CHAPTER XVIII.Wireless Telegraphy.The great advantages of wireless telegraphy in navigation. Ships are enabled to communicate with shore during voyages. Messages received and sent at any time en route. Collisions at sea reported at once. Belated steamers cause no anxiety.In the old-fashioned days of sails and steam, when a vessel left port and passed out of sight, she instantly became a whole world in herself. Communication had been severed with the outer world. The condition of a sailing vessel during a calm was a picture of helplessness. Steamships were more self-reliant—they at least controlled their own course. But both classes of ships, whether propelled by sail or steam, once out of sight of land, were temporarily shut out from the busy world.During these enforced absences upon an ocean voyage, great events frequently happened of which passengers, officers and crews were necessarily ignorant of. At theShut Out of the World.termination of a long or short voyage, the first news could only be obtained from the pilot-boat which met the approaching vessel far out at sea. War might be on the eve of declaration as the vessel left port, battles might be fought, the enemy might be vanquished and even peace declared and aknowledge of all these events would only reach the tardy mariner upon the arrival of the vessel at her port of destination.Such a condition of affairs, often the cause of the deepest anxieties on the part of ocean travelers, might answer well enough for the days of the Crusaders, when kings of Great Britain went to Palestine to battle for the Cross, and never again heard from home in three or four years’ time. When Napoleon, that meteor of the nineteenth century, left the shores ofla belle Francefor the rocky desolation of St. Helena, it was over a year before he received any news from Paris. The same conditions ruled in 1899. Steam had rendered ocean voyages shorter and more punctual. But the main difficulty still existed. Passengers on our ocean-liners during a voyage knew as little of occurrences at home as those who traveled in the days of the Vikings and Crusaders. In this respect (as in many others), the world in 1899 was no better off than in the days when the Roman legions landed on the shores of Britain. The nineteenth century and the centuries before Christ were upon equal footing in this respect.Many splendidly equipped steamships, with colors flying and bands playing left port in the old days of sails and steam, with multitudes waving their adieux and heartily wishing them God-speed and were never again heard from. No communication was possible in those days between landand vessels at sea. Sometimes they wereInto the Jaws of Death.doomed in the cold embrace of an iceberg; an occasional collision sent hundreds of souls to their final account; fire, always dreaded on the ocean, caused many to suffer the horrors of thirst and starvation; the ocean claimed its victims in many dreadful forms and no tidings ever reached home of the fate of loved ones, because communication between ship and shore in the “good old days” of 1899, was impossible. This supreme difficulty had not yet been overcome in 1899, and the defect was universally regarded as being a most deplorable one. The only communication ever maintained between vessels in mid-ocean and the main shore in the nineteenth century was done by cable-ships, while actually engaged in laying an ocean cable. The Great Eastern was the first steamship to lay claim to this distinction, when in 1867, her officers fished up and brought to the surface the broken Atlantic cable and the great news was flashed from ship to shore.Vessels in these days of the nineteenth century only too often left port never againA Very Backward Age.to be seen by mortal man. Loved ones plunged into a watery grave, locked in each other’s embrace, and none survived to tell the fearful tale. Communication with shore was unknownin the vaunted civilization of the nineteenth century. The fate of the Naronic, of the White Star line, looms up in evidence. Not a whisper was again heard of her after she left port. The City ofGlasgowin 1854 sank in Neptune’s pastures. Four hundred and eighty souls went down in that brave ship. No hint, however slight, was ever heard of her. The Ocean Monarch, the Pacific of the Collins line, and the ill-fated City of Boston, all suffered fates that none but the day of judgment can reveal.This confession of weakness, this serious drawback of the nineteenth century, which added to the terrors of those “who go down into the great deep,” was fortunately not shared by the advanced sciences and arts of the twentieth century. Wireless telegraphy contributed almost as much to the comfort of ocean and ærial navigation as electricity. Telegraph poles that rendered hideous some of our most beautiful avenues and the antiquated ocean cables were entirely relegated into oblivion. The former went into the scrap heap, while the latter found their way into Davy Jones’ locker.Long before 1999 wireless telegraphy was employed on all vessels on ocean, river and lake. Instant communication was at all times maintained between ship and shore.It Opened a New Era.War vessels at foreign stations made their daily reports in 1999 to the Navy Department in the State of Mexico. All other navies of theworld enjoyed the same facilities. Relatives telegraphed to their families and friends from vessels in mid-ocean. It was quite common to receive a brief message from an Atlantic liner two thousand miles east of Sandy Hook, as follows:On board Electrical Ship Manhattan.Latitude 50 N., long. 30 W.Dear Henry:—Got over being seasick. Baby and nurse doing nicely. Had strawberries and cream for dinner. Dodged an iceberg and struck a whale, yesterday. Love to all. Will wireless from Paris.Ethel.Overdue vessels in 1999 gave no anxiety in that era of progress. If a shaft broke the home office was at once notified that the vessel would be several days behind