A new distance record for wireless telephony was established when P. N. Place, superintendent of the Scranton division of the Lackawanna Railroad, spoke from Scranton, Pa., to Frank Cizek, superintendent of the Syracuse division, who was in Binghamton, N. Y. The messages traversed sixty-three miles through a mountainous country.
The achievement was made more notable by the fact that the messages exchanged were not brief greetings, but business communications, regarding the movement of trains. The Lackawanna trains between Scranton and Binghamton moved for several hours according to orders sent and received by the wireless telephone.
Every word transmitted by the wireless was heard distinctly, according to L. B. Foley, superintendent of telephone, telegraph, and wireless of the Lackawanna, who was in charge of the experiment. Mr. Foley was jubilant over the achievement. Experiments with wireless telegraph and telephone have been conducted by the Lackawanna under his direction for more than a year.
The more recently recorded demonstration previous to this was on February 9th last, when wireless-telephone conversations were carried on between the station at Binghamton and a moving train at Lounsberry, N. Y., twenty-six miles away. The immediate object of the Lackawanna’s experimenters now is to increase the distance between a fixed station and a moving train to fifty miles, and that between two fixed stations to 150 miles, the distance between Hoboken and Scranton.
“I firmly believe,” Mr. Foley said, “that we shall be talking from our station in Hoboken to our station in Scranton within the next three or four weeks.”
The Lackawanna has constructed wireless stations at[{59}] Hoboken, Scranton, Binghamton, and Buffalo, and the ultimate object of its experiments is to have all points of the entire line between Hoboken and Buffalo in constant communication by wireless telephone. Simultaneously with the experiments in talking between fixed stations, progress is being made in the development of wireless telephony between a fixed station and a moving train. The experiments are being conducted by the Lackawanna’s own men working independently of other agents. They use the Marconi receiver and a transmitter devised and constructed by themselves.
The Lackawanna began with experiments in wireless telegraphy from a moving train to a fixed station, and this was developed until the wireless-equipped train was always in communication with one of the fixed stations along the line, but with the advance of wireless telephony the development of this branch of communication was appreciated, and the efforts of the Lackawanna were bent to its perfection.
The value of wireless telephony has been proved on the occasion of every blizzard that has destroyed or impaired communication by wire along the railroad lines west of New York. In several instances the Lackawanna has succeeded in getting its trains in operation many hours ahead of other railroads because of the efficiency of its wireless.
Owes Life to Albert.
A wounded soldier in the Nantes Hospital tells how King Albert saved the life of a French officer. During a furious bayonet charge, a lieutenant ventured too far into the German lines, and was brought down by a rifle shot. He was grievously wounded, and evidently was thought by the Germans to be dead. The scene of the conflict shifted, and though the officer was very weak from loss of blood, he dragged himself out of the range of fire and then fainted.