Wireless Lighting at Last

Wishing rings, magic carpets and Aladdin's lamp are but another way of saying "twentieth century" magic. When, through the darkness of the night, there flew swiftly and silently the waves of power that set a light glowing steadily, and gave no indication of mortal agency, the mystery and magic of the Genie of Wireless was once again to be noted.

When Signor Marconi announced the other day that he had succeeded in lighting an electric lamp through the agency of wireless he opened to the imagination the vista of a not far distant future when antennae on the roofs of houses would draw the forces of light from the dark air; when man, with nice calculation, might send a shaft of light into the blackest corner of the earth. What Nikola Tesla said twenty-one years ago that the power of light might be sent on the directed wires of the air to the nethermost parts of the world seemed to have had its first practical substantiation.

However much the announcement of this latest experiment may have charmed the lay mind, the scientific world received it only with a modicum of interest; in fact, the shrug of indifference almost amounted to a shrug of scorn. For, though the feat of lighting a lamp by wireless over a distance of six miles is admitted to be one of sentimental interest, the experts of the scientific world declare no new principle has been established and the commercial or practical value of wireless lighting is nil and will in all likelihood remain so.

Great Loss in Transmission.

The criticism of all is based on this fact that it requires too much power to make it of general value. While Mr. Marconi's transmitter was attached to a 100-horsepower apparatus the light that was generated six miles away amounted only to approximately one-twentieth of one horsepower. And if one illumined a lamp of 10 watts at a distance of six miles it would require a transmitting power of 100 kilowatts or 10,000 watts.

"Nothing in it," was the comment of Michael I. Pupin, professor of electro-mechanics at Columbia University, and famous throughout the world for the "pupin coil." "It's a nice experiment, but that's all. It has not demonstrated any new principles or modification of an old one, and certainly doesn't show where it can be of any practical worth.

"Almost all the power generated, you see, loses itself in the air. It dissipates itself. Only one-ten thousandth reaches its objective point. Consequently it is anything but probable that sufficient energy can ever be generated to use such a scheme of lighting for general purposes or even for experimentation over tremendous distances.

"Furthermore, while most of the waves are lost in the air, thousands of other receivers placed anywhere in the neighborhood of their route can catch and absorb them. As far as its objective point is concerned it will be 'the light that failed, indeed."

No Commercial Possibilities.

The criticism of John Stone Stone is along similar lines. Mr. Stone, at one time a lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is one of the world's greatest authorities on radio problems. He has been granted more than 121 patents for inventions by the United States Government.

"Yes, it is interesting," said Mr. Stone slowly. "But I see no hope now for its commercial possibilities. The great difficulty — rather one of the great difficulties — is that only a small part of all the power transmitted can be picked up. While 100 horsepower is generated, probably one-twentieth of one horsepower is the amount realized for practical purposes.

"However, the 'wireless lighting,' as it may be called, is merely a logical development of all the principles that we have known for a long while. It is nothing new, and it is nothing particularly astonishing. Although I might say that my personal opinion is that nothing will come of it, it doesn't do to prophesy in that fashion; so I will say that some day it may develop into something."

Dr. Lee De Forest, whose name has been associated with things wireless for many years, is much more emphatic in his statements. "You can't make it strong enough for me, he said, "that it is the most inefficient method for transmitting power that man could possibly devise. It has absolutely no commercial significance. It is interesting first as an experiment and then as an example of how far inefficiency can be carried.

Proving Old Principle.

"It has been known for many years that wireless waves could light a small light, but no one considered it of sufficient importance to prove it, except for very short distances. Nikola Tesla showed that it was possible years ago. We know that we can get 10 watts of light over a distance of a few miles, but to obtain even so small a quantity over 10,000 watts must be radiated. Consequently it is obvious that for practical purposes wireless lighting is quite impossible."

It was in St. Louis in 1893, in a lecture delivered before the National Electric Light Association, that Nikola Tesla first predicted the transmission of messages and power without the means of wires. He said at that time, in speaking of "the transmission of intelligible signals, or perhaps even power, to any distance without the use of wires," "I am becoming daily more convinced of the practicability of the scheme."

Tesla, who was known as "the father of wireless" ten years ago, doesn't believe that Marconi's scheme will ever be satisfactory where great distances are concerned or for general use. But he believes that wireless lighting is possible and that the scheme upon which he has been working for years will some day make it an accomplished fact.

Useful On Desert Wastes.

"Some day," declared Tesla, "we will light the nethermost corner of the earth by transmitting the power of light on air waves. From my laboratory in Long Island I will be able to light the homes of Australia in fact, to circle the globe with a band of light.

"But my plan is different from Mr. Marconi's, necessarily. Most of his power is dissipated; by my apparatus 99 per cent. of the energy will be conserved. Naturally, however, wireless lighting will be foolish, if not impractical, for lighting great cities in the midst of civilization. It will be valuable mostly for isolated places. Wherever there is a home or a group of homes far from civilization, whether in the Arctic north or in the depth of the tropics, whether in the middle of some vast desert or a lonely island in the sea for such a spot the wireless lighting will be both valuable and cheap. "