Another of the big improvements in wireless is in the tuning of the instruments to certain wave lengths or rates of vibrations, and in controlling the wave lengths by the sender. Science has established that these waves usually vary from a few feet up to 12,000 feet or more. The ordinary wave lengths for ships is between 1,000 feet and 1,800 feet, but on the biggest land stations and the transatlantic liners the full 12,000 feet is used. Even greater lengths of waves are used by the big Marconi stations transmitting messages between Clifden, on the west coast of Ireland, and Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. The reason for this is that with the same power messages can be sent greater distances with long wave lengths than with shorter ones. The wave length is controlled by an apparatus called the "helix," which may be seen in the picture of the wireless outfit. It looks like a drum wound with a spiral of copper tubing, and although it looks simple it presents some of the greatest problems in connection with wireless. On the receiving end is the instrument called the tuner, by which the operator can adjust his detector to the wave lengths being sent out by the station with which he wishes to talk. There are various kinds of "tuners," all more or less complicated. The device corresponds to the telephone exchange or the telegraph switch-board. Of course a good receiving apparatus can be tuned so that the operator can listen to any messages going through the ether, within range, but all messages that are intended to be secret are sent in code, just as all wire and cable messages that are secret are sent in code. In line with the advent of wireless telegraphy it is fitting that we should have the wireless telephone. While this instrument is still in the experimental stage, some very promising results have been obtained. There are several experimental wireless telephone stations in New York City, but the best results are obtained when some one keeps up a steady conversation, so it is far easier to connect the reproducer of a phonograph to the transmitter of the wireless telephone. It is surprising how distinctly this music or speech is received. In fact the ship operators nearing New York are often entertained by strains of music from these wireless telephones. The wireless telephones employ what are known as undamped oscillations created by electric arcs, and it is very easy to "tune out" such vibrations for musical effects. Just as we have the motion-picture "newspaper," we have the wireless newspaper published aboard the big transatlantic liners every day. The news is sent out from certain land stations at certain times in the day and night, and every ship within range copies it, and publishes it just as our regular daily papers are published. Of course, the paper is small, but it usually contains most of the important news of the day, the big sporting items, such as baseball scores, and the stock quotations.