158 Master Minds of Modern Science 



were sent from the yacht by wireless — chiefly private 

 communications between Queen Victoria and the Prince. 



Marconi's success in bridging the Atlantic encouraged 

 him to greater efforts. Soon he discovered what is called 

 the persistent wave method of wirelessing, which pro- 

 duces trains of undamped or slightly damped waves of 

 high frequency. This enabled him to dispense with the 

 immensely powerful spark which he used in his earlier 

 system. While conducting his earlier experiments Mar- 

 coni, like every one else, was under the impression that 

 great distances could not be covered without the use of 

 very high masts and great lengths of suspended wires. 

 The idea was that the waves were hindered by the 

 curvature of the earth, but Marconi's Newfoundland 

 experiments proved that this was not the case and that 

 the waves curved with the earth's surface. Marconi's 

 faith in his invention was boundless, and in 1902 he fore- 

 saw already that within a few years liners and warships 

 would be in constant communication with the land. 



As we have already mentioned, passenger-carrying ships 

 were beginning to instal wireless as early as the year 1900, 

 and before long things began to happen which proved the 

 enormous value of the new invention. We have spoken of 

 the rescue of the Medora through the use of wireless. A 

 little later the captain of a big liner on its way to America 

 became aware that he had aboard a gang of card-sharpers 

 who were swindling passengers. As he approached New 

 York he sent a wireless message to the authorities. 

 Detectives came out by tug and met the ship, the 

 members of the gang were recognized, and to their intense 

 disgust found themselves arrested and presently sentenced 

 to long terms of imprisonment. 



It was not until 1909, however, that the value of wire- 

 less as a life-saver was fully proved. In January 1909 the 

 White Star liner Republic was rammed in mid-ocean by 

 another vessel, the Florida. There was thick fog at the 



