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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 1919)
T7 6 THE SUNDAY OEEGOXIA3T. POKTLAXD, AUGUST 31, 1919. mm m ow Wire ess law yet wsv n - 2 oaio Surprising Record of Amateurs Called Into Real Service by the War, and Wliy New Inventions Make It Pos sible for Clever Youngsters to 'Listen In9 on the Great Currents of 'Air Talk9 i -r r J ... . . , , ' i vii- -a? - '-.--...-.. -I - .;- v V-- v ' - ; . ' i-- . . v ."-r fr&i,. -Mm-i A BOT WIKELEM FMTI05 fTUT OUTnTTXITCATCHHE3UGES OITOS KBSBEVKIVTOraB TKET UBCEST TtASTg. : i 17 tft!eWti..ltmM.m.jlLtM.a!JtMll l : .-. . ,'. . -V:-:.' " fr-ja PT" 1 I -I : 11- - i v.: - i - f i. I , I I - liv II ft"' . I - I , i I , ' - J f t ' ' 1 -1 1 t ' - - :: A TTTKELESS BTATIO!C 8CHOOI. E FCT.I. PERATTO!. ' I " - t " ' ""'J". , ' ( " i ; n the United States. These men or I T . F ' xViiW , , 51 f 1 boys -were, for the mort part, self- If v , 3 1 , i A NT A r,r Jk nnt bt r. j NIONI can "listen-In" on the Ireless telegraph mesmgres sent eat by the treat European sta tions. An Ingenious American boy with the aid of a home-made apparatus Is now able to orerhear the Eiffel Tower at Parts or Kauen. Germany, as well as thousands of other land and sea sta tions. No other country In the world may boast so large an army of amateur wireless men as America. It was esti mated before the war that there were at least 175.00 amateur stations scat tered far and wide throughout the United States. Now that peace la as sured the number will probably be en greater. Purine; the war the science of wireless electricity, like other fighting weapons, was advanced In' many ways, and the amateur can now take advantage of the new dis coveries and Usten-ln serosa seas and continents. A large proportion of the amateur stations are homo-made affairs which enable the operators only to Usten-ln. not to send out messages. Everyone is familiar with the antennae draped afratnst the skylines of cities large and small and often In remote country dis tricts. The wires might be strung from the roofs of high buildings or from the eaves of some barn to a con venient haymow, but the ingenuity of the American boy was always equal to the occasion. Many of the amateur op erators are school boys who chat among themselves In their leisure hours. The educational value of such training is, of course, very great. With the Increased facilities for long-distance work the American boy becomes In a sense a citizen of the world. From his home station, probably constructed In his study room, he enjoys a power which a generation ago would have seemed magical. If he chances to be studying French or German, for In stance, he can improve the opportunity by listening to the stations of these countries sending In their native tongues. The American amatenr wireless oper ator haa well earned the right to oper ate his own station and benefit by any advantages which follow. His record in the war was brilliant. Now that the fighting Is over. It is permitted to tell the wonderful record of these amateurs in serving their country. At the be ginning of the conflict there were up- ward of 200,000 amateur wireless men fn the United States. These men or boys were, for the most part, self taught, but they soon proved them selves to be highly efficient and held their own in competition with profes sional operators. When the call was lssned for wire less men the response throughout America was instantaneous. Thousands of these men were needed at once to take charge of the wireless stations on the merchant ships, the convoys, and in hundreds of land and sea stations. To train green hands to do the work would have required months of valu able time. The government was able to recruit almost over night a vast force of experienced men. With a lit tle subsequent training to fit them for special work, these operators were able to fill the most Important posts. More than 20,000 wireless operators were re cruited In this way. It was estimated tLat the government saved 17,000,000 at this time which would otherwise have been expended In preliminary training. When the classes of wireless operators were opened at Columbia university It was found that more than 60 per cent of the enlisted students were amateur wireless men who had already perfect ed themselves In the science. From the first the amateur wireless Copyright. Western Newspaper Union. At a military wireless school. operator played a conspicuous part. It Is not generally known that it was an amateur who overheard the Germans In charge of the high-powered wire less station at Sayvtlle sending out unneutral messages, and reported the fact to the government. The eVayvllle station not only sent messages over sea to Germany, but was in direct com munication with German ships at sea. Including the raiders. The Germans, by abusing the courtesy extended to them, were thus sending out messages notifying their ships of the presence of merchant craft and other informa tion of the utmost Importance to them. This fact had escaped the vigilance of the government until an alert amateur detected the deception. In competition with the expert pro fessionals amateurs were