her schedule time in arriving at her destination. If caught in a fog or obliged to move at half speed, the information was immediately lodged on shore. In fact it even became possible to navigate vessels from the shore.In 1982 the strange experiment was made of navigating a large ocean electric shipSailed his Ship from Land.from Manhattan (old N. Y.), to Queenstown. The name of the vessel was the City of Sidney. After the pilot had dropped off at the Hook, Captain Sherman, of the Electric Belt Line of vessels, remained in his private office in the forty-third story of Anti-Trust building on 59th street, Manhattan, and issued his commands by wireless telegraph to the first officer of the City of Sidney. Reportsreached the captain every six hours, giving the exact latitude and longitude and the ship’s course was directed from the captain’s private office on 59th street in the city of Manhattan. In other words it was the city of Manhattan that kept the City of Sidney on the move, so to speak. The ship’s course, conduct of the crew, the health of the passengers, the reports of passing electrical vessels, the velocity of wind and other details of navigation, were communicated to Captain Sherman, whose orders were given and obeyed as readily as though issued from the bridge or deck of the City of Sidney. When that vessel arrived off Queenstown to land the U. S. of the A. mails, Capt. Sherman in 59th street ordered half speed and finally stopped the electric engines. Of course, while navigating his immense vessel across the ocean and remaining seated in his office at home, Captain Sherman could not assume his place in the saloon at the head of the table. Wireless telegraphy could not, with all its ingenuity, satisfy one’s appetite at the sumptuous dinners served on board the City of Sidney. But this demonstrated to the world in 1982 that with wireless telegraphy commanders could remain in their office on shore and sail their ships to foreign ports in perfect safety. This was done in 1982 just as easily as the old style traindispatchercontrolledfar away trains in 1899 while seated in his own office.The Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, when perfected in 1920, employed the Hertzian magnetic waves, which are identical with the waves of light. Whenever an electric spark is made to leap from one electrode to another, one of these waves is created. The Marconi instruments for sending and receiving are tuned to each other and are then invulnerable to the attack of waves of different lengths.These rays of electricity are reflected and directed in a given direction like rays ofA Marvelous Invention.light. An electric circuit with a key, gives the basis of the Marconi system. This circuit runs through a spark coil with an oscillator to produce continuous electric sparking so long as the circuit is kept closed by the key—and from this the sparking wires run out of doors to the pole from which the messages are sent.One end of the wire is placed in the earth and the other is elevated in the air. The height to which it is carried determines the distance to which the messages may be sent. The operator presses his key as in ordinary telegraphing, making his alphabet in dots and dashes. As the waves shoot out and reach the distant station, the filings in the tube cohere and the current passing through them draws up the armature of the relay magnet. This closes the circuit of the recording instrument. It is broken constantlyby the tapper and instantly re-established by receiving waves.The towers employed in 1920 for the transmission of wireless messages were very high. The manifest advantages of the system were apparent and long before 1930 wireless telegraphy came into general use. The new system proved the death-knell of telegraph poles, as well as ocean cables. Old telegraph stock faded in value like the morning mist. The supreme importance of communicating with vessels while at sea alone guaranteed the success of the wireless system.Wireless telegraphy proved to be one of the crowning scientific achievements of the twentieth century, but the ambition of scientistsChatting with the Boys in Mars.in 1969 knew no bounds. In that year they were busy sending messages to Mars, utilizing starbeams for that purpose. For thirty long years they repeated the same messages or signals to Mars every night. In 1999 the canalers up in that bright Yankee planet had not yet responded but hope was still entertained that some sign of recognition might yet be secured from the Martians.Telescopes in 1999 had been vastly improved. The network of canals in Mars became far more distinct to the human eye. The moon, our nearest neighbor, looked as though only one mile away. Neptune, the giant of the heavens, grew on more intimateterms with our mother Earth, but on Mars was centered the greatest attention. Fervent were the hopes that Martians would acknowledge the ceaseless signals sent from earth.The growth of the electrical machine industry in 1999 was enormous. The United States of the Americas led the world in their manufacture. The dawn of this vast industry was already manifest, even in 1899. The capital invested in electrical industries in that year was as follows:Invested Capital.928 electric railways, aggregating 14,850 miles,$883,000,0002,838 electric light central stations,335,486,51825,000 private electric lighting plants,87,500,000Power transmission (750,000 motors in use),150,000,000Electrical apparatus in mining,125,000,000Telegraph, telephone, &c.600,000,000Total,$2,180,986,518In 1999 nearly a third of the entire capital of the vast American Republic was invested in electrical interests of some form or other. The export trade of American machines became stupendous. The world demanded only the American make; no substitutes would answer.American pluck and brains proved the lever that Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, so long sighed for. American brains moved the world.
