The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1914. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 46, 16 June 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1914. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

The announcement recently made from Canada that the Poulsen trans-At-ldfntic wireless stations were nearly completed is of interest, especially in connection with the fact that the Postmaster-Goneral refused to discuss the All-Red cables until the progress of wireless is ascertained. It is certainly obvious that wireless telegraphy is making, rapid strides towards taking the place of the present cable systems, for long distance work. At this present time very successful cable work is being done over great distances by what are known as automatic relays. It is well known that the power of the electric current sent through a long cable diminishes until it becomes too weak to serve the purpose of signalling, so that messages have to be read and retransmitted at various stations en route. If, however, before this weakening of the current becomes too great it is passed into what is called a relay, the current is amplified with a fresh source of electric power, and automatically sends off the message again. This, of course, is a great saving of time when covering long distances. Scientists state that wireless current, or "radiation," travels at such a rate that it circles the globe in one-fifth part of a second. It these signals are .made strong enough and have sufficiently delicate receiving apparatus, direct tolegraphy ivoai England to Australia or China becomes possible. Though such distances are not yet undertaken, it is stated that where two thousand miles in one distance was considered excellent a few years ago, four thousand, and more, miles are being commercially looked forward to. One writer, however, states that it is in the reception of messages that th« gJ»«t revolution in

wireless is just taking place. Printed tape messages will be substituted eventually for the present audible ones in all commercial wireless work. An operator in the ordinary way at present lias to listen with the double head-piece telephone for just audible buzzes or burrs, and to decipher these as he goes along, perhaps managing twenty-five words to the minute, In a tape recorder each dot or dash is automatically printed upon a moving band of paper, and the number of words per minute received depends merely upon the agility of the mechanism at the transmitting and receiving stations—for the transmission is automatic also. The view is also expressed that there can be little doubt that before very long the Poulsen continuous-wave system will stand pre-emihent for commercial work. This differs from the older intermittent-wave system in that each wave follows the next closely, and there is a continuous! train of waves travelling through the space between the two stations tha< are in communication with one another, whereas with intermittent waves there is a short train of waver* gradually dying out, followed at some distance by another, then another, and so On. The receiving station requires as much current as it can get, and it can clearly gel most from an uninterrupted sourer of supply. These continuous waves besides being more efficient for commercial telegraphy, are much more delicate to "pick up," and the tuning of the two stations has to be extremely accurate —an advantage for purposes of ' secret communication.