The San Francisco call. [volume], October 04, 1899, Page 2, Image 2

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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2
STEAMER PONCE, FROM WHICH MESSAGES WERh
SHNT BY WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.
•a mile dead to windward of the green j
•boat. ■
I -During the next thirty minutes a
'dozen short tacks were made, the wind
. continuing fluky all the, time, until a
:■ few minutes before 3 lock, when the
■ w.ind left the Columbia for fully five
minutes. She had the inshore berth.
..■while the Shamrock, offshore, held a
{breeze from the northeast. When the!
Shamrock, at 3:11, went about on the |
. Columbia's lee bow she was well ahead:
-.that is to say, if she had gone about she
could have crossed the Columbia's bow.
' JBetween 3:15- and 3:20 the Columbia.
: with a few fresh puffs from the north
■.eust,. began walking up on the Sham
• rock, which was then nearly a quarter
of a mile to windward of her, but be
•■fore she could overhaul the Shamrock
.'the wind died out again, the Shamrock
• continuing to hold a breeze, and by 3:35
: she was early half a mile to windward
••of the Bristol boat. There was a strong
• tide setting to the southwest which
■seemed to affect the Columbia more
.than it did the Shamrock. As it was
• necessary, according to the rules, to
finish the race before 4:45, it soon be
came evident, as the boats at 4 o'clock
: w("-re some five miles to leeward of the
finish, that the race would have to be
declared off. This was done at the time
r.amed, while the boats were still four
miles away from the finish.
vlt was very evident from to-day's
performance of the Shamrock that she
is indeed a very fast yacht. That she is
speedy in light winds was shown by her
..work the first half of the first leg of the
•course; that she is quick in stays was
.amply proven by her windward work,
and it is also a fact that she stands up
to her canvas equally well with the Co
lumbia. In the matter of handling
.'sails there was little to choose between
■.the two, and if any mistakes were
made it was more the fault of the fluky
• -.breezes than of the judgment of the
' sailing masters. Some idea of the wind
ward work of these two yachts may be
gathered from the fact that in the
■ twelve miles sailed from the outer mark
.to where the race was concluded the
.Columbia made twenty-five tacks and
the Shamrock twenty-three.
CAUSES GREAT
EXCITEMENT
IN LONDON
• • LONDON Oct. There has been
some lukewarmnesa of Inter* hitherto,
but London has amply atoned No
1 event in the annals of sport ever cre
ated such intense and universal ex
citement as has been displayed over the
■ result of the race between the Sham
rock and Columbia for the America
.cup. The culminating point was
reached -da'- when the center of the
newspaper world <■: Great [tain was
literally packed with a hu?e multitude
■of cheerine and enthusiastic partisans.
It is calculated that at 10:30 some
thing like 20.000 people were within the
area between Fleet street and the
: Thames embankment. Trade was im
possible. The police authorities were
completely taken by surprise and no
provision had been made for dealing
with the vast crowds that thronged
Fleet street and the adjacent thorough
fares from St. Paul's to the Piccadilly
Circus.
At midnight the main arteries were
thronged with people excitedly discuss
ing the resuli of the contest with an in
• tno Derby or "varsity boat
race ever equaled, and which more
nearly approached the scenes incident
to an American Presidential campaign
than anything England has heretofore
known.
ISELIN AND UPTON
BOTH YET CONFIDENT
NEW YORK, Oct B.— C. Oliver lae
lln, managing owner of the cup de
fender Columbia, when asked for a
■ ■ iment on to-day's race, s ;i !<i:
not ci nsidt r to-day'a race a fair
C the two boats at all. for it was
too fliiky for any one to see which was
■ the better work at any point of
. have just ;is much confidence
nbia now ;ii-. I ever hud."
Sir Thomas Llpton Bald :
"1 want yen to put me down ns say-
Ing that there never was In all iho
■ n in England, as clear n
had v.-day, and I want
i ' add from the bottom of my heart
"Duly Feed
Man and Steed."