CHAPTER XVIII.Wireless Telegraphy.The great advantages of wireless telegraphy in navigation. Ships are enabled to communicate with shore during voyages. Messages received and sent at any time en route. Collisions at sea reported at once. Belated steamers cause no anxiety.In the old-fashioned days of sails and steam, when a vessel left port and passed out of sight, she instantly became a whole world in herself. Communication had been severed with the outer world. The condition of a sailing vessel during a calm was a picture of helplessness. Steamships were more self-reliant—they at least controlled their own course. But both classes of ships, whether propelled by sail or steam, once out of sight of land, were temporarily shut out from the busy world.During these enforced absences upon an ocean voyage, great events frequently happened of which passengers, officers and crews were necessarily ignorant of. At theShut Out of the World.termination of a long or short voyage, the first news could only be obtained from the pilot-boat which met the approaching vessel far out at sea. War might be on the eve of declaration as the vessel left port, battles might be fought, the enemy might be vanquished and even peace declared and aknowledge of all these events would only reach the tardy mariner upon the arrival of the vessel at her port of destination.Such a condition of affairs, often the cause of the deepest anxieties on the part of ocean travelers, might answer well enough for the days of the Crusaders, when kings of Great Britain went to Palestine to battle for the Cross, and never again heard from home in three or four years’ time. When Napoleon, that meteor of the nineteenth century, left the shores ofla belle Francefor the rocky desolation of St. Helena, it was over a year before he received any news from Paris. The same conditions ruled in 1899. Steam had rendered ocean voyages shorter and more punctual. But the main difficulty still existed. Passengers on our ocean-liners during a voyage knew as little of occurrences at home as those who traveled in the days of the Vikings and Crusaders. In this respect (as in many others), the world in 1899 was no better off than in the days when the Roman legions landed on the shores of Britain. The nineteenth century and the centuries before Christ were upon equal footing in this respect.Many splendidly equipped steamships, with colors flying and bands playing left port in the old days of sails and steam, with multitudes waving their adieux and heartily wishing them God-speed and were never again heard from. No communication was possible in those days between landand vessels at sea. Sometimes they wereInto the Jaws of Death.doomed in the cold embrace of an iceberg; an occasional collision sent hundreds of souls to their final account; fire, always dreaded on the ocean, caused many to suffer the horrors of thirst and starvation; the ocean claimed its victims in many dreadful forms and no tidings ever reached home of the fate of loved ones, because communication between ship and shore in the “good old days” of 1899, was impossible. This supreme difficulty had not yet been overcome in 1899, and the defect was universally regarded as being a most deplorable one. The only communication ever maintained between vessels in mid-ocean and the main shore in the nineteenth century was done by cable-ships, while actually engaged in laying an ocean cable. The Great Eastern was the first steamship to lay claim to this distinction, when in 1867, her officers fished up and brought to the surface the broken Atlantic cable and the great news was flashed from ship to shore.Vessels in these days of the nineteenth century only too often left port never againA Very Backward Age.to be seen by mortal man. Loved ones plunged into a watery grave, locked in each other’s embrace, and none survived to tell the fearful tale. Communication with shore was unknownin the vaunted civilization of the nineteenth century. The fate of the Naronic, of the White Star line, looms up in evidence. Not a whisper was again heard of her after she left port. The City ofGlasgowin 1854 sank in Neptune’s pastures. Four hundred and eighty souls went down in that brave ship. No hint, however slight, was ever heard of her. The Ocean Monarch, the Pacific of the Collins line, and the ill-fated City of Boston, all suffered fates that none but the day of judgment can reveal.This confession of weakness, this serious drawback of the nineteenth century, which added to the terrors of those “who go down into the great deep,” was fortunately not shared by the advanced sciences and arts of the twentieth century. Wireless telegraphy contributed almost as much to the comfort of ocean and ærial navigation as electricity. Telegraph poles that rendered hideous some of our most beautiful avenues and the antiquated ocean cables were entirely relegated into oblivion. The former went into the scrap heap, while the latter found their way into Davy Jones’ locker.Long before 1999 wireless telegraphy was employed on all vessels on ocean, river and lake. Instant communication was at all times maintained between ship and shore.It Opened a New Era.War vessels at foreign stations made their daily reports in 1999 to the Navy Department in the State of Mexico. All other navies of theworld enjoyed the same facilities. Relatives telegraphed to their families and friends from vessels in mid-ocean. It was quite common to receive a brief message from an Atlantic liner two thousand miles east of Sandy Hook, as follows:On board Electrical Ship Manhattan.Latitude 50 N., long. 30 W.Dear Henry:—Got over being seasick. Baby and nurse doing nicely. Had strawberries and cream for dinner. Dodged an iceberg and struck a whale, yesterday. Love to all. Will wireless from Paris.Ethel.Overdue vessels in 1999 gave no anxiety in that era of progress. If a shaft broke the home office was at once notified that the vessel would be several days behind her schedule time in arriving at her destination. If caught in a fog or obliged to move at half speed, the information was immediately