WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY 



splicing it down to the water's edge, a distance of twenty 

 yards more. The result was the immediate response of 

 the receiving instrument to the messages sent from the 

 other station, every letter being correctly recorded. 



Longer distances were tried at once, and within a 

 few months it was possible to send messages across the 

 English Channel. Stations were established at points in 

 England and France, and communications of all kinds 

 passed continually between these points for several 

 months. During this time it was ascertained that such 

 atmospheric conditions as fog, for example, did not in- 

 terfere in any way with the transmission of messages, but 

 on the contrary facilitated them. Electrical conditions 

 of the atmosphere, however, affected the wireless system 

 in much the same manner as they affect the ordinary 

 telegraph. 



About this same time an epoch in telegraphy and 

 navigation was made by the installation of wireless 

 instruments on board one of the Channel boats in the 

 North Sea. It was found that the masts of the boat 

 afforded excellent means of establishing the air-wire, 

 and that communication could be kept up continually 

 between the boat and the shore station during the voy- 

 age. If anyone had ever doubted the utility of such a 

 system, which is hardly likely, these doubts were 

 soon dispelled by an incident which occurred soon after 

 the establishment of the wireless system on this boat. 

 In one of her passages she sighted a small vessel which 

 had run ashore in a dangerous position, imperiling the 

 lives of the crew. The position of the vessel was 

 such that it was impossible to give assistance from 



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