New Zealand telephones to Great Britain

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 20, 28 November 1930, Page 1

New Zealand telephones to Great Britain

Test transmission provides successful link between homeland and outpost of Empire

=| NOTHER milestone in the rapidly- "| forming New Zealand radio history was reached last week when a small group in Parliament House spoke by wireless telephone to England. We | have heard of the remarkable service that is operating between Australia and England. This was preceded by the transAtlantic service, and each in turn was regarded as a marvel of radio engineering,

but it remained for New Zealand to link with England and make the longest known commercial radio chain. The service, though not yet opened, promises to be one of the marvels of present-day radio. It was led up to by a series of experiments, and many readers ‘ne Acting-Prime Minister, ke Hon. E. A. Ransom, speaks from Wellington over the wireless telephone to the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, in London. Seated at the table are Sir Apirana Ngata (left), the Hon. E. A. Ransom and Mrs. Ransom. The Hon. A. J. Stallworthy and the Hon. J. G. Cobbe are on the extreme left, and standing behind Mr. Ransom is Mr. Sidey, son of Sir Thomas Sidey. Mr. M. ~\ Thomson, brother of Mr. F. \D. Thomson, Permanent Head of the Prime Minister’s Department, is standing behind

have intercepted these test transmissions and wondered what they were all about. It will further be remembered that some time ago 2YA was conducting a two-way telephone with Sydney. This led on to official tests being made by the Post and Telegraph Department in conjunction with A.W.A. We announced only last week that the apparatus was ready for trial and that occasion was being made of

the presence of our Prime Minister, the Right Hon. G. W..Forbes, in London to speak with the Acting-Prime Minister, Hon. E. A. Ransom, and arrangements were made by cable for an attempt at radio-telephone conversation on Tuesday last. 7 Paror to that time a group of officials assembled in Parliament House to participate in the greatest radio experiment New Zealand has yet entered into. Some time before the arranged hour, Wellington and Sydney were in two-way conversation, and the final tests were commenced at seven o’clock. Conditions were not of the best, and although at times the voices were fading, they were yet clear, and it seemed possible that the great experiment would succeed. Finally the way was clear, and Sydney put through Wellington’s first toll call to London. This was at 8.27 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11. Those in the room waited anxiously for several minutes, and then a bell at the elbow © of the Acting-Prime Minister, Hon. E. A. Ransom, rang. Mr. Ransom lifted the receiver, and although he spoke calmly, there was a touch of exhilaration in his voice as he said: "Hullo, George. How are you?" With the clarity of a nearby business caller the voice at the other end echoed: "Hullo. Good morning." For a little while conversation was carried on with difficulty, but Mr. Ransom was able to tell the Prime Minister about a cable message he had received from London that morning. Then communication became better, and Mr. Forbes informed his listener that he had just returned from Scotland and that the weather had been very cold. Everyone in the party was well, he said, and they were looking forward to leaving for New Zealand. "What is the time over there?’ Mr. Ransom asked, and the (Concluded on page 2.)

reply came back: "Twenty minutes to nine in the morning." The élock in the room, twelve hours ahead of London, showed the identical hour. A few brief moments’ conversation took place between Mr. Forbes and Sir Apirana Ngata, who greeted his chief with "Is that you, George? ‘Tenakoe!" Reception was becoming increasingly better, and Mr. Forbes’s voice from London sounded round the room as he’ returned the greeting. He asked if everything was well in New Zealand, and he received the reply: "Keitepai," o "Very good." Sir Thomas Sidey then came to the telephone, and Sir Apirana said:, "Hullo, -Sidey, the Attorney-General hete," a remark whose humorous significance lay in the fact that Sir Apirana is acting in that capacity during the absence of Sir Thomas. A few -personal questions were exchanged, and Sir Apirana put.down the receiver with the remark that it was quite easy to recognise his colleague’s voice at’ the other ‘end. Brought into sudden contact with a familiar room many thousands of miles away, one of the first questions asked by Mr. I. D. Thomson, Permanent Head of the Prime Minister’s Department, was: "What horse won the New Zealand Cup?" and he was told that the winner was Nightmarch. For nearly an hour others in the room spoke to those of their families

in London. An interesting few minutes’ conversation was held between Mr, G.. A. Berensden, head of the External’ Affairs Departmen, who accompanied the Prime Minister, and his two small sons. Mrs. Ransom also spoke to Mrs. Forbes and Sir Thomas Sidey and: Lady Sidey to their son; Mr. A. B. Mulligan, secretary to Mr. Ransom, and Mr. T. R. Aickin, secretary to the Minister of ‘Railways, also spoke to members of the party. Mr. Forbes then returned to the telephone, and he spoke briefly to the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. A. J. Murdoch, whom he told that he had visited Smithfield as well as other places identified with the marketing of New Zealand produce. He said he was going into questions affecting butter and cheese, and that he was doing his best to look after the interests of New Zealand. He added that he intended to investigate the wool question before he left. . The Minister of Defence, Hon. J. G. Cobbe, then spoke to Mr. Forbes, and it was almost ten o’clock when, after Mr. J. McCombs, M.P. for Lyttelton, had spoken to the Prime Minister, Sydney at last cut in, and brought to @ close a unique hour. SBefore the receiver was hung up Mr. Forbes was told that it was intended to put him on to his home at Cheviot, near Christchurch.

Wellington was then cut out, and Mr. Ransom congratulated Mr. J. Robertson, assistant secretary of the Post and Telegraph Department, and his. staff upon the success of the tests. He said it was particularly pleasing that the conversation had been so clear, and ‘the work of the postal staff was Worthy of commendation. Mr. Robertson said that his staff had worked hard, and they had.to be thankful that conditions had proved so good.. ‘There was a considerable amount of atmospherics throughout the conversations, .which were officially closed at ten o’clock. However, when speaking to Cheviot, Mr. Forbes said he could recognise his children’s voices. There was a little interference in the Sydney area at times, and although Wellington. spoke to London through Sydney, the reply conversation was picked up direct. During the evening Mr. Forbes asked for Mr. G. McNamara, Secretary * the Post and Telegraph Department, who was unable to be present, and he asked that he be thanked for making the communication possible. And so ended the first telephone call between London and New Zealand. It will. probably be afew days before a commercial service is established between the two countries, and it is te be hoped that with the opening we will be able to. tell the full story of the growth and development of Empire telephone communication.