SECRET WIRELESS IN AMERICA

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3069, 3 May 1917, Page 5

SECRET WIRELESS IN AMERICA

; —-—<r- . 'A DANGEROUS MENACE. 'Among many rumours that t!gin. tho news of the clay there are not a few which .tell of the establishment of clandestine wireless stations lloth iu* the. remote sections of .the United States and in Mexico and the , Central American republics. Whether these rumours are well founded or not, from a purely scientific point of view (says the "Scientific American") they are of considerable interest'becauso of the possibilities which they suggest at •this time. For two years, more or less, the German army of occupation in Belgium |t was troubled by tho activities. of a Belgian newspaper which, strangely enough, was edited, printed, and distributed by unknown-.persons. Rewards offered for information leading to the ■discovery of the persons connectcd with this little newspaper failed of result, so patriotic havo been tho Belgians. .Despite every precaution on .the part of thei German authorities, .the little paper appeared regularly and found its way to the thousands of readers. Now the main point of interest in this story is that the little Belgian newspaper was always in ft position to publish the latest war news from England and France. It made no secret of-the fact that the press dispatches . from tho British and Erenoh radio stations were regularly received at a concealed wireless station; xad, obviously, these. dispatches were often at odds with the German official reports, with the result that the activities of the Belgian newspaper were necessarily embarrassing to the Teuton invaders. According to last reports tho Belgian newspaper was still being published, and the clandestine wireless station was at work overy day, picking up the war news sent out by the Entente radio stations and distributing it among the Belgians. , What has been done in Belgium can readily bo repeated in the United States. And it is a known fact that • wireless apparatus has been found among the paraphernalia of certain of tho German plotters who have been apprehended by - the authorities. Of ■ ■ what use are these wireless instruments ? To answer this question it would be necessary to know something of the ;alien plots which are. as yet undiscovered. But from a technical standpoint it is known that with tho most inexpensive receiving apparatus it is possible to receive messages from abroad. Thus the average wireless amateur in New-York City, using the Armstrong regenerative tuning . circuits and a valve detector, has no difficulty in nightly picking up the press and other dispatches emitted- by tho German radio stations, such as Nauen and Eilvese. And what these young-j sters can do, others can do; and if some understanding exists between the German authorities and their sccret agents in this country, it may ho said that the two are in virtual communication at all times, even admitting that the communication is but one way. As to the situation in Mcxico and Central America, the presence there of wireless stations owned 'and operated by German interests would be ' most serious; for in the oase of stations on United Spates soil, they must confine their efforts to receiving only or risk quick detection, while on neighbouring soil they cau opcrato with impunity, not only receiving instructions <from .Berlin, hut also transmitting messages across tlio ocean , and to submarines and raiders operating -in- our waters. ' ; ,