The learned doctor deliberately _swiped_ Marconi’s ideas and on
returning to the land of _kultur_ he bent his energies toward outdoing
and undoing the young inventor who showed him how to telegraph without
wires. Of course, Dr. Slaby invented a system of wireless telegraphy and
this was quickly used on the ships of what was formerly the German Navy.
But Marconi’s fame as the real inventor of the wireless telegraph had
too sound a bottom for his detractors to hurt him much and he went right
on about his work without the slightest caring whatever. He was next
invited by the King of Italy to visit his native land and to make some
experiments there. A shore station had been put up at Spezia and a
couple of war ships were fitted with wireless equipments. In the tests
which followed Marconi broke the record for wireless and his achievement
was the talk of the world.
Wireless, like its inventor, was on the upgrade and in England
_Marconi’s Wireless Telegraphy Company, Limited_, as it was at first
called, was organized for the purpose of installing his system on ship
and shore stations. Stations at Bournemouth and at Alum Bay on the Isle
of Wight, about 14 miles apart were put up and Marconi did a great deal
of experimenting and increased his range to 18 miles when he sent to and
received messages from an out-bound steamer.
No one could shut his eyes to the value of wireless at sea and
_Lloyd’s_, the great shipping corporation, had two stations put up at
Ballycastle and Rathlin Island on the northern coast of Ireland where
experiments were conducted to further test the reliability of the system
in all weathers.
The _Kingston Regatta_ was the next event in which wireless figured and
the _Daily Express_ of Dublin arranged with Marconi, or his company, to
install his apparatus on a ship and report the races to the shore
station for the benefit of their readers; and this was done without a
hitch. Talk about a _scoop_! Here was a _wireless scoop_. Can you beat
it!
About this time the Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII, met with
an accident and he went aboard the royal yacht _Osborne_ to recuperate.
Could Marconi fit up a station on it and also in the royal residence
_Osborne_ where Queen Victoria was staying so that communication might
be kept up between them? Of course he could and he did it with much
satisfaction and pleasure to his royal patrons and credit to himself.
The next installations of note were made by the _Marconi Company_ at
South Foreland Lighthouse and East Goodwin Lightship which lay off the
Goodwin Shoals about a dozen miles away. This was in December, 1898, and
very shortly after a steamer was stranded on the shoals. A _C Q D_
signal was instantly flashed from the lightship to the lighthouse and
brought help that saved the ship with its cargo which together were
worth a quarter of a million dollars.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account