then, great things are rarely spectacular in their beginnings. On this day in December, 1001, these three men, two Englishmen and an Italian, are waiting for something to happen. They are confident it will happen. By 10 o’clock all is in readiness. The minutes drag on. It is i eleven by their watches. It is 11.15. The instruments are in working order, everything is in readiness. They are listening intently. It is 11.-30. and very faintly but unmistakably comes a burring sound. Marconi looks at his two companions, triumph dancing in his eyes. The letter S has been sent by wireless from Cornwall to Newfoundland—the Atlantic has been spanned by wireless! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII