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The Commoner,
Mi:
VOLTtS 9, NUMBER 51
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coherer, runs up to the distributing
wires, and then flies 6ff into space,
just liko lightning."
Storms No Hindrance
"But don't stormy nights hamper
you?" I asked. Simms laughed. "It'et
a funny thing," he said, "but the
worse the weather the bettor results
we get in many cases.. I've seen us
receive messages with greater clear
ness during a cyclone than on a stiU,
night. Hello! they're calling us up
from sea."
He started the little clock-work
motor, and a thin paper tape be
gan to unwind itself from the spool.
On it a message, appeared, a long,
broken line, which represented the
dots and dashes of the Continental
code, which is used exclusively ly
Marconi establishments in preference
to the Morse. -
"Dot-dash-dot-dot dot-dash," read
off Simms. "That's L. A., the Lu
canla's signal. Here it comes 'Fifty
miles west of Fastnet' we're work
ing woll tonight 'all well; please
roport me to my owners.' " I could
not make head or tail of the broken
line on the paper but Simms read it
as easily as if it were cold print.
"I'll give him some news now," he
said, and seized the transmitting key.
The room was filled with blue light,
the hissing cackle of the induction
spark was deafening.
tt,,it 4 TMoTtr VrtrV' wnmiin bar-
Ibarously mutilated; supposed to bo
work of uiacK nana rumaup. otuy.
Ho recited the" words as he rattled
them off. "What's 'stop' for?" I
asked. "Shows a news item is fin
ished. ,Now for another: 'Sultan
of Turkey forced to abdicate; Young
Turks invade Constantinople;'" and
so on, paragraph after paragraph of
concise information such as might
prove interesting to passengers who
have been days at sea.
"They've had news every day and
night," said Simms, in answer to an
NEW BOOK
A New, Complete Edition of
Mi
Speeches
Containing AH of His Important Public Utterances
his entire career, from his valedictory oration at Illinois College in 1881,
mrougn nis eariy puoiic lire, nis presidential campaigns, nis worm
tours, his platform experiences, and his participation in meetings of
organizations devoted to national nroerress. as well as international
congresses for the promotion of the world's peace.
T'Via nnlilenf mnffor of tTioao Dnonnlioa onxrava n xxrira mniro nf rvnlB
from tVln fnnrlnmonf r1 nnr vlffil nrnhlomo of nnfrtnnl otH ctrrk-rlrl Ufa o
ltne. highest ideals of human endeavor. A handy means of reference to
.u, mwu.'wuv w uwvsl iHWUlUJUB Ui 1U.U ICOCUli U11U J.UIUIU1
A Brief Outline of Contents
In these Volumes VOU Will find Jill hn tmnnrtnTit noUHnnl nnoonVina oti
the Tariff, Banking, Currency, Bimetalism, Income Tax, Money, the
ouyur vuesuiou, imperialism, uoioniansm, liovernment UwnQrsnip, The
Trust Question, Guaranteed Deposits, Election of Senators by Direct
Vote, Initiative and Referendum, Labor, 1908 Tariff Speech, State
and Nation, etc., etc. Here you will find all his speeches in foreign
lands, before the World's Peace Congress in London, in Cuba, Japan,
England, etc., etc. These books contain his educational and religious
lectures The Price of a Soul, The Value of an Ideal, The Prince of
Peace, Man, Missions, Faith, etc., etc.; his miscellaneous speeches
Character. Gray's Elesy. Memorial Dav nt. ArHnn-fon pQnanfinna
Lincoln, his home city, at the White House Conference, on Commerce
at the Taft-Bryan banquet, to His Neighbors, Tributes to Jefferson,
Lincoln, etc., etc. '
The Only Complete Collection '
Whilo Mr. Bryan's speeches, lectures and public addresses have ap
peared from time to time in different editions of his works, or have
beenMssued in separate form, these two volumes contain the only au
thentic, complete and authoritative collection of all of his speeches ever
ssued This is the first publication in book form of a complete collec
tion of Mr. Bryan's speeches from his first entry in public life up to the
present time,
This complete collection of speeches comes in two handsome volumes
cloth bound 12m., gilt top, and printed in large clear type. Frontls
FiSA? ! .al rious &. with biographical introduc-
r, , " w " owru. .uryan. jfrico per set, $2.25. in cloth
binding, prepaid. Bound in half leather, $3.25 prepaid. Agents wn&d.
Sent prepaid on receipt of price. Address all orders and make re
mittance payable to THE COMMONER, Lincoln, Nebraska
Special Offer
For a limited time, to any one sending $2.25 for 2-volumo set of tho
new book, "Speeches of William Jennings Bryan," we will Tnclude with!
out extra cost a year's subscription to The Commoner If alreadJ
subscriber date of expiration will be advanced one year. If half'
leather edition is wanted send $3.25. Send all orders and make remit
tances payable to Tho Commoner, Lincoln, Neb. remit-
Name
-P. O.
ejaculation from me. '"They got It
by long-distance wireless. No, I-
shan't be able to show you that
it's a secret. Wait till half-past nine
and you'll hear it go off." ,.
The tape on the spool ran off alow
ly and quietly, and after a while"
lines appeared again. The Lucarila
had got tho messages and was- rer
turning thanks. Then followed a few
private messages, which Simms care
fully wrote down, to be transmitted
by land wire to the nearest postoffic
and thence to friends at home.
