The Daily News FRIDAY, AUGUST 13. WIRELESS AND LIFE-SAVING.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 172, 13 August 1909, Page 2

The Daily News FRIDAY, AUGUST 13. WIRELESS AND LIFE-SAVING.

"In view of the accident to the War. ■ah and numerous shipping casualties he South- African Union delegates ar onsulting the Admiralty with a vie* o the installation of wireless tel< raphy on the coast of Mouth Africa, o runs a cahle message from Ixmdn: n this morning's paper. If the dele :ates succeed in their object, they wil iavc achieved a distinction for the ne\ 'louth African Commonwealth in open ng its'career in the van- of progress ; 'o our mind it seems to savor of a erim nal neglect, on the part of rcspousi'ol ;overnments of maritime countries, tha uch hesitancy should have been sllowi n adopting the (lod-settt discovery o vireless telegraphy. The mystery sui winding the fate of the liner Waratat. vith her M) Australasian passenger* vculd in all probability never hav irisen had wireless telegraphy bee idopted in the Southern Hemisphere a t has in tile Northern. .Marconi's ili fention has to its credit the saving o lumlrcils of valuable lives on both side if the North Atlantic Ocean, and it ibnost universal use by t.rans-Atlanti hipping has rendered ocean travelling i hose waters almost as secure as rail vay travelling on land. While ther s some hope that the Waratah ha nerely met with disablement, and ha Iriftc'd out of the track of shipping, he escuc in the great expanse of th Southern ocean is purely a matter u 'liance. But were Australia, New Zea and and South Africa equipped wit' thcrgram stations, and passenger ship ling compelled to instal the necess.i. pparatus, none of the fears aroused ; he hearts of anxious friends concernin. he Waratah need have been occasioned Vhatever the nature of the mishap, i s Almost impossible that any disaste ould be so suddenly complete that th iews could not have been Hashed fron ier operating table to the receiving sta ions ashore and afloat. And the assist lice that the Admiralty and merchan hipping is now uroping through th cean to render, would have been le merringly on its life and property-sav ng mission. The heroic rescue, som iionths ago, of the liner Republic an ier human freight, when during ense tog, and in a. sinking conditio" he was succoured by steamers' summon d to h-r aid by her wireless message! erves to show what might have bee: c-cuacted in the case of the missin Varatah, had the lesson of the Kepubli ieen taken to heart in this hemispher s it was by the United Hates of Auk ica and France. The need for the re tallation of wireless telegraphy o hipping in 'the Southern ocean is in ray more pressing than in the nine: norc frequented waters of the Nort Ltlantic. There have been many ease f serious accidents to our inter-colonia hipping on the high seas, through brok n propellers and fractured shafts, and teamera have on many comparatively

recent occasions been long overdue i without ultimate loss. Such accidents in j the future need occasion none of the anxiety at present frit for the safety of the liner Waratah were communication by means of wireless telegraphy established between shipping at sea, and the mainland. Sir Joseph Ward is alive to the wisdom of adopting the system, hut in the negotiations with the Commonwealth, we are afraid too much consideration might be given to the commercial aspect of the venture. We are convinced the people of Australasia would be quite prepared to meet any loss that might be made on the running uf a wireless system, which, irrespective of its coiumerical utilisation, would

serve a? a means of communication with vessels on any or all of our ocean highways, and thus ensure prompt aid being afforded distressed shipping.