Radio Broadcast (May-Oct 1922)

One Vessel that Radio Might Have Saved 489 operated by Naval radio operators under the direction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Asiatic Fleet, and communicates with Cavite, Peking, and Naval and merchant vessels in Asiatic waters. The existing naval radio circuit extends eastward from Vladivostok and Peking through the Philippines, Guam, the Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, to San Francisco, thence northward along the Pacific Coast to Puget Sound, Washington, and to Alaska; from San Francisco, southward to the Isthmian Canal Zone; from San Francisco through San Diego and across the continent to Washington; from Washington along the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf of Mexico and along the Great Lakes; from Washington southward to the Isthmian Canal Zone and the West Indies; and again from Washington across the Atlantic where contact is made with stations in European countries including the i,ooo-KW station established by the Navy at Croix d' Hens, near Bordeaux, France to insure contact with our Expeditionary Forces in the event of the cutting of the transatlantic cables by submarines during the war. The fact that the aggregate cost of the six successful naval high-power stations was within ^1,500,000 is worthy of considerable reflection on the part of commercial companies engaged in building radio stations during the period 1 914 to 1917. The development of the Navy's high-power radio system cannot fairly be reviewed without paying tribute to Rear-Admiral R. S. Griffm, U. S. Navy, now retired, who, as engineer-inchief of the Navy, was responsible for the building up of the naval radio service during his term as chief of the Bureau of Engineering from 191 3 to 1 92 1. One Vessel that Radio Might Have Saved By ORTHERUS GORDON HOW long will it be before small ship owners will realize that a wireless outfit placed on their sloops and schooners may pay for itself hundreds of times over, on the first voyage? Day after day they are confronted with evidence that ought to convince them of its value, yet they continue to send their barges, their tugs, and their sailing craft down coast without proper means of calling for help should they suddenly need it. A striking example of what radio might have done toward the saving of property for at least one merchant came to my attention with the sinking of the t' . se-masted schooner Tarok, a year and a hv 'd ago. At that time, I was on board a large oil tanker going south in ballast. We had experienced rough weather from Cape Hatteras down and learned from passing ships that conditions farther south had been rough and unsettled for some days. The second morning below Hatteras we sighted a small black object one point off the port bow and soon made it out to be a small boat. As we approached it, we saw that there were five people aboard, and that one of them was waving a red tablecloth from the end of a spar. Coming alongside, we hauled them aboard — they were too weak to climb — hoisted their boat clear of the water, and made it fast alongside our port lifeboat. Then, while we continued our journey, we heard the story of the Tarok . Her captain was as bitter as he was weary. He had recommended a thorough overhauling and a spell in dry-dock for his vessel. He had also wanted radio, if nothing more than a small spark transmitter to be run from a storage battery, and a crystal receiving set with which to set his chronometers occasionally, from the Arlington or Key West time signals. He had tried for these, but without success. The owners said the ship didn't need the first thing, and that he didn't need the second. They had told him it was absurd to equip with wireless a vessel that didn't go more than one hundred