lodged on shore. In fact it even became possible to navigate vessels from the shore.In 1982 the strange experiment was made of navigating a large ocean electric shipSailed his Ship from Land.from Manhattan (old N. Y.), to Queenstown. The name of the vessel was the City of Sidney. After the pilot had dropped off at the Hook, Captain Sherman, of the Electric Belt Line of vessels, remained in his private office in the forty-third story of Anti-Trust building on 59th street, Manhattan, and issued his commands by wireless telegraph to the first officer of the City of Sidney. Reportsreached the captain every six hours, giving the exact latitude and longitude and the ship’s course was directed from the captain’s private office on 59th street in the city of Manhattan. In other words it was the city of Manhattan that kept the City of Sidney on the move, so to speak. The ship’s course, conduct of the crew, the health of the passengers, the reports of passing electrical vessels, the velocity of wind and other details of navigation, were communicated to Captain Sherman, whose orders were given and obeyed as readily as though issued from the bridge or deck of the City of Sidney. When that vessel arrived off Queenstown to land the U. S. of the A. mails, Capt. Sherman in 59th street ordered half speed and finally stopped the electric engines. Of course, while navigating his immense vessel across the ocean and remaining seated in his office at home, Captain Sherman could not assume his place in the saloon at the head of the table. Wireless telegraphy could not, with all its ingenuity, satisfy one’s appetite at the sumptuous dinners served on board the City of Sidney. But this demonstrated to the world in 1982 that with wireless telegraphy commanders could remain in their office on shore and sail their ships to foreign ports in perfect safety. This was done in 1982 just as easily as the old style traindispatchercontrolledfar away trains in 1899 while seated in his own office.The Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, when perfected in 1920, employed the Hertzian magnetic waves, which are identical with the waves of light. Whenever an electric spark is made to leap from one electrode to another, one of these waves is created. The Marconi instruments for sending and receiving are tuned to each other and are then invulnerable to the attack of waves of different lengths.These rays of electricity are reflected and directed in a given direction like rays ofA Marvelous Invention.light. An electric circuit with a key, gives the basis of the Marconi system. This circuit runs through a spark coil with an oscillator to produce continuous electric sparking so long as the circuit is kept closed by the key—and from this the sparking wires run out of doors to the pole from which the messages are sent.One end of the wire is placed in the earth and the other is elevated in the air. The height to which it is carried determines the distance to which the messages may be sent. The operator presses his key as in ordinary telegraphing, making his alphabet in dots and dashes. As the waves shoot out and reach the distant station, the filings in the tube cohere and the current passing through them draws up the armature of the relay magnet. This closes the circuit of the recording instrument. It is broken constantlyby the tapper and instantly re-established by receiving waves.The towers employed in 1920 for the transmission of wireless messages were very high. The manifest advantages of the system were apparent and long before 1930 wireless telegraphy came into general use. The new system proved the death-knell of telegraph poles, as well as ocean cables. Old telegraph stock faded in value like the morning mist. The supreme importance of communicating with vessels while at sea alone guaranteed the success of the wireless system.Wireless telegraphy proved to be one of the crowning scientific achievements of the twentieth century, but the ambition of scientistsChatting with the Boys in Mars.in 1969 knew no bounds. In that year they were busy sending messages to Mars, utilizing starbeams for that purpose. For thirty long years they repeated the same messages or signals to Mars every night. In 1999 the canalers up in that bright Yankee planet had not yet responded but hope was still entertained that some sign of recognition might yet be secured from the Martians.Telescopes in 1999 had been vastly improved. The network of canals in Mars became far more distinct to the human eye. The moon, our nearest neighbor, looked as though only one mile away. Neptune, the giant of the heavens, grew on more intimateterms with our mother Earth, but on Mars was centered the greatest attention. Fervent were the hopes that Martians would acknowledge the ceaseless signals sent from earth.The growth of the electrical machine industry in 1999 was enormous. The United States of the Americas led the world in their manufacture. The dawn of this vast industry was already manifest, even in 1899. The capital invested in electrical industries in that year was as follows:Invested Capital.928 electric railways, aggregating 14,850 miles,$883,000,0002,838 electric light central stations,335,486,51825,000 private electric lighting plants,87,500,000Power transmission (750,000 motors in use),150,000,000Electrical apparatus in mining,125,000,000Telegraph, telephone, &c.600,000,000Total,$2,180,986,518In 1999 nearly a third of the entire capital of the vast American Republic was invested in electrical interests of some form or other. The export trade of American machines became stupendous. The world demanded only the American make; no substitutes would answer.American pluck and brains proved the lever that Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, so long sighed for. American brains moved the world.
CHAPTER XVIII.Wireless Telegraphy.The great advantages of wireless telegraphy in navigation. Ships are enabled to communicate with shore during voyages. Messages received and sent at any time en route. Collisions at sea reported at once. Belated steamers cause no anxiety.
The great advantages of wireless telegraphy in navigation. Ships are enabled to communicate with shore during voyages. Messages received and sent at any time en route. Collisions at sea reported at once. Belated steamers cause no anxiety.
The great advantages of wireless telegraphy in navigation. Ships are enabled to communicate with shore during voyages. Messages received and sent at any time en route. Collisions at sea reported at once. Belated steamers cause no anxiety.
In the old-fashioned days of sails and steam, when a vessel left port and passed out of sight, she instantly became a whole world in herself. Communication had been severed with the outer world. The condition of a sailing vessel during a calm was a picture of helplessness. Steamships were more self-reliant—they at least controlled their own course. But both classes of ships, whether propelled by sail or steam, once out of sight of land, were temporarily shut out from the busy world.During these enforced absences upon an ocean voyage, great events frequently happened of which passengers, officers and crews were necessarily ignorant of. At theShut Out of the World.termination of a long or short voyage, the first news could only be obtained from the pilot-boat which met the approaching vessel far out at sea. War might be on the eve of declaration as the vessel left port, battles might be fought, the enemy might be vanquished and even peace declared and aknowledge of all these events would only reach the tardy mariner upon the arrival of the vessel at her port of destination.Such a condition of affairs, often the cause of the deepest anxieties on the part of ocean travelers, might answer well enough for the days of the Crusaders, when kings of Great Britain went to Palestine to battle for the Cross, and never again heard from home in three or four years’ time. When Napoleon, that meteor of the nineteenth century, left the shores ofla belle Francefor the rocky desolation of St. Helena, it was over a year before he received any news from Paris. The same conditions ruled in 1899. Steam had rendered ocean voyages shorter and more punctual. But the main difficulty still existed. Passengers on our ocean-liners during a voyage knew as little of occurrences at home as those who traveled in the days of the Vikings and Crusaders. In this respect (as in many others), the world in 1899 was no better off than in the days when the Roman legions landed on the shores of Britain. The nineteenth century and the centuries before Christ were upon equal footing in this respect.Many splendidly equipped steamships, with colors flying and bands playing left port in the old days of sails and steam, with multitudes waving their adieux and heartily wishing them God-speed and were never again heard from. No communication was possible in those days between landand vessels at sea. Sometimes they wereInto the Jaws of Death.doomed in the cold embrace of an iceberg; an occasional collision sent hundreds of souls to their final account; fire, always dreaded on the ocean, caused many to suffer the horrors of thirst and starvation; the ocean claimed its victims in many dreadful forms and no tidings ever reached home of the fate of loved ones, because communication between ship and shore in the “good old days” of 1899, was impossible. This supreme difficulty had not yet been overcome in 1899, and the defect was universally regarded as being a most deplorable one. The only communication ever maintained between vessels in mid-ocean and the main shore in the nineteenth century was done by cable-ships, while actually engaged in laying an ocean cable. The Great Eastern was the first steamship to lay claim to this distinction, when in 1867, her officers fished up and brought to the surface the broken Atlantic cable and the great news was flashed from ship to shore.Vessels in these days of the nineteenth century only too often left port never againA Very Backward Age.to be seen by mortal man. Loved ones plunged into a watery grave, locked in each other’s embrace, and none survived to tell the fearful tale. Communication with shore was unknownin the vaunted civilization of the nineteenth century. The fate of the Naronic, of the White Star line, looms up in evidence. Not a whisper was again heard of her after she left port. The City ofGlasgowin 1854 sank in Neptune’s pastures. Four hundred and eighty souls went down in that brave ship. No hint, however slight, was ever heard of her. The Ocean Monarch, the Pacific of the Collins line, and the ill-fated City of Boston, all suffered fates that none but the day of judgment can reveal.This confession of weakness, this serious drawback of the nineteenth century, which added to the terrors of those “who go down into the great deep,” was fortunately not shared by the advanced sciences and arts of the twentieth century. Wireless telegraphy contributed almost as much to the comfort of ocean and ærial navigation as electricity. Telegraph poles that rendered hideous some of our most beautiful avenues and the antiquated ocean cables were entirely relegated into oblivion. The former went into the scrap heap, while the latter found their way into Davy Jones’ locker.Long before 1999 wireless telegraphy was employed on all vessels on ocean, river and lake. Instant communication was at all times maintained between ship and shore.It Opened a New Era.War vessels at foreign stations made their daily reports in 1999 to the Navy Department in the State of Mexico. All other navies of theworld enjoyed the same facilities. Relatives telegraphed to their families and friends from vessels in mid-ocean. It was quite common to receive a brief message from an Atlantic liner two thousand miles east of Sandy Hook, as follows:On board Electrical Ship Manhattan.Latitude 50 N., long. 30 W.Dear Henry:—Got over being seasick. Baby and nurse doing nicely. Had strawberries and cream for dinner. Dodged an iceberg and struck a whale, yesterday. Love to all. Will wireless from Paris.Ethel.Overdue vessels in 1999 gave no anxiety in that era of progress. If a shaft broke the home office was at once notified that the vessel would be several days behind her schedule time in arriving at her destination. If caught in a fog or obliged to move at half speed, the information was immediately lodged on shore. In fact it even became possible to navigate vessels from the shore.In 1982 the strange experiment was made of navigating a large ocean electric shipSailed his Ship from Land.from Manhattan (old N. Y.), to Queenstown. The name of the vessel was the City of Sidney. After the pilot had dropped off at the Hook, Captain Sherman, of the Electric Belt Line of vessels, remained in his private office in the forty-third story of Anti-Trust building on 59th street, Manhattan, and issued his commands by wireless telegraph to the first officer of the City of Sidney. Reportsreached the captain every six hours, giving the exact latitude and longitude and the ship’s course was directed from the captain’s private office on 59th street in the city of Manhattan. In other words it was the city of Manhattan that kept the City of Sidney on the move, so to speak. The ship’s course, conduct of the crew, the health of the passengers, the reports of passing electrical vessels, the velocity of wind and other details of navigation, were communicated to Captain Sherman, whose orders were given and obeyed as readily as though issued from the bridge or deck of the City of Sidney. When that vessel arrived off Queenstown to land the U. S. of the A. mails, Capt. Sherman in 59th street ordered half speed and finally stopped the electric engines. Of course, while navigating his immense vessel across the ocean and remaining seated in his office at home, Captain Sherman could not assume his place in the saloon at the head of the table. Wireless telegraphy could not, with all its ingenuity, satisfy one’s appetite at the sumptuous dinners served on board the City of Sidney. But this demonstrated to the world in 1982 that with wireless telegraphy commanders could remain in their office on shore and sail their ships to foreign ports in perfect safety. This was done in 1982 just as easily as the old style traindispatchercontrolledfar away trains in 1899 while seated in his own office.The Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, when perfected in 1920, employed the Hertzian magnetic waves, which are identical with the waves of light. Whenever an electric spark is made to leap from one electrode to another, one of these waves is created. The Marconi instruments for sending and receiving are tuned to each other and are then invulnerable to the attack of waves of different lengths.These rays of electricity are reflected and directed in a given direction like rays ofA Marvelous Invention.light. An electric circuit with a key, gives the basis of the Marconi system. This circuit runs through a spark coil with an oscillator to produce continuous electric sparking so long as the circuit is kept closed by the key—and from this the sparking wires run out of doors to the pole from which the messages are sent.One end of the wire is placed in the earth and the other is elevated in the air. The height to which it is carried determines the distance to which the messages may be sent. The operator presses his key as in ordinary telegraphing, making his alphabet in dots and dashes. As the waves shoot out and reach the distant station, the filings in the tube cohere and the current passing through them draws up the armature of the relay magnet. This closes the circuit of the recording instrument. It is broken constantlyby the tapper and instantly re-established by receiving waves.The towers employed in 1920 for the transmission of wireless messages were very high. The manifest advantages of the system were apparent and long before 1930 wireless telegraphy came into general use. The new system proved the death-knell of telegraph poles, as well as ocean cables. Old telegraph stock faded in value like the morning mist. The supreme importance of communicating with vessels while at sea alone guaranteed the success of the wireless system.Wireless telegraphy proved to be one of the crowning scientific achievements of the twentieth century, but the ambition of scientistsChatting with the Boys in Mars.in 1969 knew no bounds. In that year they were busy sending messages to Mars, utilizing starbeams for that purpose. For thirty long years they repeated the same messages or signals to Mars every night. In 1999 the canalers up in that bright Yankee planet had not yet responded but hope was still entertained that some sign of recognition might yet be secured from the Martians.Telescopes in 1999 had been vastly improved. The network of canals in Mars became far more distinct to the human eye. The moon, our nearest neighbor, looked as though only one mile away. Neptune, the giant of the heavens, grew on more intimateterms with our mother Earth, but on Mars was centered the greatest attention. Fervent were the hopes that Martians would acknowledge the ceaseless signals sent from earth.The growth of the electrical machine industry in 1999 was enormous. The United States of the Americas led the world in their manufacture. The dawn of this vast industry was already manifest, even in 1899. The capital invested in electrical industries in that year was as follows:Invested Capital.928 electric railways, aggregating 14,850 miles,$883,000,0002,838 electric light central stations,335,486,51825,000 private electric lighting plants,87,500,000Power transmission (750,000 motors in use),150,000,000Electrical apparatus in mining,125,000,000Telegraph, telephone, &c.600,000,000Total,$2,180,986,518In 1999 nearly a third of the entire capital of the vast American Republic was invested in electrical interests of some form or other. The export trade of American machines became stupendous. The world demanded only the American make; no substitutes would answer.American pluck and brains proved the lever that Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, so long sighed for. American brains moved the world.
In the old-fashioned days of sails and steam, when a vessel left port and passed out of sight, she instantly became a whole world in herself. Communication had been severed with the outer world. The condition of a sailing vessel during a calm was a picture of helplessness. Steamships were more self-reliant—they at least controlled their own course. But both classes of ships, whether propelled by sail or steam, once out of sight of land, were temporarily shut out from the busy world.
During these enforced absences upon an ocean voyage, great events frequently happened of which passengers, officers and crews were necessarily ignorant of. At theShut Out of the World.termination of a long or short voyage, the first news could only be obtained from the pilot-boat which met the approaching vessel far out at sea. War might be on the eve of declaration as the vessel left port, battles might be fought, the enemy might be vanquished and even peace declared and aknowledge of all these events would only reach the tardy mariner upon the arrival of the vessel at her port of destination.
Such a condition of affairs, often the cause of the deepest anxieties on the part of ocean travelers, might answer well enough for the days of the Crusaders, when kings of Great Britain went to Palestine to battle for the Cross, and never again heard from home in three or four years’ time. When Napoleon, that meteor of the nineteenth century, left the shores ofla belle Francefor the rocky desolation of St. Helena, it was over a year before he received any news from Paris. The same conditions ruled in 1899. Steam had rendered ocean voyages shorter and more punctual. But the main difficulty still existed. Passengers on our ocean-liners during a voyage knew as little of occurrences at home as those who traveled in the days of the Vikings and Crusaders. In this respect (as in many others), the world in 1899 was no better off than in the days when the Roman legions landed on the shores of Britain. The nineteenth century and the centuries before Christ were upon equal footing in this respect.
Many splendidly equipped steamships, with colors flying and bands playing left port in the old days of sails and steam, with multitudes waving their adieux and heartily wishing them God-speed and were never again heard from. No communication was possible in those days between landand vessels at sea. Sometimes they wereInto the Jaws of Death.doomed in the cold embrace of an iceberg; an occasional collision sent hundreds of souls to their final account; fire, always dreaded on the ocean, caused many to suffer the horrors of thirst and starvation; the ocean claimed its victims in many dreadful forms and no tidings ever reached home of the fate of loved ones, because communication between ship and shore in the “good old days” of 1899, was impossible. This supreme difficulty had not yet been overcome in 1899, and the defect was universally regarded as being a most deplorable one. The only communication ever maintained between vessels in mid-ocean and the main shore in the nineteenth century was done by cable-ships, while actually engaged in laying an ocean cable. The Great Eastern was the first steamship to lay claim to this distinction, when in 1867, her officers fished up and brought to the surface the broken Atlantic cable and the great news was flashed from ship to shore.
Vessels in these days of the nineteenth century only too often left port never againA Very Backward Age.to be seen by mortal man. Loved ones plunged into a watery grave, locked in each other’s embrace, and none survived to tell the fearful tale. Communication with shore was unknownin the vaunted civilization of the nineteenth century. The fate of the Naronic, of the White Star line, looms up in evidence. Not a whisper was again heard of her after she left port. The City ofGlasgowin 1854 sank in Neptune’s pastures. Four hundred and eighty souls went down in that brave ship. No hint, however slight, was ever heard of her. The Ocean Monarch, the Pacific of the Collins line, and the ill-fated City of Boston, all suffered fates that none but the day of judgment can reveal.
This confession of weakness, this serious drawback of the nineteenth century, which added to the terrors of those “who go down into the great deep,” was fortunately not shared by the advanced sciences and arts of the twentieth century. Wireless telegraphy contributed almost as much to the comfort of ocean and ærial navigation as electricity. Telegraph poles that rendered hideous some of our most beautiful avenues and the antiquated ocean cables were entirely relegated into oblivion. The former went into the scrap heap, while the latter found their way into Davy Jones’ locker.
Long before 1999 wireless telegraphy was employed on all vessels on ocean, river and lake. Instant communication was at all times maintained between ship and shore.It Opened a New Era.War vessels at foreign stations made their daily reports in 1999 to the Navy Department in the State of Mexico. All other navies of theworld enjoyed the same facilities. Relatives telegraphed to their families and friends from vessels in mid-ocean. It was quite common to receive a brief message from an Atlantic liner two thousand miles east of Sandy Hook, as follows:
On board Electrical Ship Manhattan.Latitude 50 N., long. 30 W.Dear Henry:—Got over being seasick. Baby and nurse doing nicely. Had strawberries and cream for dinner. Dodged an iceberg and struck a whale, yesterday. Love to all. Will wireless from Paris.Ethel.
On board Electrical Ship Manhattan.Latitude 50 N., long. 30 W.
Dear Henry:—Got over being seasick. Baby and nurse doing nicely. Had strawberries and cream for dinner. Dodged an iceberg and struck a whale, yesterday. Love to all. Will wireless from Paris.
Ethel.