often eelect- Tho little ordinary Btareonl rnstnunent that home station to hear the tt possible for news of the world. m. boy in am ed to fill the highest posts. It was an amateur who was chosen an assistant to the director of naval communica tion during the war, and the chief operator at Washington was a civilian commercial operator. The amateur wireless men became officers in all the different radio services and served as inspectors and carried on all de tails of the work. The Record of the Amatenr. It Is a matter of special pride among the amateur wireless men that the ra dio operator aboard the NC- and the NG-1 in their historic fUght across the Atlantic were amateurs. The post was one of the most difficult to fill in the service of the army or navy. It was necessary to find expert operators and mechanicians as well, who could be depended upon to employ all their skill and resourcefulness in the face of the greatest danger. It is a great achieve ment for the American boy that self taught youths hold the distinction of being the first radio men in history to fly across the Atlantic The wireless operator entrusted with the difficult task of transmitting and receiving messages on the S9. George Washington in carrying President Wil son -back and forth to France was an amateur. He succeeded' in handling, under very exacting conditions, an im mense volume of business to the satis faction of all. The list 'of amateur wireless .men who have distinguished themselves might be continued indefi nitely. Throughout the war the amateur stations were silenced by the govern- fWIreless has appealed to the Imagina tion of boys, and very simple outfits give them a world of adventure. ment. With tens of thousands of wire less stations all over the country and especially along the coast. It would have been impossible to exercise a suf ficiently strict censorship. In the hands of an unscrupulous operator the wireless apparatus might have done Immeasurable harm. It would have been possible, for Instance, to transmit messages to Mexico or ships at sea. and thus communicate more or less directly with Germany. The problem of the neutrality of wireless messages arose early in the war. It was de cided that the Invisible waves were contraband and must be controlled. A sharp lookout was held for any wire less spy. It was discovered, for ex ample, that a high-powered wireless apparatus, which was removed in the daytime, was strung from the rigging of an interned German steamer. Under cover of darkness messages were sent to enemy stations in distant lands and to ships far out at sea. Regulating the Amntesn. Even before the war It was found tn some sections that the activities of a number of amateur wireless sta tions often interfered with the send ing of government and commercial messages. To prevent this the ama teur operators were obliged to pass ex aminations and be regularly licensed. It is now proposed to remove as many of the restrictions as possible. . By re quiring amateur wireless men to em ploy a certain wave length the danger of interference win be done away with. It is not generally appreciated that many of the amateur stations contain elaborate apparatus, costing thousands of dollars, and the experimental work they carry on often leads to valuable discoveries and the advancement of the science. As a result of the new wireless ap paratus now available for amateurs long-distance work may be carried on with less experience than before the war. The vacuum tube invented by the eminent British scientist. Dr. Ambrose Flemmlng, enables the amateur to send messages thousands of miles, as well as to listen-In on European stations. GETTING IT FIXED" ONE OF CAR DRIVER'S MANY TRIALS Auto Doctors Much Like Cost of Living and Often Irresistible "Nothins-the-Hatter-W ith-It" Flea Sometimes Doesnt Count at AIL BT JAKES J. MONTAGUE. A TRAGEDY LX OM ACT. Cst e Characters.. Ta Tb Garsse Boas. 9rs Hand. Tour Wira. ttcaae: A Oaxara. YOU (driving a perfectly good car Into the garage) Hello! Garage hand (In rear of shap) Hello! Too Can I tsaie this car hero wear BightT Garags hand What's Ute matter wa tt? Too Nothing's the matter wftk tt. I Just want to leave tt hers. Garage hand I'll call the boas. Bey, there! Guy wants his bus fixed. Boss (from the rear of the shop) W feat s the matter with It" You Nothing's the matter with It. Boss I'll be right out. silo -Doa l let them da anyr They're so ex. xorwsrd). Ku thing to ft, will yon? pensive. Ton Certainly not. Tho boss (coming or on the torn table. Ton Very well. The boss No! No! Net that way! Tou All right. Tell mo how you want me to go. The boss Here! Say, dldnt yea over drive a car before? Too Of coarse, I have. The boss Look out! TonH smash that Rolls Koyee ever there. Too Suppose yon run it In! The boss I guess I'd better. (Get's Into the car and takes gear shift lever). She's In rotten shape, aint she? Too No. sh's all right- I just want to keep her here over night. The boss (after driving car on turn table). Wait till I get a socket wrench. Too Don't use any socket wrench oa this car. please. Ihe boas It woat t you much to find out what s tho matter with her. Tou I tell you there's nothing the