Silence in the Midst of Noise.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 25, Issue 39, 22 May 1914, Page 2

Silence in the Midst of Noise.

CURIOUS PROBLEM RAISED IN THE ALPS. A scientific man, Professor Quervain, who is well known as a Swiss explorer, has raised a tantalising puzzle. He has been watching the effect of great dynamite explosions in the making of the railway up the Jungfrau Mountain, and he believes he has made - a remarkable discovery. The shock of the explosions could be heard for thirty miles, and then, within a zone of country reaching fifty miles from the scene of operations, the reports w'ere again distinctly heard. Professor Quervain calls the area between the sounds “the zone of silence,” am: says he cannot account for the mystery. Neither can we, but perhaps we dare venture a guess. Is it possible that the farther zone catchean echo which cannot be caught by the zone of silence ? The question must be closely investigated before we can know.

His discovery leads Professor Quervain to ask whether it may not clear up an old mystery. During the Seven Years’ War between Austria and Prussia, which lasted from 1756 till 1763, General Daun, a leader of the Austrian Army, was accused of deserting General Loudon, another Austrian officer, who, with his army, was unexpectedly attacked by the Prussian forces at Liegnitz. General Daun was about forty miles at the time, and although stragglers still farther from the battlefield distinctly heard ‘the cannon of The contending armies, neither Daun nor his men heard a sound. They were not believed, however, and Daun was held to havq deserted the other general. Is it possible that for one and a half centuries Daun has heen misjudged by history, and that he was in a zono of silence, unable to hear the sounds of the battle, which those farther off could clearly hear ? That will never be known now. It

is odd to remember, however, that a battle has been heard at a distance of a thousand miles. When the British fleet bombarded Alexandria in 1882, a telephone was attached to the submarine telegraph cable running from Malta to Alexandria —over 1000 miles —and a second cable was attached to the cable by a British battleship taking part in the fighting.

An attempt was made to communicate by speech between the two places, but the vibrations caused by the heavy guns was so great that speech proved impossible. The gunfire at Alexandria, was, however, clearly heard over the wire at Malta.