I i
CTJO IIE practicability of Marconi's sys-
tern of wireless telegraphy was dein
' onstrated at Notre Dame University
by Prof. Jerome J. Green of the depart
ment of electrical engineering. It did not
require elaborate mechanical devices to
put the new system to a practical test. The
PKOFKSSOU MARCONI.
Iu entor of Wlrolen Telegraphy.
material of the apparatus used was tukeu
entirely from the physical laboratory of
the university. A storage battery that is
common to any electrical workshop, a re
lay and key from the telegraph room, an
induction coil from the X-ray apparatus
and a coherer and choking coil made by
students under I'rof. Green's instruction
constituted the paraphernalia. These
were all that was needed to generate the
THE LATE EX-SENATOR TABOR
Warn Bred in Poverty, Acquired Mill
ions and Died Without a Cent.
The career of Horace A. W. Tabor,
the former Croesus of Colorado, who
died recently In Denver of appendicitis,
was characteristic of the frontier com
munities in which he lived. It lllus-
noiiAcn a. w. T.B'n.
tratcs the tips and downs of life lu u
striking manner. Ho was u poor store
keeper, then a rich miner, lie lived iu
a cabin, then lu a palace, lie sat 'n
the United States Senate, one of Its
wealthiest mcmltcrs, and last year was
glad to get the salary of postmaster of
Denver upon which to eke out an exist
ence. Tabor was born lu Vermont lu 1ST.0
and went to Kansas, where lie served
one term lu the Legislature. After
fighting grasshoppers and drought for
Botue years he packed his wife and
Rome things to eat and some tools to
dig with Into a prairie schooner and
started to 11 ml gold. Sometimes he
kept store lu mining camps, selling
flour for J2." per 100 pounds and bacou
for 50 cents a pound. Agalu he would
test fortune lu a placer claim, ntid theu
set up a forge aud sharpeu tools for the
miners.
From IStll to 1S78 he led a mouotou
ous existence, working drearily aud
profiting little. With the proceeds of
the sale of Ills last yoke of oxeu he
oieued a little store in a desolate Color
ado gulch, about 10.0(H) feet above a
level. In April, 1S7S, he supplied
"grub stakes" to two shoemakers who
Hi -
WW-
power, charge the vertical wire and pro
ject into ether a volume of magnetic
waves that flashed unguided through
space with the velocity of a ray of light
and descended with their message into the
tick of the coherer.
A brief description of the apparatus
used in wireless telegraphy will aid to an
understanding of the principles involved.
There is a marked analogy between Mar
coni's system and the system of telegraphy
now in use that was invented by Morse.
Each has an instrument called the trans
mitter, so adjusted as to produce electric
phenomena, and each has an instrument
called the receiver, to reproduce the
sounds. But while the Morse system is
dependent on an electric current to con
duct the signals, the Marconi system uses
the ether as a conductor, and propagates
the signals by electric waves.
The transmitter consists of an eight
Inch induction coil, which is operated by a
storage battery of twenty-tive volts. From
one of the binding posts of the induction
coil a wire runs to a galvanized iron ball
that is suspended from some object that
rises above surrounding buildings. Ground
wires complete the circuit. Electric dis
turbance is produced by forcing sparks
across the space intervening between the
discharging knobs on the induction coil.
These knobs are adjusted and can be ar
ranged so as to produce a spark of varying
length, depending on the capacity of the
metal ball and vertical wire which is at
tached to one terminal of the induction
coil.
The rapid-oscillating, high-frequency
(sometimes 200,000) between the knobs
on the induction coil affect the ether in
the vicinity of the vertical wire and metal
ball so that electric waves are propagated
in every direction. These electric waves
continue until they reach a ball and wire
similar to those connected with the induc
tion coil. This ball and wire intercepts
the waves, and conducts them to the re
ceiver. The receiver consists of an instru
ment, called the coherer, which is con
nected with a high-resistance relay, such
as may be seen in any telegraph office.
This relay actuates an ordinary telegraph
sounder.
Trof. Green became interested in the
work after reading Marconi's paper read
before the Institute of Electrical Engi
neers in Loudon. When the successful
experiments were made in transmitting
messages across the English channel he
determined to make an experiment for his
electrical classes.
A number of visiting college presidents
called at the laboratory during the experi
ment and witnessed the first working of
the system. Among them were President
Whitney and Vice-President Conway of
Georgetown University, Washington;
President O'Hara of Mount Saint Mary's
College, Emmetsburg, Md.; President
Lehy of Holy Cross College, Worcester,
Mass.; President Pox of Snint John's Col
lege, Fordham, N. Y., and the president
were prospecting. These cobblers, Au
gust Riehe and George F. Hook, dug
for ore on the top of a hill. Other min
ers laughed at their folly, but the cob
blers stuck to their picks, and after
digging twenty-six feet struck a vein
of carbonate ore of surpassing rich
ness. This was the Little Pittsburg
mine. Tabor made a million or more
from his Interest. The site of his store
became the center of Leadvllle and
Tabor grew Immensely wealthy. His
fortune was estimated at from $0,000,
000 to $0,000,000. Then he moved to
Denver.
At that time Deuver was a placid
towu of 50,000 people. Tabor believed
lu Its future. Near the city, "out on
the prairie," he built La Veta Place nt
a cost of a million. This was his dwell
ing. Then In the city he built the Ta
bor Block and the Tabor Grand Opera
House at a cost of $2,000,000. Ills
SENATOR TABOR'S LAST HOME AND MINE
building cuthuslastu provoked a boom
lu Denver.
Tabor was ambitious to be a great
figure In his state and In the country.
Iu fulfillment of his ambitions he need
ed, or thought he needed, a seat In the
United States Senate and a fair young
wife. He got both. He paid $100,000
to, the faithful woman who had ridden
with him lu the prairie schooner and
had shared In the privations of a pros
pectcf's life and the cruel cold of the
of the Ottawa University, Canada. This
trial was made between two rooms in Sci
euce hall and the instantaneous click of
the coherer made known the success of
the experiment.
The receiving station was then moved to
machinery hall, a distance of 200 feet. The
doors and windows of both buildings were
closed and here it was seen that walls
were no barrier to these magnetic waves.
Whether the waves penetrate or go around
a building is not known. The next day
the coherer was removed to the various
buildings on the campus with success
equal to the first day's trial.
Prof. Green then suspended the verti
cal wire from the flagstaff on the campus,
a height of 133 feet. The instruments
were more accurately adjusted and a trial
was made at St. Mary's academy, a mile
and a half away. Here again the tappings
came as accurately as when a single wall
divided the sending and receiving instru
ments. In the laboratory at St. Mary's academy
was an induction coil that had been
brought from Paris by Rev. Provincial
Zahni. This coil could be pressed into ser
vice in establishing n sending station at
I3.DUCTIOX COIL.
St. Mary's, and Prof. Green set his stu
dents at work to fit up another set of in
struments for that purpose. The instru
ments used in transmitting the messages
require no more space than a sewing ma
chine, and those at the opposite end may
be carried in the hand. The storage bat
tery used in the Notre Dame experiments
had a capacity of forty ampere hours.
The power was conducted to an eight-inch
iuduction coil that transformed the low
tension electricity of the battery to the
high tension oscillating current that prop
agated the waves, which, discharged from
the vertical wire and metal sphere, travel
at the rate of 180,000 miles a second.
These waves resemble in length the
waves of sound rather than those of light.
A vertical wire and sphere receive the
impulses and convey them to the coherer.
This instrument is the essential one in the
wireless system. It consists of a glass
tube a few inches in length, the ends of
which are closed with adjustable brass
plugs. The space between these plugs is
filled with filings of silver and nickel,
which cohere when affected by the elec
trical wares. The cohesion of the parti
high plateaus of the Rocky Mountains.
Though protesting, she obeyed her hus
band and sued for divorce on the
ground of desertion. The decree was
granted. Pretty "Baby" Doe, of Lead
vllle, Immediately beenme Mrs. Tabor
No. 2. One ambition was fulfilled.
The seat lu the Senate next was nb
talned, but for thirty days, to fill the
unexpired term of Henry M. Teller,
lie failed of re-election. After his
thirty days lu office In Washington his
fortunes began to wane. The ueed for
ready money sent him to the lenders.
