THE WORLD'S ADVANCE 



397 



There is a Wide Gulf between the Wire and the Wirel ess Operator. The Former is More or less a Mechan- 

 tral Human He is Simply an Interpreter for the Little Instrument before Him. The Latter is That and 

 Much More. He is Placed on His Own Resources; He Must Possess a Thorough Knowledge of His Appa- 

 ratus, and What is Paramount, He Must be Big Enough to Face Disaster at any Moment. 



After a while a faint sputtering came 

 out of the stillness. "Hurry, the water 

 is flooding our generators our power is 

 going." There was no need of going into 

 details, the character of the signals was 

 sufficient proof of the correctness of the 

 statement. For several hours the ether 

 was in a state of great calm about the 

 Virginia capes. Government stations, 

 commercial stations and vessels lying at 

 their dock all eagerly listened to get a 

 parting message from those whom they 

 thought were going to certain oblivion. 

 Communications between these several 

 stations were very curt and limited to a 

 few words. They could take no chances 

 at losing even a letter. 



A heavy spark thundered through the 

 quiet. It was the station at Cape Hat- 

 teras. "S. S. Alamo has gone to the res- 

 cue of the Kentucky and should be there 

 in two hours." 



The relief was only temporary. Would 

 the ship hold out until succor arrived? 

 Would the helper be able to locate the 

 helpless ? 



After this more intense calm than ever 



prevailed. It was interrupted a few 

 hours afterwards by a faint message 

 from the S. S. Alamo herself. "Crew 

 Kentucky rescued safe on board ves- 

 sel abandoned in a sinking condition." 



Congratulations were exchanged be- 

 tween the ship and Hatteras and a sigh 

 of relief was signalled from station to 

 station. The Kentucky sunk shortly after 

 being abandoned. 



We should not forget, however, that 

 wireless telegraphy was not primarily in- 

 tended for the exploitation of the sensa- 

 tional nor for promulgation of heroic 

 fame, but that its real value lies in the 

 every-day commercial and humanitarian 

 applications. 



Contrast the situation of fifteen years 

 ago with that of today. Only a few days 

 ago the operator on a trans-Atlantic ves- 

 sel told me that when in mid-ocean he 

 was simultaneously in touch with the 

 great Marconi station at Poldhu in Eng- 

 land, the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the 

 high-power Government station at Ar- 

 lington, Va. 



It is work of this nature which inspires 



