by appealing to other vessels which may be within useful distance, or through shore stations.
When the operator on a coastwise steamer 1s reporting to the shore station at regular intervals, it gives assurance that if anything should happen to the steamer, aid would be quickly forthcoming, and the lives of the passengers and crew would be saved, as would also the hundreds of thousands of dollars represented in the steamer and valuable cargo.
This gives the passengers an assurance of safety, and the owners and Marine Insurance Companies a knowledge of increased protection; hence the owners should have less insurance to pay.
When equipped with the wireless telegraph, a tug may take in tow, say, several barges laden with coal, from a southern port, and proceed northward along the coast, the captain having not the slightest idea where the coal will be sold. The agents are busy, however, and soon the captain receives an order by wireless where to drop a portion of his tow. After making this delivery, he proceeds on his way, and receives his wireless orders from time to time, until all his coal is disposed of. Had it not been for the wireless, he could not have proceeded until all, or at least a part, of the coal was sold; thus much time and money may be saved.
Again, a steamer might proceed from a southern to a northern port in winter, and after the vessel was well up the coast, news might be received at the steamship office