Chapter VI
The Uses of Wireless Telegraphy
20. Public Service
That branch of the wireless service which probably appeals most to the reader is the public service. A comparatively few years ago, when the tourist bade his friends adieu as the steamer started on its ocean voyage, it was with the knowledge that they and the rest of the world would be as dead to him until he should arrive at his destination, at some distant port across the ocean, or, perhaps, far down the coast. Important events might develop in his business, or other personal matters come up, which only he could control; yet he would remain in absolute ignorance of the facts until the steamer arrived in port, when it might be too late for him to do anything to advantage in the matter.
Wireless telegraphy has changed all this, however. The tourist crossing the ocean, or the business man travelling along the coast, goes with a feeling of perfect security. He goes with the knowledge that he may keep in constant touch with his family and his business, and may even44