matter with her. The boss Bring me that seven eights socket wrench. Bill. Bill Here yon are. The boss (bending over gear shift leverr I told you so. Tour wife Tou muent do anything to that car. The boss If s all right lady. (Busy with wrench. In a moment the gear shift lever Is taken out and laid gently to one side). Now let me get a look under the hood. (He looks under hood). Valves are jammed. Bill, hand me the three-eighths socket wrench. Bill Hera she Is. Tou Now please The boss Just a minute. Just a minute! I wouldn't dass let no car go out o the shop In that snaps. Hand me the S til son. Bill. Bill Here she Is. The boss (busy with Stllson). I told you so. (In a moment small parts of the engine begin to some out from under the hood. Bill gathering them up and depositing them in a bucket). The boss rm afraid she's a little wuss off than what I thought she was. Tour wife Make him put those things back right away. Tou Look here! Tou haven't got any right to take that car apart, I tell you I The boss Slow np there. Slow up! It's lucky yon come in here whan you j did. She'd have busted on you forty ways In another ten mile. Bill, hand me the monkey wrench. Bill Here she Is. The boss Now take these valve heads. (Handing more parts, to BUI). Tou For the love of Mike, put that car together again, or will I call the police? The boss Surer IU put her together, but you don't want to try to run with the cam shaft busted on you, do you? Tou (Not knowing what the cam shaft Is). The cam shaft is all right. The boss It is, hey? Look at it! (Holds up a twisted metal rod for your Inspection). You Well it was sH right till we came in here. The boss (deprecatingly). Now don't get nasty. Buddy. Tou brought the car In here for me to fix, and I gotta fix It, alnt I? Tou I didnt bring It tn here for yon to fix. I brought It in here to keep over night. The boas Well, why dldnt yon say so then? Tou Haven't I been saying so for the last five minutes? The boss I didn't hear you say so. Anyway, it's my business to repair cars, we don 1 store no cars no. Tou All right, give me my car. then. The boss Sure, take her away. Get her out of here! 1 Toti But you've got about half of tt on the floor. The boss -Damp the parts into her. Bill Bill (complying). There they are. Tou But you'll have to put them together again. The boss I east do that for my health, you know. , Tou (wearily). Very well, whafll It cost to fix it? The boss Two dollars an hour. Tou How many hours will it take? The boss Maybe four, maybe ten, depends on how much I find is the mat ter with her. Tou Til not be swindled that way. The car was perfectly good when I brought It in here. The boss All right, you put her to gether then. Tour wife Let's get the car out of here. You How? I cant put it together! The boss I tell you what I'll do Buddy. I'll make you a price of five dollars for stlckln' her together as she is. But I don't guarantee she'll run, mind you. You Go ahead, then. The boss An" for 1 15 m put her to gether as good as new, barrin' the cam shaft, which will be pretty near as good as new. Tour wife uon t Stan a tor it. Tou Tve got to. (AND TOU DO). (Copyright. 1919, the Bell Syndicate, Incorporated.) ' SUNBURN LOTIONS NECESSITY FOR OUTING AT BEACHES Salt Water Splendid for the Complexion and Makes the Skm Firmer and Finer. WHATEVER else you forget, don't neglect the provision of sun- " ' burn and wlndburn lotions when yon start out on your vacation. Plenty of good lotions are obtainable In town, but few druggists in the small villages near summer resorts carry good cosmetics of this sort. Tou will find scented powder and bushels of tal cum, and even quantities of dry rouge in attractive little boxes displayed under glass near the sodawater foun tain : hut when you come to ask for less obvious preparations the country drug gist has not heard or tnem. m.is loea of cosmetics is something "city girls make up with. , Salt water is SDlendid for the com plexion. It makes the skin firmer and finer partly because it is cold, partly because its particles of salt and sand suddIv friction: but the glare of sea and sand is anything but good for the comDlexlon and, of course, the wet skin with evaporation taking place. j burns most quickly. Salt air and foggy moist air are also good for the com plexion. A motor Toat trip In rain and fog is a fine bleach for the skin. But wind combined with sun is another matter; and when dust Is added on a motor-car spin alas for a fine-grained, delicately-tinted complexion! Before going in bathing, or on a sailing or motro boating, or a long motor drive, rub protective cream (its other name Is vanishing cream) well into any part of the skin that will be exposed to sun or wind. Dust over the surface with tal cum as a further protection and to take off the, shine and then valiantly face the sun, sand, sea-glare, wind and dust. There is a splendid sunproof and windproof protective cream on the mar ket which sells for about Jl the Jar. After the sea bath pat the skin dry do not rub It and at night rub In a light cleansing cream and omit the dusting of talcum. A bad case of sun burn may be relieved with one part of alcohol and three parts of wltchnaaei.