Mortgages were the result. Mines fail
ed. Ills buildings were not profitable.
One by one the properties were sold.
Millions slid from him ns rapidly as
they had come to him. Tabor became
penniless.
He went out from Denver, lived in a
cabin near Ward, Boulder County; lo
cated a mine and tried to dig new for-
tunes out of the ground. Success was
not so familiar as It had been at Lead
vllle. For eight months he dug and
found nothing aud wns forced to apply
to Millionaire Strattou, a former $3-a-day
carpenter, who had struck It rich,
for a loan. Strattou advanced him $30,
000 and Tabor coutluued his mining.
In the spring of 1S0S President Mc
Klnley appointed him postmaster of
Denver, the city he had built up. The
miners of Colorado were not displeased
ifSfl f 11 fill
cles reduces the resistance sufficiently to
cause the relay to operate. The normal re
SistuiiCG of the culit'i'er in I'rof. Greeu'i
trials was 10,000 ohms; when affected by
the impulses it was reduced to between
ten and fifty ohms. The power of trans
mission is increased fourfold by doubling
the height of the vertical wire. The waves
can be concentrated in one direction, like
the rays of a searchlight. This is effect
ed by means of a Rigi oscillator and a re
flector. Some experiments in the Marconi sys
tem of wireless telegraphy took place re
cently between Wimereux, a village on the
French coast three miles north of Bou
logne, and the South Foreland. A pole
150 feet high was erected at Wimereus
and the necessary instruments were plac
ed in a small station. A pole of the same
height was erected hard by the South
Foreland lighthouse and the instruments
put in one of the rooms. The distance
from station to station is thirty miles.
The tests were conducted with the assent
of the French Government, under the per
COHERER AND RELA
sonal supervision of Mr. Marconi. The
tests proved highly satisfactory. They
were conducted in the presence of dele
gates from the French war office and the
French postofflce, who expressed them
selves much gratified at the excellent
working of the system.
that nt C8 years of age Tabor might
have adequate shelter and food.
A PLAY UPON WORDS.
Kxperience of a Qnurtet of Roundera
on a Visit to a (bow,
It appears that one Idle day the frog,
the duck, the lamb and the skunk start
ed forth together to visit the show.
Just what sort of show It was, relates
the Cleveland Thiln Dealer, the chrou
Icier doesn't state. Anyway, It was
something that the queerly assorted
quartet was anxious to attend, and
they hopped and waddled, and gam
boled, and trotted toward the big can
vas Inclosure with delightful throbs of
anticipation.
Finally they reached the door-tender
the frog leaping the line.
Well, the frog had a greenback and
passed right In.
The duck had a bill and followed the
frog.
The lamb had four quarters and fol
lowed the frog and duck.
But the unfortunate skunk was left
on the outside. He hnd only a scent
Naturally he turned away feeling
pretty blue. b
As he was slowly going back over
the hill he met a hoop snake rolling
nlong at a lively rate toward the show
The skunk greeted him, but the snake
did not stop.
"Don't Interrupt me." he cried, over
hla shoulder. "I've got to do a turn
and I'm a little late."
And he rolled along.
At the top of the hill the skunk no
tlced another old frieud approachinc
It was the sardine.
"Hullo!" cried the sardine; "what's
the matter?"
So the skunk told him.
"I can guess how you feel about lt,M
said the sardine, sympathetically "I
belong to the smelt family myselfBut,
say, old fellow, you come right back
with me I've got a box."
And the skunk and the sardine went
back together.
Canadians in the House of Lord.
Canada has three of her sons sitting
In the House of Lords, viz., Baron Hal
(button, the Earl of Carnwath and the
Earl of Elgin.
When you have svmrmthv .ik '
ugly person It is a sign that you arc
"MEIN GOTT, IT IS UNHEARD Opn
An Austrian Officer's Comment on tu
Destruction of Cervera'a Fleet.
