The San Francisco call. [volume], June 23, 1901, Image 13

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

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Continued on Page : Fourteen. * .
Continued on. Page Fourteen,
jt^ HERMAN in sight.", The3e.were the words : telegraphy/.'on.^e|eyenIng. : of^u-;-V\
'S ust Z3 > 1899, ; from the li ghtsbip,'niny miles: from the
;-^V' ; rators located at the Cliff Hoiise.- ; : The* three-word message "marked the first V step , in the use of 4 '
Marconi's system for. hews gathering :; in'the ; whole world: ;. Messages had . previously^ been 'sent'.
byMarconi in an experimental, wayV;but; the
fornia Regiment, announced' 5 by The Call/ demonstrated the utility /of Marconi's system for securing rapid
WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY FIRST UTILIZED BY THE 1 CALL.
MEN WHO : FIGURE IN ¦ ESTAB
: : LJSHMENT . 'OF 'WIRELESS
TELEGRAPHY HERE.,' :'
races in . October; 1899. ¦.. Marconi . was. In
charge of the instruments placed on a ves
sel that foliowed the racing crafts and the
station was, located \] at .; Sandy
Hook. Every turn and move "of - the trim
yachts, battling for the possession . of ¦ the
cup,; was >sent flying :;through
: space and was given to the eager, residents
of ;New York City arid'. ; San -Francisco.'
- The ! wireless messages i received at Sandy.
" Hook were repeated by special .wire to this
• office of- The ¦', Call ' in San * Franclsco"-*and
¦ promptly displayed to thousands ' who
watched the -bulletin boards " In • front of
the Claus • Spreckels . building.
; "With'- a i; beating v of V tom-toms and ,tho
screech of -a, " siren, ~« the r,."yellow -fellow"
The success of The Call: in" securing' the
news of } the ' arrival of the ,' Sherman '< and
the ; results .'of , the ' yacht races ] by, means
of .telegraphy aroused the r cha
grin and, envy of Ncertalii "yellow news
papers*.'' ; Unable to understand the mag
nitude of Marconi's system and The Call's
enterprise; the : Examiner . hurled ridicule
and abuse, tinged \ with' venom. , .
displayed posters coinmentlng on The Call
and ' insulting the" great Inventor -Mardon!
by. distorting, his name into "Macaroni."
¦The- old nroverb ' that : • "f ools ; rush In -
where /wise. men. fear .to tread" .'_ was once
again demonstrated. -Like those who ridi- .
culed the' claims of Morse that it was pos
sible to flash a signal over a, wire from
Washington ' to ; Baltimore, < so the Exami
ner ridiculed the Marconi system of
raphyl Whlle/men of scjerice. hesitated^ to
pnss ah opinion, the enemies of Morse de-'
nour.ced him as a faker, a lesson followed
closely;. by •, the Examiner, in ridlcollng^
Mcrconi and the demonstrations made by
The. Call of .the great , Italian's .system'. .;, ,
The work started by '.The Call . In Aug
ust, 1899, has borne * good ; fruit ¦ and ' the
"yellow papers"; now.' dally r chronicle .the
marvelous results of wireless , telegraphy
all over the world.
¦ The first ' step ' taken by ¦ The Call In 1839"
to demonstrate the utility of the wireless
system ¦ of telegraphy led to 'remarkable
achievements in the use of the Marconi
system .almost Immediately. Messages
were .sent during the ; yacht races a dis-\
tance '¦ of '¦ forty miles from ' sea", to Sandy ;
Hook, and this feat was followed last year
by constant communication between ships .
of/ the British squadron ' while cruising In ,
the'i English Channel. ':;- ;
The' New-York Herald recently. Installed
a complete Marconi system at^Nantuoket :
and , ¦ incoming" trans-Atlantic : steamers
were able to repbrt^their arrival from dis
tances . varying from - fifty /to - 100 : miles.