Overdue vessels in 1999 gave no anxiety in that era of progress. If a shaft broke the home office was at once notified that the vessel would be several days behind her schedule time in arriving at her destination. If caught in a fog or obliged to move at half speed, the information was immediately lodged on shore. In fact it even became possible to navigate vessels from the shore.
In 1982 the strange experiment was made of navigating a large ocean electric shipSailed his Ship from Land.from Manhattan (old N. Y.), to Queenstown. The name of the vessel was the City of Sidney. After the pilot had dropped off at the Hook, Captain Sherman, of the Electric Belt Line of vessels, remained in his private office in the forty-third story of Anti-Trust building on 59th street, Manhattan, and issued his commands by wireless telegraph to the first officer of the City of Sidney. Reportsreached the captain every six hours, giving the exact latitude and longitude and the ship’s course was directed from the captain’s private office on 59th street in the city of Manhattan. In other words it was the city of Manhattan that kept the City of Sidney on the move, so to speak. The ship’s course, conduct of the crew, the health of the passengers, the reports of passing electrical vessels, the velocity of wind and other details of navigation, were communicated to Captain Sherman, whose orders were given and obeyed as readily as though issued from the bridge or deck of the City of Sidney. When that vessel arrived off Queenstown to land the U. S. of the A. mails, Capt. Sherman in 59th street ordered half speed and finally stopped the electric engines. Of course, while navigating his immense vessel across the ocean and remaining seated in his office at home, Captain Sherman could not assume his place in the saloon at the head of the table. Wireless telegraphy could not, with all its ingenuity, satisfy one’s appetite at the sumptuous dinners served on board the City of Sidney. But this demonstrated to the world in 1982 that with wireless telegraphy commanders could remain in their office on shore and sail their ships to foreign ports in perfect safety. This was done in 1982 just as easily as the old style traindispatchercontrolledfar away trains in 1899 while seated in his own office.
The Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, when perfected in 1920, employed the Hertzian magnetic waves, which are identical with the waves of light. Whenever an electric spark is made to leap from one electrode to another, one of these waves is created. The Marconi instruments for sending and receiving are tuned to each other and are then invulnerable to the attack of waves of different lengths.
These rays of electricity are reflected and directed in a given direction like rays ofA Marvelous Invention.light. An electric circuit with a key, gives the basis of the Marconi system. This circuit runs through a spark coil with an oscillator to produce continuous electric sparking so long as the circuit is kept closed by the key—and from this the sparking wires run out of doors to the pole from which the messages are sent.
One end of the wire is placed in the earth and the other is elevated in the air. The height to which it is carried determines the distance to which the messages may be sent. The operator presses his key as in ordinary telegraphing, making his alphabet in dots and dashes. As the waves shoot out and reach the distant station, the filings in the tube cohere and the current passing through them draws up the armature of the relay magnet. This closes the circuit of the recording instrument. It is broken constantlyby the tapper and instantly re-established by receiving waves.
The towers employed in 1920 for the transmission of wireless messages were very high. The manifest advantages of the system were apparent and long before 1930 wireless telegraphy came into general use. The new system proved the death-knell of telegraph poles, as well as ocean cables. Old telegraph stock faded in value like the morning mist. The supreme importance of communicating with vessels while at sea alone guaranteed the success of the wireless system.
Wireless telegraphy proved to be one of the crowning scientific achievements of the twentieth century, but the ambition of scientistsChatting with the Boys in Mars.in 1969 knew no bounds. In that year they were busy sending messages to Mars, utilizing starbeams for that purpose. For thirty long years they repeated the same messages or signals to Mars every night. In 1999 the canalers up in that bright Yankee planet had not yet responded but hope was still entertained that some sign of recognition might yet be secured from the Martians.
Telescopes in 1999 had been vastly improved. The network of canals in Mars became far more distinct to the human eye. The moon, our nearest neighbor, looked as though only one mile away. Neptune, the giant of the heavens, grew on more intimateterms with our mother Earth, but on Mars was centered the greatest attention. Fervent were the hopes that Martians would acknowledge the ceaseless signals sent from earth.
The growth of the electrical machine industry in 1999 was enormous. The United States of the Americas led the world in their manufacture. The dawn of this vast industry was already manifest, even in 1899. The capital invested in electrical industries in that year was as follows:
Invested Capital.928 electric railways, aggregating 14,850 miles,$883,000,0002,838 electric light central stations,335,486,51825,000 private electric lighting plants,87,500,000Power transmission (750,000 motors in use),150,000,000Electrical apparatus in mining,125,000,000Telegraph, telephone, &c.600,000,000Total,$2,180,986,518
In 1999 nearly a third of the entire capital of the vast American Republic was invested in electrical interests of some form or other. The export trade of American machines became stupendous. The world demanded only the American make; no substitutes would answer.
American pluck and brains proved the lever that Archimedes, the Greek mathematician, so long sighed for. American brains moved the world.