Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony/Chapter 6
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 even send social messages just for the novelty of it. If he is delayed by fog or snow-storm on a short trip, he sends a “wireless,” stating the facts, and making a new appointment, and the probable time of his arrival.
But the use of wireless telegraphy, which should appeal
Fig. 22.—Portable Receiving Outfits.
the strongest to the travelling public, is its inestimable value in case of accident.
21. Value to Shipowners
What mostly concerns owners of vessels 1s the fact that their steamers may keep in constant communication with the office of the steamship company, and in case of accident assistance may be secured very quickly, 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 fhat the harbor of destination was ice-bound. A short message by wireless would halt the steamer, thereby saving much coal and other expense.
22. Telegraphing over Land
While greater distances may be covered by wireless telegraph over water, as was explained in Art. 5, it is also
Fig. 23.—Portable Signal Corps U. S. A, Outfit “On the March.”
used to a considerable extent in telegraphing over land. While as yet it has not entered into very active competition with the regular wire service, it fills a great demand in communicating over wild countries, where the installation and maintenance of a regular telegraph or telephone line would be impracticable. It is also much cheaper
Fig. 24.—Portable Signal Corps U. S. A. Outfit “Ready for Business.”
than the wire equipments, where the volume of business is not too great, and the distance warrants its use,
Excellent results are reported from Alaska, where a wire equipment would be well-nigh impossible, owing to the heavy sleet and snow-storms, and to the further fact that
Fig. 25.—Complete Portable Outfit.
the natives steal the wires. It is but natural that the wireless should be installed in districts where there has previously been no telegraph system whatever, and for this reason its use 1s common in sections like Central and South America.
No force of linemen 1s required m connection with a wireless equipment, and so long as the station itself remains in working order, floods, snow-storms, tornadoes,
and even earthquakes may occur without interfering with the wireless service, while any of the above disturbances usually suspend the wire business for days at a time, and communication is restored only after a considerable outlay of money,
In military operations portable outfits are used which may be set up, and messages transmitted and received upon a few minutes’ notice, while on the march or on the battle-field. Before the advent of wireless telegraphy, it was necessary to string wires over long distances and at great risk, and even then the enemy might at any moment cut the wires.
Now that wireless has entered the field of commercial competition with the trans-Atlantic cables, its progress will be watched with the greatest interest.