December 1, 1912. 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



l.li 



ni 



India Rubber and Wireless Telegraphy. 



AIEW years ago when the steamship "RepubHc" was run 

 into and sunk off our coast, we got our iirst idea on a 

 large scale of the usefulness of wireless telegraphy. 

 Most of us can recall the manner in which Jack Binns stuck 

 to his post on the sinking liner and sent his aerial calls for aid 

 which fortunately brought succor in ample time. Then we 

 realized something of the human benefits of Marconi's splendid 

 work. That accident led to a broader adoption of wireless in- 

 stallations for sea-going passenger craft, and it also served to 

 emphasize some of the limitations of the apparatus then in com- 

 mercial service. It was well that such was the case, because 

 there was another and still more disastrous accident yet to 

 come, before the full significance and the need of the universal 

 adoption of this means of communication at sea could be made 

 plain. Even now, the mere mention of the ill-fated "Titanic" 

 fills us with a sense of awe. But out of that dreadful catas- 

 trophe survives the story of Phillips' splendid heroism as he 

 stuck to his wireless instrument until the moment of her final 

 plunge — calling incessantly to his fellow operators far spread 

 upon the darkened sea and asking that they hasten their cap- 

 tains with aid. But for those Hertzian waves that bore to the 

 remote ships this message of need, the loss of life would prob- 

 ably have been still greater. 



To the dealer in and the manufacturer of rubber it must be 

 a source of interest, if not pride, that caoutchouc plays no in- 

 conspicuous part in the setting and the contributive equipment 

 of the best of these wireless apparatus. Thanks to the courtesy 

 of the Marconi company, we have been able to visit one of 

 their local stations. Of course, we do not want to convey the 

 idea that India rubber is an integral part of the dispatching or 

 the receiving instruments so far as the wireless functions are 

 concerned. India rubber merely serves to safeguard these 

 operations, and in doing this to contribute to their efficiency. 

 Insulation of the best is an absolute necessity in this depart- 

 ment of electrical science: a necessity in carrying the dispatch- 

 ing impulses to the towering aerials without loss of energy 

 through leakage, and still more necessary in preventing the 



stricted zone for the dispatched message ; leakage in the second 

 case might render a call for help futile. 

 Only the best of insulation will answer, and so far nothing 



Fig. 1. SnowiNn H.\ru Ri'bber Insulators. 



diminishing wave-force of a sending station far away from 

 being further impaired as it travels down the waiting wires to 

 the delicate receiver. Leakage in the first case means a re- 



I'lG. 2. Showing 11.\ri) Kiiiukr I.nsil.mors. 



has been found equal to either hard or soft rubber for the 

 various apjilications to which they are put. From the time the 

 Hertzian waves reach the antennae 'way up in the air with their 

 arriving message until they transmit their feeble impulses in 

 faint ticks to the sensitive receiver, and thence to the operator 

 by means of microphonic ear-pieces of a telephone, hard and 

 soft rubber play a frequent part in the get-up of the apparatus 

 and its installation. It would only confuse the average person 

 to have these several parts designated by their technical names, 

 and to the rubber man it will probably suffice to know that his 

 commodity is so essential to this development of modern 

 wizardry. What will also be a source of satisfaction to the 

 trade and the manufacturer is that every advance in wireless 

 and every broadening of its application, but serves to increase 

 tile demand for rubber. 



Substantially every United States naval vessel, including 

 most of the submarines, now carry wireless equipments, and 

 this means of long-range communication has become an in- 

 dispensable factor in the management of our fleets and squad- 

 rons upon the sea. It will undoubtedly prove of vital im- 

 l)ortancc in the massing of our forces and the skilful intercep- 

 tion of our enemies in the next great naval battle — if we have 

 one. It was used by the Japanese and Russians during their 

 recent, struggle, but unfortunately for the Czar's fleet, the 

 Japanese knew their enemy's code, and were able to intercept 

 those confidential messages. Since then, however, the wireless 

 expert has developed a system of "tuning" — really regulating 

 the length of the Hertzian wave, and by this means the receiv- 

 ing instruments are made receptive only to the proper or pre- 

 scribed impulses. This is getting somewhat into the techni- 

 calities of the science, but it only shows how one achievement 

 leads to another. 



Perhaps the most astfmishing advances in wireless have been 

 in the direction of securing greater range. Where it used to 

 be a matter of less than fifty miles a few years ago, it is now 

 possible to send Hertzian waves over a zone of several thou- 

 sand miles in diameter, and to make these impulses so definite 

 that the signals can be picked up and read distinctly at those 



