1 64 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



It has been often contended that whilst cables could be cut in time 

 of war no one can cut the ether; but wireless telegraph stations in 

 exposed situations on high promontories, where they are visible for 

 ten to fifteen miles out at sea and undefended by any forts, could 

 easily be destroyed. The great towers which are essential to carry 

 large aerials are a conspicuous object for ten miles out at sea; and a 

 single well-placed shell from a six-inch gun would wreck the place 

 and put the station completely out of use for many months. Hence 

 if oceanic telegraphy is ever to be conducted in a manner in which 

 the communication will be inviolable or, at any rate, not be capable 

 of interruption by acts of war, the careful selection of the sites for 

 stations is a matter of importance. A small station consisting of a 

 single 150-foot mast and a wooden hut can easily be removed or 

 replaced, but an expensive power station, the mere aerial of which 

 may cost several thousand pounds, is not to be put up in a short time.* 



Meanwhile, whatever may be the future achievements of this new 

 supermarine wireless telegraphy conducted over long distances, there 

 can be no question as to its enormous utility and present value for 

 intercommunication between ships on the ocean and ships and the 

 shore. At the present time, there are some forty or more of the 

 transatlantic ocean liners and many other ships equipped with this 

 Hertzian wave wireless telegraph apparatus on the Marconi system. 

 Provided with this latest weapon of applied science, they are able to 

 chat with one another, though a hundred miles apart on the ocean, 

 with the ease of guests round a dinner table, to exchange news or 

 make demands for assistance. 



Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing — 

 Only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; 

 So, on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, 

 Only a look and a voice, then darkness again, and a silence. 



Abundant experience has been gathered to show the inexpressible 



value of this means of communication in case of accident, and it can 



hardly be doubted that before long the possession of this apparatus on 



board every passenger vessel will be demanded by the public, even if 



not made compulsory. Although the privacy of an ocean voyage may 



have been somewhat diminished by this utilization of ether waves, 



there is a vast compensation in the security that is thereby gained to 



human life and property by this latest application of the great energies 



of nature for the use and benefit of mankind. 



' , . 



* Mr. Marconi has informed the writer that these strategic questions have 

 received attention in selecting the sites for large Marconi power stations in 

 Italy. 



