WIRELESS CALLING

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 21 (Supplement)

WIRELESS CALLING

SEAS AND ARCTIC WASTES. HEROES IN A LIGHTHOUSE. Wireless has eased the anxiety of many people doomed to isolation, and a remarkable instance has occurred in a lonely lighthouse perched on a rock in the Atlantic, 15 miles from the island of Mull, says the Children’s Newspaper. Winter storms prevented the three keepers from receiving their fortnightly relief call. During an unsuccessful attempt at relief one of the keepers was seriously injured, his ankle being broken when he was swept into the sea and thrown by the waves on to the rocky base of the lighthouse. His two companions, who had ; miraculously escaped, - carried him up the ladder of this 150-feet lighthouse .and wire-. lessed what : had happened. A doctor, was called to the receiving station and gave instructions as to what should be done to save the man’s leg. The doctor continued to pay his visits oyer the wireless for 13 days until the storm abated and the men were relieved. MAROONED IN THE ARCTIC. An even more striking instance of the value of wireless has been seen in the . dramatic marooning of 92 Russians in the Arctic.. They include five women and a child, all crowded on the icebreaker Cheluskin, which had sailed for 1 Murmansk last summer to take off a i party of scientists who had been ing on Wrangel Island. But op the way i home the ship got caught in ice-floes, and it has been drifting with them in the Arctic all this winter. \ ! The Polar night adds to the discom- : fort of their congested home, but the} ship has wireless and is in touch with , the world, and especially with the pilots ; of two aeroplanes who are spending the I winter at Providence Bay, to the south ■ of Bering Strait, ready to risk every-; thing should an emergency arise on the [ Cheluskin. The flight to the ship and' back in the darkness, with the diffi-! culty of landing on the rough ice, is'

not to be thought of except as a last resource, but wireless would bring the aeroplanes to the ship in case of serious illness or accident. DRIVING OR DIVING. ALL THE SAME TO VOLMAR. The valiant story comes from Sweden of Volmar Hailing, a lorry-driver travelling with a load of cattle and pigs. On his way he had to cross a piece of water which was frozen, and the ferryman told him it would be safe for him to drive his load. But half-way over the ice gave way, and lorry and'occupants sank 10 or 12 feet. Hailing had great difficulty in escaping from his driver’s cabin, but he succeeded in getting out, swam to the surface, and climbed on to the ice. He found that some of the animals had got to the surface, but two cows were being held down by ropes tying them to. the back of the lorry. The driver borrowed a knife, dived in again, reached the cows, cut the ropes, and brought the animals to the surface. When all the animals were safe on shore Hailing ran off to get a change of clothes, and went back to work as if nothing had happened. > BICYCLES BY POST. THE MANUFACTURER WITH AN IDEA Bicycles can now be. sent by parcel post, thanks to a method thought out by a Birmingham manufacturer. Many months of experiment have resulted in this firm planning a certain distribution of the bicycle’s parts in packages which come within the Post Office regulations of weight and size. Now a customer in a remote pai*t of the world can have a bicycle delivered from the Birmingham factory straight to his home, dispensing with agents and collecting fees. The bicycle the postman will bring 'to the door will be in five parts, which we presume will be easily assembled from printed directions, with no fear of getting the handlebars fixed on to the back-wheel.