The. most remarkable success has^ attend-,
ed 'the; use r'of .,¦ Marconi system ¦ on
board the .Cunard steamship* Lucania. So
city could.no longer stand the strain of
eager watching and waiting for news from
the broad bosom of the Pacific Ocean, The
Cell relieved the tension and demonstrat
ed the absolute utility of the _. wireless
system of • telegraphy. From the mast of
the lightship, nine miles from the . main
land, the mysterious Hertzian waves car
ried the welcome message of the sighting
of the Sherman to the ocean beach station
and a few seconds later- the expectant
citizens of San , Francisco Tvere surprised
'with the glad news. ; *.^:V^ «
The Call on that memorable day set an
example, that has: been followed on two
continents and has won a victory for San
Francisco' in the recognition/of the.Gov
ernment for the establishment of- the
wireless system of telegraphy between the
Farallones and the mainland.
BIG YACHT RACES- ;
ARE REPORTED
The example set . by The - Call was fol
lowed by the New York Herald In report-
Ing the result of the International yacht
THE CALL'S advocacy of the es
tablishment of a system of
wireless telegraphy between the
mainland and the Farallones
has resulted successfully, in
that Secretary Wilson of the
Agricultural Department has authorized
Chief Willis L. Moore of the United States
Weather Bureau to install a plant on the
sentinel rocks that nature has ; placed
thirty miles from the Golden Gate and en
trance to the bay of San Francisco.
Yesterday morning Alexander McAdie,
local forecast official of the Weather Bu
reau, received the following dispatch from
Chief Moore at Washington:.
"Secretary Wilson will authorize me to
Install a wireless system of telegraphy at
the Farallones and other Pacific Coast
stations Just es soon as there is any sys
tem suitable for installation."
With a system" of wlreles telegraphy be
tween the Farallones and Point Reyes and
Point Lobos the benefits that will accrue
cannot be overestimated. Xot only will it
be possible for Incoming ships to report
th/slr arrival off the coast l«ng before
they could be sighted by the most power
ful marine telescopes, but in case of acci
dent or distress help . could , be summoned
froxxf the city and valuable Uves and prop
erty saved. 4
Storms that sweep across the ocean . to
ward the Pacific cAst could be reported
hours before »he barometer " would give
any indication of a change in the weath
er, and the early news thus given to
farmers and fruit grower* would • result
In the saving of hundred* of thousands of
dollars worth of property. -
Front the evening 1 , hour on the 23d of
XuruBt, 1839, when Tfre Call by wireless
telegraphy signaled , the . arrival of the
transport- Sherman, with the First Cali
fornia Volunteers on board, experiments
have been carried on all over the world
with the mysterious Hertzian waves that
under the subtle hand of Gugllelmb Mar
coni have-Jaeen placed at the disposal of
mankind to annihilate space.. '.
GALL THE FIRST TO
TEST ITS UTILITY
The Call was ths first newspaper in the
world to give a practical demonstration^
"'of- the utility of Marconi's discovery and
invention. . -
Realizing the possibility that Marconi's
Invention. was destined, to revolutionize
the^system of teleBraphy, The Call d«>
termlned to spare, no expense In putting
to a rigid test the claims made by. Mar
coni that it was possible to telegraph
without the aid of connecting wires. How
well the test succeeded Is known to every
living man, woman and, child who resided
In San Francisco on August 23, 1899. V
With a plant installed at the lightship,
nine miles from the Cliff. House, and a
sin-'ilar plant located on the ocean beach
messages were flashed through the, ether
day after day during the week when the
arrival of the Sherman was expected.
