Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 201, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1913 — ALL-RED WIRELESS [ARTICLE]

ALL-RED WIRELESS

Canada Plans Exclusive Service Across Atlantic Ocean. Does Not Like the Idea of Being Dependent Upon the Big Companies of the United States—Will Supplement Cables. St John’s N. F.—The recent announcement by the Canadian postmaster general, L. P. Pelletier, 4hat the dominion government intends to establish a system of wireless stations, to supplement the transatlantic cable services, indicates the importance which Canada attaches to the utilization of this agency. The cable companies are equally alive to the need of special efforts to cope with the growing use of the wireless by sea and fact instanced by there being in the world today 2,624 radiotelegraphic stations, of which 360 are coast stations, 1,352 are on vessels of the mercantile marine and 964 on warships. At the outset it may not be amiss to point out that with the AngldAmerlcan, Western Union and Direct United States Cable companies forming one merger; the Commercial Cable company maintaining another in conjunction with the German cables, and both being controlled by American capital and executive officers, the reasons for a British controlled, stateowned cable system and a wireless system, as an alternative that can be utilized in any emergency, are greatly ’accentuated. Similarly, as all the existing transatlantic cable "companies have seen it to be technically and financially advantageous to land their cables on the shores of Newfoundland the laet four years and to pay annual landing taxes of SB,OOO to $20,000 for the right to do so, Newfoundland would seem to be the obvious place also to land any proposed‘new “AllRed” cable or wireless system. Newfoundland enjoys the distinction of being the birthplace of transoceanic telegraphy, both by wire and wireless. In ’August, 1858, more than fifty' years ago, Gyrus Field laid the first submarine cable between Kerry, Ireland, and Trinity bay. Newfoundland, and In December, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received at St. John’s the. first electric signals through his wireless medium transmitted across 2,000 miles of space from his station at Poldhu, England.

It may be taken for granted that the imperial and Canadian authorities can scarcely view with equanimity the acquisition by Americans of one group of transatlantic cables which contains (the only one of British Identity in the lot —namely, the Anglo-American — while another purely American organization, the Commercial Cable company, controls the second group, thereby depriving the British empire of any direct supervision of these submarine agencies. It is quite true, of course, that under the imperial laws the British government could assume control of Cable stations at the landing places tn the British Isles In this event of war or other emergency, and that similar powers are vested In the governments* of Canada and Newfoundland. where these cables have their western terminals. There are now seventeen working cables across the Atlantic, distributed as follows: > Four Anglo-American cables between the British isles and America, via Heart’s Content, Newfoundland. Three Western Union cables, one between the British isles and America, via Pay Roberts. UTewfoundland. and two vig Canso. Nova Scotia. One direct United States cable between the British isles and America, via Harbor Grace. Newfoundland. • Five Commercial caßles. two between the British isles and America,

via St. John’s, Newfoundland: two via Canso, and one via Horta. Azores. Two French cables, one between Brest and New York, via St. Pierre, Miquelon, and one via Cape Cod. Two German cables between Borkum and via the Azores.