Feed your nerves, also, on pure blood if
you <would have them strong. Men and
'women who are nervous are so because
their nerves are starved. When they
make their blood rich and pure ivith Hood's
Sarsaparilla their nervousness disappears
because the nerves are properly fed. ■
JOWI Hood's Sarsaparilla 7%
c" " V Cut-Bate Druggist- * ***
Drug Co. 1128 Market Street, S. F. j
that It reflects the preatest possible
credit upon the authorities who had in
charge the task of keeping it clear.
Throughout the entire contest the line
was marked on either side of it as
rly as if one had taken a pen and
drawn it upon a piece of paper. As to
my boat, I knew p'fie was a liver in a
stiff breeze. To-day's work proved that
she is no sluggard in a light one, and I
am prepared to say that she is a far
better boat than I thought she was. As
to the Columbia, no boat was ever bet
ter handled. Nothing could be I
beautifully perfect than the way she
was sailed. Everything: she is capable
of was, 1 believe, brought out of her."
THE efficacy of wireless telegraphy
as an aid to modern journalism
has again been demonstrated by
The Call to the satisfaction of the
people of San Francisco. This paper was
tho lirst to see the journalistic possibili
ties in the experiments of Marconi and
was also the first to harness the newly
developed electrical current to the car of
progress. For weeks preceding the re
turn from Manila of t lie California Vol
unteers a corps of experts in its employ
wer«- setting up and perfecting apparatus
that would herald, ahead of ull other
Rg^ncles, the near approach of tho trans
port. How well the work was done is
matter of history. It Is hardly necessary
to recall that slow-going competitors got
their only intimation of the arrival of the
Californlarrs from the booming of a Call
cannon and their news of the same event
■. Call bulletin.
The first oi the international yacht
rat ■ s between the cup challenger, Sham
rock, and the defender, Columbia, has
afforded this paper a second similar op
portunity to distance competitors grown
yellow from age and to establish beyond
• - adaptability of wireless
telegraphy to the needs of the modern
newspaper*. Extraordinary preparations
were made to furnish to tho peopiu of
Han Fran,clBCo the clearest picture and tho
best description of the race and the re
sults exceeded the expectations of even
the most sanguine. In conjunction with
the New York Herald The Call secured
the services of Signor Marconi and his
corps of assistants in order that th.v dis
coverer and foremost experimenter in the
nev.- system of electrical transmission
might himself superintend the details and
THE SAN FBAN CISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1809.
MARVELOUS
WORK OF WIRELESS
TELEGRAPHY
NEW YORK. Oct. 3 — Marconi's worl^ roore than met expectations. During
the race 2500 words in bulletin service were sent to the Herald and received
without loss of tirt)e. &n average of less than a minute elapsed between the
writing of a bulletin and its receipt in the rjerald office. Not one roessage had
to be repeated.
NEW YORK, Oct. 3.— Far and
away the greatest achievement
connected with the yacht race
of to-day was the successful
operation of the Marconi sys
tem of wireless telegraphy, by means
i>f which every movement of the com
peting craft was bulletined to the
Herald and The Call as noon as it
occurred. Did either break out a sail
that fact was given to the readers of
the Marconi bulletins before the fresh
canvas had been filled with wind. In
short, the system worked to perfection.
< >:' bulletins alone fully 2500 words were
Hashed from the towering mast of the
CALL'S SUCCESSFUL BULLETIN SERVICE A TRIUMPH
IN WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.
launch his discovery on the world as an >
accomplished news agency. The story of
the preparations made at the eastern
end of the continent have bees told in
full. It only remained for this paper to
take advantage at this end of the pre
parations at the other. How well that
was done was attested by the crowds that
gathered early yesterday morning In front
of The Call business office to watch the
start, the progress and the finish of the
race, upon the result of which two worlds
are hang-ing breathless.
Xo similar successful attempt at pictur
ing and describing a passing event has
ever been recorded in Journalism. The
apparatus was not particularly elaborate,
but It was so perfect, that • those who
witnessed its workings needed nothing
but the power to take out of their con
siderations the. three thousand odd miles
that separated them from the Jersey
coast to imagine they were witnessing the
actual struggle. Across the main arch
of the building was stretched a canvas
forty feet long by eight feet high, on
which had been painted that part of the
ocean over which had been laid out the
cup course and the coasts bounding It.
In front of this picture, hanging by
endless cords, were suspended miniatures
of the contending yachts, so arranged as
to be carried over the course as the bul
letins to be received should indicate the
challenger and defender were moving. In
addition to this a large stretch of white
muslin had been arranged on rollers on
the side of the building upon which the
bulletins were to be painted as fast as
received in order that those not up In
the. maneuvers might be fully informed
of the progress of the race.
Eleven o'clock, New York time, 8 o'clock
in San Francisco, was the hour set for
the start: As early as 7 o'clock, however,
The Call's yachting expert and his as- i
steamship Ponce, and In not a single ,
I instance did it become necessary to re- I
peat a message. Not only did Slgnor
Marconi make it possible for the pub
, lie ashore to closely follow the maneu
! vers of the Columbia and Shamrock, j
but he kept tho?e who had the good
fortune to be on the steamship Ponce j
■ -well informed on the more important i
j events of the day in the world at large. I
: For the benefit of several gentlemen j
i having Wall street interests early
stock quotations were received, and the i
i money market was closely followed.
As the yachts got away the follow
ing: message, the first concerning the ;
; actual race, was written, and in less I
sip tent
wrrp on tiock awaiting the signal
to manipulate the miniatures, and the
crowd began to gather. At 8 o'clock the
street was packed with a multitude that
was not alow to manifest its disapproval
of the slowness of the Eastern racing
officials in giving the signal for the start.
The Call skippers could be seen giving
jerks at the cords preliminary to the
opening of the event.
At 8:05 a. m. the first bulletin was dis
played on the muslin. It read: "The wind
is northwest and blowing eleven knots an
hour, ' which was readily taken by the
crowd to predicate that "Upton luck"
was on the decline and that the Colum
bia was a winner. Seven minutes later
another bulletin announced the start and
The Call skippers trimmed their sails ac
cordingly, the little boats starting out on
the sea of canvas. The Shamrock was
slightly In the lead, the next bulletin an
nouncing that she had crossed the line at
11:15:35, the Columbia following five sec
onds later. -
"They're off:" yelled the crowd, The
Call skippers pulled the cords and the
challenger and defender were soon run
ning before the wind, which had died
down, the next bulletin announced, to
eight knots. For the next five hours and
a half the crowds stood and grew and
watched The Call's miniature yachts
struggle for the supremacy on the canvas
sea. During: thht period' more than 150
bulletins were borno along Maromian
waves to a through land wire and fiashfd
through to The Call office. Every foot of
the course, every movement of the racers
was noted and "wired" for the Informa
tion of the hundred? and hundreds of peo
ple crowding In front of The Call bulle
tins. Every taking in or crowding on of
Fall was noted, every movement of the
wind, every tack was recorded by the bul- .
than ninety seconds was published and
public property in New York:
"Racers away; both yachts flying
mainsail, club topsails, spinnakers,
staysails, Jib and jib topsails. Running
before •wind down the Jersey coast.
Wind about eight knots and freshen
ing."
Following this were bulletins giving
more accurate descriptions of the work
being done, and there was joy on the
Ponce when word came back that
everything was working so perfectly
that only a very few seconds separated
the chart room within which the send
ing was being done and the offices of
the Herald and The Call. During those
early moments of the race, when favor
letins of wireless! v jut a
hitch. f
The waiting crowds were all eyes. Bul
letins or a Presidential election could not
have aftracted more attention than those
that recorded the spilling of wind ur the
Happing of a sail, is'or an the time of the
race the street in front of Th« Call busi
ness ortice was a solid jam of humanity,
with the exception of one thick-). ■
policeman, who seemed to be entirely ig
norant of the meaning of tha^L word. He
was officious to the point' of insult, push
ing and hauling people ui>»ut without jus
tincation, for all of which there is the
consolation that he will probably have a
chance to answer to his olheial superiors.
At one other newspaper office a. feeble
attempt was made to draw a crowd, but
it was too weak, it lacked all the ele
ments of realism. Small boats were
chased along a narrow cornice of blue
canvas regardless of the positions of th£
racers and in imminent danger of tacking
into a yellow porthole or jibing 1 into the
nearest office window. It was a clear test
of the wired against the wireless tele
graph, and the Journalism that is in the
sere and yellow was plainly wired. Early
in the race it gave up attempts at fur
nishing bulletins for the very good reason
that n received none and the skippers in
a tire-escape to the sou'-sou'east got tir<<i
of chasing to The Call board tor their
facts.
I'uring the entire course of the race,
from the Hrinp of the signal gun until the
posting of the bulletin that announced
"n<> race" the arrangements made by this
paper worked to perfection. The elements
all were favorable, not to speak of the
gentle breeze wafting down Market street
to fill out the sails of the mimic yachts
in fair imitatir.n of the swelling canvas of
the actual racers. The excitement at all
times was intense, particularly in the first
stages of the race, when the Shamrock
seemed to be getting the better of the Co
lumbia. There were groans of disap
proval when the hulk-tins announced that
the excursion boats were shutting off the
Columbia s breeze. It was plain, before all
eyes thai both boat* had Balling qualities
far in exces» of expectations, and when
the Columbia showed her heHs to the.
Snamrock shortly ;ift*r 12 o'clock »h«*
waitingcrpwd assumed a cheerful aspect
winch it maintained til! the recefvine
with every manifestation of joy the re
;-.lpt of bulletins from Marconi announc
ing the Columbia's leadership.
No greater triumph for wireless teles*
raphy could have been arranged For the
second time through its agency The Call
distanced all competitors, rt yhu enabled
to announce the start bo lone before ail ■
competitors that the yachts had
nine miles of the course ' efore their boats
were set in motion; it was enabfed
to post ami to picture accurate^ the prog
ress of the race, while would-be rnm.pH !
tors were unable to do either; nnd "con :
Receiving the Bulletins at The Call Office.
STATION AT NAVESINK HIGHLANDS.
ing winds filled the sails of th* chal
lenger while the cup defender was
floundering a bit uncertain in the
smooth sea, every breeze was described.
The fifth bulletin read thus: "Sham
rock apparently leading slightly. Buth
balloon jibs spilling wind, but Sham
rock's sail is drawing the better. Course
clear."
It required one minute and a quarter
to send this dispatch, yet the first three
wurds, "Shamrock apparently leading,"
were received in New York and given
out as a separate bulletin before the
last word, "clear," was sent.
Whenever the Marconi bulletins were
posted the public was less than seven
ty-five seconds behind the yachts, and
In many cases less than thirty seconds.
By unofficial time the Columbia
rounded the first mark at I:4S and the
Shamrock followed at 1:40:15. The time
of the Columbia had been flashed all
over New York before the Shamrock
had followed.
Aboard the Ponce there was the keen
est apprehension of the work being
done. Indeed, it is not too much to say
that, except at the most critical mo
ments during the race, more attention
was given to the mysterious chart room
and to Signor Marconi than to the
yachts. Aboard the other excursion
steamers, too, the passengers were
deeply interested in the wireless re
ports. Almost without exception the
Ponce was saluted by a round of cheers
from every boat it met during the day.
Signor Marconi was compelled to shut
himself off from the curious, whose
good-natured attentions hindered the
work to be accomplished.
In consequence, until after the race
had been called off the chart room of
the Ponce was closed, except to Signor
Marconi and his assistants, the report
ers for the Herald and The Call, and
the representatives of the Government,
who were present In an unofficial ca
pacitf to watch the results accom
plished by the new system. These gen
tlemen were: Lieutenant Commander
Qualtrough and Lieutenant Blish, rep
resenting the navy, and Captain L. W.
Wildman and Colonel Kinsley nf the
signal service department. Mr. Kinsley
is a civilian, but has given much at
tention to the wireless telegraph, and
was engaged to study and report upon
Signor Marconi's achievements. He
was more than pleased with the work
of the day, and at its close, when asked
for an expression of his opinion, said:
"My first report must be made to
Captain Squier, but there can be only
;>inion when It is known that 2500
words in bulletins were sent ashore and
the total could have, been greatly in
creased, and all of this was done "with
out any vexatious delay or repetition."
Lieutenant Commander Qualtrough
was more outspoken. He became an
enthusiast early in the day, and be
fore nightfall was declaring his be
lief that the United States Govern
ment would do well to persuade Sig
nor Marconi to install his system in
the Philippines at the earliest date.
"If we could only have had this
last year," said Lieutenant Com
mander Qualtrough, "what a great
thing it would have been. When we
landed marines at Guantanamo the
ships were unable to lend assistance
for the reason that the enemy could
not be located, and by firing at ran
dom our own forces would have been
placed in danger. With the aid of
the Marconi system the men ashore
could have directed the fire and all
would have been well.
"The English are prepared now to
do just what I have outlined. They
send a Marconi apparatus ashore with
a landing party and communication
with the ship is never lost. In the
Philippines the system would right
now be of great service to us. It
would do away with wires, which are
easily cut, and it would enable us to
How the
Messages
Were
Sent in
TWO MINUTES
by
Wireless
Telegraphy
From the
Steamer
Near the
Racing Yacht;
to the
Station,
Fifteen Miles
From the
Shore,
and Then
Flashed
Across the
Continent
by
Special Wire
to
The Call
Office.
3000 Miles
Away.
have perfect communication bet-ween
the islands. The system is certain to
be made use of by the army and navy.
Even if to-day's record could not be
improved upon it would be of great
value. But I have seen enough td
know that it is impossible to predict
the limit of the wireless currents.
Great things may be accomplished in
the near future. Lieutenants Blish,
Denfleld, Newton and I will meet Sig
nor Marconi to-morrow morning for
a conference. After Signor Mar
coni completes the work which the
enterprise of the Herald and The Call
made possible he will proceed with
a series of tests and demonstrations
for the Government. Bear Admiral
Bradford is greatly impressed with
the possibilities of his discovery."
Before the end of the contest a few
private messages were accepted by
Signor Marconi for delivery ashore but
after the battle the final bulletin to the
Herald and The Call announcing "No
race" had been filed, there was a rush
for the chart room and the good-na
tured operator was kept busy almost
until the Ponce reached the pier send
ing the messages forced upon him.
Among those who were on the Ponce
and who sent messages ashore were-
Mr. and Mrs. George Crocker of Ran
Francisco, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph TVhit
ney, Mr. and Mrs. \y. R. Thorsen Dr
and Mrs. E. M. Culver. Mr. and Mrs."
J. E. Kerr, Mr. and Mrs. It. X Liddell'
Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Alexander. Mr. and
Mrs. H. T. Knowlton, Mrs. George W
TWstinghouse, Theodore H. Price R
T. Wilson Jr.. H. Coppell, J. S Brvan.
Richmond Vasi. Stanley McCormack J
K. Cameron of Baltimore, E T Bel)
Jr.. Captain E. J. McKinstry B A
Aymor, E. Sands, W. N. Knowles \r
thur Coppoll and John S. Cravens.
The working of the Marconi systerr
was, so far as possible, explain.-. i ovej
ar.d over again, and the listentsg
sinned never to grow tired of hearlwi
about it. The tape on which the m«#.
sages from shore were i .] w|t
taken bit by bit to be preserved as so».
venirs of the trip. From Navesink life
tie was heard on the Ponce save tIH
announcement after each message th*|
it had been properly received. J/L&
Continued on Fourth Pay*.