These messages sent by means of the
wireless system ,. were, however, experi
mental. The great question to be solved
by The Call was whether Marconi's claims
could be . considered as of practical use to
commerce.. The 'whole State of California
wras interested in thearrival of her flght
; ing sons from the swamps of the island of
Luzoiii- . On.alK eldes'.'the,' question : . was
asked, "When ¦ will - the -Sherman - arrive T'
When it seemed as 'if .the people in this
.v . . - • ; ...
fTH^ HE .success attending the use of
I the Marconi ; wireless telegraph
I . system on board > the Cunard
¦ I steamship Lucania a few days
' JL ago has exceeded^ all expecta
v'/i 7. ; tlons - TQe Instruments on board
the ship kept up communication
with the' stations on ' shore on the run
from, Liverpool t to Queenstown and the
triumph - : of . wireless', telegraphy was
reached when a. message was sent "from
the ship -to Crookhaven. Ireland, a dis
tance of 100 miles.
For. several hours after the Lucanla
had crossed the bar of the Mersey com
munication between the vessel and land,
which very soon was lost. to sight from
her. decks, was • maintained. ..
First of all. wireless messages were sent
from on board the outward steamer to a
training steamer stationed In the Mersey,
the Conway. on which the Marconi ap^
paratus had been Installed.' -
Then th*re,came a time as the Lucania
crept along, the coast of North TTales,
when the "vessel got out of range, as It
were,'- arid communications -with the Con
way ceased, only to be reopened with a
second station as the Cunarder turned the
corner of the Island of Anglesey into St.
George's Channel.
This second - station was at Holyhead,
off , the western coast of Anglesey. Here,
af.its entrance, St. George's Channel is
some : sixty . miles across, and the route
followed by the Atlantic liners leaving
Liverpool; is well Vut toward the middle
of the channel, so that It Is rarely, that
the towering head can be seen by . pas
sengers. pBgjBf
. It .was riot long after she had lostwire-
|Swlmsnip^3|^e^mai
/" Land Stations ;
Message Is flashed
Through Spaee
Miles
Call's Advoeaey of
Mareoni System
l'& S.ueeessful
"¦ ¦ ¦¦¦¦ — , »
. ¦ . ¦ • ¦ ¦
Secretary; \\yilsoii
Issues an Order
to Install a Plant
LOSS OF THE RIO CITEt) AS AN OBJECT LESSON.
' - - ¦ • ' . ¦ ' ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦-¦ ¦•¦»'-- ¦ ¦-.:¦¦¦' '•¦ . -• '• • ¦.¦•-..¦¦¦"' ' ¦ ' ' ' '¦ ¦ ¦ ' '
fT IS doubtful if there is any great harbor in the world where .communication by means of wireless telegrauhy would be of greater value than
here in San Francisco, Nature has provided, it would almost seem, a 'great natural laboratory for the rneteorologist in the approaches to the
Golden Gate. No one can walk along the hills overlooking the bay without 'realizing tnat -the physical processes of cloudy condensation are he
shown to perhaps greater advantage than in any other part of the world. In simpler words, problems of fog formation are so wonderfulhere that
we wonder why some one does not attempt a critical study of the fogs. ( -
The loss of the ill-fated Rio de Janeiro a few months ago, appalling as the tragedy was, and in many ways it was the most remarkable a'cei
dent that ever happened to a ship within sight of land, removes the question of fog study from the purely, speculative , arid makes it incumbent
upon the commercial of San Francisco to see to it without delay that some means of quick and certain communication is established be
tween incoming and o tgolng vessels and the Fand. It seems to me that the Marconi method is exactly what is heeded at this port, It would also
be of great assistance to the forecaster, especially in connection with the heavy southeast storms which break in upon us during the* winter
months. And it should not be forgotten that even when established we shall have made but a BEGINNING in this great problem of communi
cating over a wide range of country without the; necessity of intervening metallic conductors* . ,
GOVERNMENT WILL ESTABLISH SYSTEM
OF WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY BETWEEN
SAN FRANCISCO AND THE FARALLONES
PRICE V FIVE CENTS.
SAN FRANCISCO, SUNDAY, JUNE \ 231, 1901— THIRTY-TWO PAGESw
VOLUME XC— NO. 23.
Will
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL.