MR MARCONI'S CAREER.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 28, 3 February 1903, Page 4

MR MARCONI'S CAREER.

Onglielmo Marconi was born at Bologna, in Italy, just twenty-seven years ago, where the family to which h.e belongs was of good position and some wealth. As a boy he dreamed of inventions, and when only thirteen years old he made a curious | steam-engine, which is in existence still. It is Baid, moreover, that one day on his father's estate he sent a wireless message from one pole to another nearly two miles away. His mother, an English lady, fostered. her son's passion for electricity, and fur-' nished him with the means of conducting j hit experiments. With his father, however, it was some- ( what differed . About ten years ago Marconi was staying at Leghorn, and it waß his cut ton to repair to a largo ship-' building yard in the town, where he had I made certain articles necessary to his ex- j periments. His father one day dis-1 covered these and destroyed them, observing that he would not allow his son to blow up the .house !

His experiments in " telegraphing without wires " really began in the year 1895. The ides of wireless messages came to him in the Alps, as he was resting at Andjvno with his brother. Such an idea as the command of the forces of the air must have occurred to somebody else. Some other gnat scientist must, Marconi reasoned, have thought and j mast be working in the same direction!. So Marconi waited a year, and then, telegrams still went over the wires, he'> came to England, and here began a series j of experiments from the top of the I General Fo t Office in London. j His first public success came in 1899, | when he "bridged" the English Channel, j seeding a message from his station on tho i high cliffs at Dover to Boulogne. For i nearly two years he confined his efforts to-I increasing the distance over which ho . could communicite by improving his in— J struments. In January, 1901, Marconi left his ex- j pirimentsl station at Poole and went on j a mysterious journey to the Lizird, where. I a new Marconi at a'ion had been erected., On the first day of King Edward's reigu j his preparations were completed, and ou •the afternoon of that day, when he had j connected up his instruments, wireless j telegraphy came dear and distinct across i the 200 miles, between Mullion Cove, at! the Lirard, and St. Catherine's Point, in the Isle of Wight I

The next important development took place in August of last year, when, after & number of successful experiments, ha placed the steamship Lucania in communication with> the Nantucket (U.S.A.) lightship at a distance of 287 miles. It is just a year since Marconi first attempted to bridge-the Atlantic by his new system'. Oft December 11th and 12th. 1901, he announced that the signal letter "S" had been successfully transmitted from Foldßu> in Cornwall, to St. John's, .Newfoundland.

As the letter " S" is represented in the I' |code used by three dots, scepticism was I' felt by scientists as to this feat, but the I doubts raised were speedily dispelled j 1 when in February, 1902, the Philadelphia, on a voyage from Cherbourg to the United States, took in messages from Poldhu. When 1030 miles from the Bending station, she received the message "Fine here"; and so on up to 1533 miles, when a message came in asking if the signals were understood. After this up to 2099 miles the letter " S " came in. Since then Signor Marconi has been perfecting the Bystem, upon the great success of which the British public are to-day congratulated. The System.

The Marconi apparatus consists of a large battery, the current of which passes through a powerful induction coil, thence passing through a series of wires run on poles to a great height. In Marconi's last experiment fortyeight of these wires were used at each station. These wires give off waves of electricity, which are gathered by the wires at the receiving station, and con-, veyed to the receiving instrument. 'lhe current received is so slight that a specially designed instrument, consisting of a glass tube containing magnetised iron filings is made to receive it. The Morse code, as in common use in telegraphy, is used.