WIRELESS

Taihape Daily Times, Issue 220, 1 June 1917, Page 3

WIRELESS

THE VOICE OP THE OCEAN. LATEST AND GREATEST OF THE SCIENCES.

Wireless has bridged the two greatest water spaces of the world, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Europe for many years has been able to maintain wireless communication with America, and late last year America was put within wireless radius of Japan and Honolulu, the service being opened with an interchange of congratulatory messages between President Wilson and the Emperor of Japan, flashed across the ocean from Boiinas in California to Funabashi, a distance of 4200 miles. Ashore we are all too familiar with this latest and greatest of the sciences. An aeroplane is little better than useless without a wireless set aboard. This provides it with the only means of communication with its base, or with the battery of heavy guns, when engaged upon the direction of artillery fire. Which brings us to the matter of the sea. Wireless, we may say, is the voice of the oceans. It links up ship with ship, however distant from land or from the recognised routes of trade. Without it modern naval warfare would be impossible. Even before 1914, a long Press message was flashed out nightly from Poldhu, the great Cornish station. This message was picked up by ships within a radius of a few hundred miles, and retransmitted by them another few hundred miles to other ships. So the message went on until within the space of an hour it or two it was the public property of stations as far distant as Capetown and Buenos Ayres. And every great liner published a daily newspaper, giving the latest news from all parts of the world.

THE S.O.S. SIGNAL. The S.O.S. signal is the most urgent and sacred call in the wireless world, a call which no operator will ignore. And yet the enemy have made false use of this signal. There was one case of an American skipper somewhere o.T Bantry Bay, who picked up an S.O.S. some fifty miles distant, made thither at top speed, to find, on arrival, not a vessel in distress, but a German Submarine, the commander of which not only made no apology, but was so annoyed to find that it was an American instead of a British boat that he had snared that he threatened to sink it there and then; and probably he would have put his threat into force had not a British destroyer show-ed up on the horizon.

Another case was that of the cargo steamer Anglo'-CaJifo/rnian, homeward bound from America. She sighted a German submarine in raid-ocean, and made off as fast as her engines would permit, the enemy in hot pursuit; her wireless operator sending out the S.O.S. signal as fast as he knew how. Meanwhile the shell fire grew fiercer, the ship was raked from end to end. They had not a single weapon of their own with which to retaliate, but they stuck to it as only British sailors can. Then there came an answer to their signals, "Coming to your help; hang on." It w r as from a British mau-o’-war, somewhere across the horizon, far out of sight. By this time the firing had grown so fierce that the operator was forced to manipulate his key, lying on his back in the cabin. At last came the news: "Can see yonr smoke. Hang on." For God’s sake hurry up. They’re shelling us like hell!" replied the Californian operator. Then the German operator intercepted, and had his guns trained on their aerial, their last hope of their salvation. Luckily the German shooting was wild, and eventually the British warship hove in sight. Immediately the submarine dived and they were ordered to report her trail.

A NEW PROFESSION * DEVELOPING Yet earlier in the war occured the unhappy Breslau and Goebon affair. When surrounded by British craft,' these two powerful mcn-of-war succeeded in making their escape, sighted only by one of our light cruisers. Immediately she wirelessed for help. In the year 1915 2(5 vessels were reported by the radio inspectors of the Uuited Btates to have sent out the call for assistance. . The calls included accidents of all kinds, including collision, running ashore, broken, down machinery, storm, cargo shifting, and torpedoes. In one case, that of a Greek vessel which caught fire in mid-ocean, she was abandoned by the passengers and crew, aggregating 170. Within two and a half hours two other vessels had taken on board, in 'One case 341 survivors, and in another the remaining 129. The original vessel was entirely destroyed. On another occasion a vessel with 1700 Italians aboard caght fire at sea. ! 8.0.5. signals immediately brought up another vessel which took 'Oft (500 sue vivors, than conveyed the disabled boat

into port without the loss of a single life.

The present scheme of wireless is to circle the world with a constant lino of communication, somewhat after the fashion of from Poldhu to Suez, SuezBombay, Bombay- Funabashi, Funibashi- Bolinas, to Sandy Hook, and thence back again to Poldhu. This system will require many hundreds of now operators, and, taking into consideration that almost every seagoing vessel carries one, and sometimes two operatrs, wireless will provide a new and enthralling profession for many thousands of young men. —London Daily Chronicle.