THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Thursday, November 12, 1908. "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12397, 12 November 1908, Page 2

THE COLONIST. Published Every Morning. Thursday, November 12, 1908. "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

The project of linking the outposts of the Empire by wireless telegraphy is makmg steady headway and will no doubt be shortly carried into effect, with very great benefits to all the links of the chain of communication. An Imperial system of wireless telegraphy, perfected as it could easily be to the point of absolute reliability and. effectiveness, would solve. the problem of cable* rates that is agitating all the Australasian States at the present time, and would bring the penny-a-word message ideal within reach, at the same time obviating the great expense to the ' Governments of cable laying or subsidising cable companies. At the present time all the Atlantic greyhounds are equipped with the Marconi apparatus, as are the vessels of many lines in other waters. The principle will iii all probability be applied before long to all the larger vessels trading to Australia and New Zealand. B.esidos its commercial utility, wireless telegraphy would be of inestimable value in war, rendering anything in tlie nature of a surprise invasion an impossibility. .This aspect oi bhe question was dealt with in a recent article by Mr AY. T. Stead, who said that wireless telegraphy as an element of safety had been almost entirely overlooked by the alarmists who aro for ever harping upon the possibility of a surprise. "Thanks to the. übiquity of a merchant marine, and the certainty; that before long every tramp steamer and. every steam traw-. lor will be fitted with wireless installation, no enemy will be able to stir oh any of the seas ... between the Straits of" Belleisle and the Suez Canal without 'his .movements being instantly reported at Whitehall. To paraphrase the familiar phrase, 'Wireless telegraphy • enables Britain to see everything : that goes.jbiv up to .the soa coast of her. enemies.' Every British vessel and fishing smack fittod with wireless telegraphy will be-. coTve the eyes and the ears of the Ad/iiirali-y.J' It is difficult . to imagine tho transformation thus effected in the conditions of national security, and naval efficiency. Twentyfive years ago it was assumed as a bruism that on the first outbreak of war the submarine cables would be cut, and Britain, severed from Greater Britain, • would be compelled to fight in the dark. . The lack of in- . formation as to the whereabouts of our fleets on the high seas, the im-: possibility of communicating with our possessions oversea, save by • . . mail steamers, the total ignorance of what our enemy might be contriving for olio and doing beyond the* expanse of blue water—all these, elements of danger had to be taken into account as adverse 'factors in the war. Today, thanks to the wireless telegraphy they have now disappeared. Britain is now in a position to know accurately from moment . to moment, the movements of every ship within .1600 miles of her shores. 'The danger that any of her fighting units should be out of reach and out of call when tho decisive moment arrives has. disappeared, and as the ships can be concentrated in half the time that was needed formerly, their mobility has boen practically doubled. .Writing of wireless telegraphy calls to mind a statement recently made by a Wellington contemporary, that' some twenty years ago a New Zea--lauder very nearly achieved the distinction of originating wireless telegraphy. Had. he been able to pursue his investigations he would, probably have made himself and his country famous. The gentleman in -question was Mr G. T. Kemp, at present assistant electrician in the head office of the Telegraph Department. At first lie thought only of -sending messages through the ground and the sea. He obtained successful results, between points a few "yards apart, then widened the space to. three miles, and finally made experiments between~Wairqa and Gisborne, a distance .of 74 miles. At one end Was a Morse key and at the other a galvanometer, a- delicately'adjusted magnetic needle used for indicating electric currents. "Arrangements were made for operating the koy at certain- times, and watches at both ends were timed together, so that the experimenters at the galvanometer end would know exactly when the key was being operated. The result was that when the key was operated .the galvanometer, 74 miles away, indicated the arrival of an : electric current through the/ earth, the deflections in the instrument corresponding with the. movement of the key. At that time it was something quite now,- but "unfortunately Mr Kemp had not the means to con-tinue-his experiments. In fact all his instruments were made by himself arid were necessarily crude. In later years Mr Kemp '. turned his at tention to wireless signalling through •the air, but by that time the successful experiments of Mr Marconi | had sent his fame ringing throughout the world.