Know Where Ships Aro
"Here's something that might in
terest you," said Simms, indicating a
framed chart on the wall of the
room. I looked it was to all In
tents and purposes a printed repre
sentation of a very intricate game of
cat's cradle; lines crossing and re
crossing everywhere.
"What is It?" L asked naturally.
He said, "That's our chart commun
ication chart officially. It shows ex
actly the position of any ship car
rying the Marconi at any given time
during the month. They're served
out fresh every four weeks, so wo
can tell to a few miles exactly where
a ship will be at a given time. Here
you are look along this circle it
represents our short-distance radius;
two-fifty miles. Here's the Lucania;
9 o'clock sixty miles west of the
Fastnet she's ahead of her time.
It's easy enough when you know a
ship's speed and time of sailing.
Every Marconi ship there are over
one hundred and twenty of them
now has a similar chart put aboard,
and her Marconi operator knows just
when and where he's likely to meet
with other fitted ships, and to send
messages accordingly. Bless you,
they might have telephones aboard
liners nowadays; they play games of
chess with one another at a distance
of 200 miles, and keep it up voyage
after voyage. No end of stories to
be told about the Marconi, if you're
interested."
Various other ships came within
range as I waited there; German
ships and French ships, and each
one made itself known by its allotted
"It's getting time for long-distant
now," ne said after a pause. "You
can hear it I daren't let you see.'
He telephoned to the engine house,1
and the reply came back that all
was in readiness. "Every ship with
in 1,500 miles Is waiting for tills "
he said. "They know the hour for
transmission. Well, so long; but
plug your ears with something I
use cotton wool." He disappeared
Into an inner room and I waited.
Like Heavy Artillery
Suddenly a sound as of nearby ar
tillery firing began. The hut shook
to its foundations; an acrid scent
of electricity filled my nostrils.
Everywhere flashed mighty sparks of
electricity; the finest lightning dis
play I have ever seen was nothing to
It. The harsh, biting crackle of the
power was stunning; it seemed ver
ily as if man had chained the ele
ments to his wJH, and was playing
wuu mem as wun a giant toy. Fif
teen hundred miles away ships were
waiting to hear-whether stocks had
continued their steady rise of the
past week; and they were not dis
appointed. For the best part of half an hour
the thunder continued, and then it
died away, and peace reigned in the
wiroless house. Simms reappeared
looking as unconcerned as if he had
mereiy neen sending messages from
town to town over a solid wire.
"We havo to wear rubber gloves
and insulate ourselvea all over " he
said; "we use a pretty strong cur
rent for long distance.. Enough to
kill a few mmi f if i, .
get mixed up with them. Now we'll
settle down to ordinary work again."
Anri fTiiTtif'trliiUVw ln ..
- wv?.4uwu'iM4 usni tne mar.
vela continued.; Ships Bent their
messages and wW answered to their
satisfaction; neWaj items were flashed
through the dajtiW and always
the wonder grew! J
"And It's oniyjMiti infancy yet"
gloried Simms. Walt a year or two
and you'll see detttopments. What
do you say td torpedoes beine
steered for a couple of miles and
if a couple of miled a couple of hun-
?re(!?-y meatl? 'of thls samo wire
less? They're experimenting with it
now. We shalUsoon be able to di
rect waves t.o any part of the com
pass. - He twas an enthusiast, and he saw
visions. But I had seen enough mar
vels to content myself with realities
and when I left Pol-Bryann it was
with the conviction that I had wit
nessed the working of the greatest
invention the world has ever known.
TWO OF A KIND
The dean of a western university
was told by the students that tho
cook was turning out food not "fit
to eat."
The dean summoned the delin
quent, lectured him on his short
comings, and threatened him with
dismissal unless conditions wero
bettered.
"Why, sir," exclaimed tho cook,
"you oughtn't to place so much im
portance on what the young men tell
you about my meals! They como
to me in just the same way about
your lectures." The Argonaut.
THICKLY; SETTLED
While riding on an electric car,
during his first visit to the city, a
farmer passed the yard of a' monu
ment company, where gravestones
and monuments . jwere displayed.
Turning to his host, he remarked in
an awe-stricken voice, "They dow
bury 'em close in the city, don't
they?" Lippincott's Magazine.
VICTORY CAD ENOUGH
In a corridor of one of the Uni
versity of Texas buildings there is a
large repMca of "The Winged Vic
tory." A waggishly-inclined student
observed the headless, armless, foot
less statue, and .Wrote underneath:
"God pity DefVat!" Lippincott's
Magazine. ;
NOT TO BE FOOLED WITH
It seems that although an alliga
tor may be trained, .there is a ten
dency to "revision," as the evolu
tionists say. It wafe an old colored
woman who remarked that she trust
ed the Lord, but never fooled with
him. Philadelphia Enquirer.
CHEATING THE LAW
Man on Shore "I'm going ter
have you arrested when you como
outer thar!"
"Te he! I ain't coming out
I'm ' committing suicide," (sinks
with a bubbling grin). Life.
PHYSIOLOGICAL
"Effle,"V said Margie, who was la
boriously spelling words from a first
reader, "how can I tell which is a
'd' and which" Is a 'b'?"
"Why," replied Effle, wisely, the
'd has its tummy on its back." Tit
Bits. ' ,
THE LINE., OF ARGUMENT
"Father," said little Rollo, "what
is the Arctic circle?" '
"The Arctic dircle, my son, is an
imaginery line bounding a large area
of uncorroborated evidence." Wash
ington Star.
Women are only 'charged half
rates at the hotels In the more north
ern countries of Europe. Ex.
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fslili',
