ETHERGRAPHY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIV, Issue 138, 7 December 1907, Page 12

ETHERGRAPHY.

! no use t\nu L-Arnnoiun. INTERESTING COMMENTS. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, 25th October. Sonio years have elapsed since Mr. Alfred Mayne lcffc New Zealand for South Africa, and between then and now his travels have been Varied and extensive. Ho has been devoting himself to the study of wireless telegraphy. Mr. Maync lias just arrived in. England once, again iroiu Amorica en route to the European Continent. For sometime ho was with the dc Forest Company in New York, then ho spent ;i good deal of time with Professor Fes-, semden, and at the- present, period he is again with the do Forest Company, whoso sysfcom is very largely in vogue throughout America. Ifc may be recollected that Professor Fessemdcn was the inventor of the first system of wireless telegraphy, which i worked with success over long distances. I His firm erected two very long-distance stations;, one of which was established in Scotland, the result being that for the first time it was possible to establish direct and successful communication by -wireless telegraphy between tho United Kingdom and America. The necessary apparatus, on this side, was put up in Scotland at considerable cost, and tho working gave entire patisfaution while the station lasted, but, unfortunately, during a great gale the tower, which was placed somewhere m the vicinity of Glasgow, collapsed; its height was 420 feet; its cost was £5000. As yet it has not been rebuilt. For several years past Mr. Maync has been practically the travelling leprescntative of the do Forost Company. The hoadquiivters of the do Forest Company arc in New York, but it has no fewer than 80 land stations established in different navts of the American continent, ail* at the present time there arc some 250 ships fitted with, their special form of wireless telegraphic apparatus ; in short, the de lorest Company is tho Jargost body of its kind operating in the United States. Recently Mr. Mayne was in Mexico for a lengthy period in connection with business matters. Now ho has come to Europe- to mako arrangements for tho formation of a company, on new and thoroughly up-to-dato lines, with the idea ot' starting wireless telegraphic operations in Asia — chiefly in China and .Japan. With the purpose of fuiLhcring this object, ho will leave for Berlin in the course of a few daya," returning thence direct to New York by one of the German lincis. SYSTEM USED ON STEAMERS. I havo already noted that 25U shipa, chiefly trading on the American coasts, are fitted with the do Forest system of wireless telegraphy, and this, of course, means that there are as many operators always at work. Mr. May no has on | many occasions taken charge of the apparatus on board different steamers, and in this way has seen a good deal lof that part o^ tht world linormous use is made by passengers of this means of communicating with tho shore, many of them despatching and receiving messages every day, at quite small cost. Ships going from New York to the West Indies, a run of four days, are, by means of wireless telegraphy, in con ctant touch with the shore by night and day if desired. ■ Quito marvellous is tho daily newspaper published on board, made up from news of cosmopolitan interest and variety, . obtained by means of tho apparatus. % Travellers take advantage of its presence by ordering hotel accommodation to be in readiness for them at the end of their journey. Mr. Mayne sees no reason why some system pf wireless telegraphy should not bo adopted in tho colonies — between Australia and' New Zealand, for instance — or oven if only desired in, the interests of 'the shipping world, so that coastal steamers and others which go as far as Australia might be always within communication with the shore in case of emergency. Ho remarked that a 600-mile station erected in Australia and another 600-mile station, erected in New Zealand would mean that every ship carrying the apparatus could be in unbroken communication at any time during the voyago either with the country of departure or that of expected arrival. It seems generally to bo considered thai the -time for the establishment of wireless telegraphy in New Zealand is not ripe, but Mr. Mayne thinks that if onco it were established its use would bo found of groat value, even if only for the purpose 'of keeping in touch with the shipping. He says there tire half a dozen systems now, all working satisfactorily, the authorities in connection" with any one of which would put up the necessary stations and guarantee n, cfctisfactory working up to a distance, of at least 1000 miles. LONGER, DISTANCES. Regarding the work at longer distances, however, Mi 1 . Mayne's experience leads him to believe that the time is not yet ripe for tho guaranteo of communication between places at more than 1000 milee distant from ono another, ft is true that messages havo over and over again, and with complete | success, been despatched from one station and received at another, 3600 miles apart. But there is still considerable uncertainty about the long-dis-tance working. Ono clay one station may easily be able to communicate with another, say, at 2000 miles, but perhaps n^xt day tho distance able to be covered might bo only 100 miles. Wireless telegraphy is recojuked to bo only in its infancy, although it is admitted that marvelloufi strides have been made toward perfection during tho last few ycais. At present, howover, no detinite reason can be given for the uncertainly ■when working at, long distances. Much of tho success or otherwise is thought to depend largely upon atmospheric" conditions, but the true cause of the non-communication remains to be discovered. For business communications at a distance of, say, 95 mileG — between Now York and Atlantic City, for instance — tho system of wireless telegraphy is found of great \<ihiB by commercial men who make much uso of it. Tho United Stales Government is in constant (ouch with all its wai ships by means of wireless telegraphy, having ix system of its own, while tho do Forest Company has conUol of all wireless tr&ttlt; of the Atlantic Coast of America. Mr. Mayne Jind3 that there if. no opening in England, for tha Marconi system has tho monopoly here, but it is believed that Asia offers an entirely new field for the introduction ot the latest development of tho system which Mr. Mayno has come to Euiopc to establish.