Capt. Taylor gives an amusing a
count in the Century of his interview
with an Austrian lieutenant, wll0
boarded the Indiana Immediately nfto
the fight at Santiago: r
He was In full uniform, with a brii
llant display of epaulets aud gold laee
white waistcoat and trousers, n
found us covered with the smoke and
dust of battle, groups of half-naie(i
men lining up to salute him as ue
passed, their faces streaked with now-der-smoke
and coal-dust. He readied
me on the bridge, finally, In a state of
polite bewildermeut. and presented his
captain's request for permission to pass
through our blockading lines and brins
out from Santiago Austrian refugees
desiring to leave that besieged town
After referring him to Admiral Samp!
son, and telling him he would be found
some distance to the westward, be
asked for news, and I told him we had
just come out of action with Cervera's
squadron. He. showed great surprise,
and said:
"Theu there has been a battle
"Yes," 1 replied.
"And the result?" be asked, eagerly.
"We have defeated them."
"But where Is Cervera's fleet now?'
he inquired.
"Ills flagship, the Maria Teresa, is
there, lieutenant," I answered, po'mt
ing, nt the same tlnio, to the beaci a
few miles distant.
"But I see nothing there but some
smoke, captain I"
"It Is the smoke of the Teresa burn
ing, lieutenant; she Is a wreck upun
the beach."
He was silent, and I continued:
"Close to her on the beach you will
see another column of smoke; that is
the Oquendo burning. On this sido,
nearer to us, Is the Pluton, suuk In the
breakers; and the Furor Is near her,
but is on the bottom In deeper water,
and Is not visible.'
"But," he interrupted, "you have
then destroyed half those splendid ves
sels of Cervera'sl"
"Wait, lieutenant," I continued, "and
look a few miles farther to the west
ward, and you will see another column
of smoke; that Is the Vizcaya, on the
beach near Aserraderos. As to the
Colon, she is still farther to the west
ward, out of sight from us here, hut
you will see her presently as your cap
tain steers lu that direction to find Ad
miral Sampson, who Is at that end of
our line."
His eyes ranged along the shore ns I
pointed out the different vessels.
"Mein Gott!" he exclaimed. "Then
you have destroyed the whole of that
splendid squadron! I did not think it
possible."
After a moment more of silent aston
ishment, he said, with a polite sym
pathy which concealed eager profes
sional curiosity:
"And your Injuries, captain? What
losses has the American squadron sus
tained?" "None," I replied.
"But, captain, you do not under
stand; It Is what casualties what '
ships lost or disabled that I ask.'
"None, lieutenant," I said. "The In
diana was struck twice, suffered no in
jury, no loss. The other ships are vir
tually In the same condition. We are
all of us perfectly ready for another
battle as much so ns before Cervera
came out this morning."
His astonishment was now complete.
"Mein Gott!" he exclaimed again.
"Admiral Sampson's fleet has destroyed
these great Spanish ships, and without
Injury to his own squadron! Sir, It Is
unheard of. I must go to Inform uiy
rnptaln."
rr t Harte's Love tor Luxury;
Bret Ilarte works nway quietly In
Ixmdon, and seems to like the town,
although the climate can hardly bear
comparison with that of California.
The effete luxury of the capital appears
to suit him better than the rigors of
the backwoods. I was speaking with
him once on this subject, aud uphold
ing the rigid life Henry Thorenu had
led at Walden Toud, as compared with
the luxurious surrouudiugs of many
modern authors. I advocated a return
to the simpler habits of our ancestors.
"Yes," he said, "living on parched
peas sounds very fine In a book. When
I visited Emerson I was astonished to
find how close Walden Pond was to
the Emerson homestead, and I com
mented on this. I hnd Imagined that
the pond was away out in the wilder
ness, miles from any human habita
tion. Before Emerson could reply,
Mrs. Emerson spoke up In the touc of
a woman exposing a humbug: 'Oh,
yes, Henry took good care not to get
out of hearing of our dinner horn.' "
Philadelphia Tost.
Pererse.
Cobwigger-IIow was it that dog of
yours wouldn't do any of his tricks to
day? Brown I guess It was because I was
showing him to a man who wanted to
buy a dog. Harlem Life.
About Railroad Employee.
There are 450 employes to every 100
miles of railroad In the United States.
From an actor's standpoint an encor
Indicates that one good turn deserve!
another.
7