Newspapers / Jackson County Journal (Sylva, … / Jan. 3, 1919, edition 1 / Page 2
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i JACKSON COUNTY JOURNAL, SYLVA, N. C. ' - ' LAW OF NATURE FOUND BY INVENTOR OF THE PERFECT RADIO WOMEN AND. CHILDREN OF LILLE WELCOME LIBERATORS NEW 4 4' i v -.1. ,- Puzzle of Static Electricity Has Invention in Use tiy Allied Governments During the War Will Be Given to the World When Peace Is Finally Con i eluded Great Saving of Time and Money. . New York, MI have discovered a inew law of nature." Without hearing the rest of a mod est inventor's assertions think what that means.; That is a tremendous declaration. I It is epochal. Not since the day of Sir Isaac Newton, who was credited with the discovery of the law of gravitation, has a real law of na ture) been added to the world's col lection of marvelous scientific phe nomena. One may expectantly look for the eighth wonder of the world. Newton may have been a modest man Perhaps all great inventors are modest men. The fact that most of then) have jaeen unfortunate in being Illy rewarded for their labors might indicate a bashful nature. No one, who has seen and talked with Roy A. "Weagant, chief engineer of the Mar coni I Wireless Telegraph company, will dispute the .fact that he is modest. He is the ydung man who, after ten years of scientific research into wireless phenomena,! has solved the puzzle of static electricity and by means 6fa newilaw of nature has eliminated that bothersome? element from the atmos phere so that wireless has become a perfect means of communication for extremely iong distances. His inven tion j has already been In use by the allied governments during the war and he is! readyjnd anxious to disclose the "nevjc law of nature" to the world as eooni as certain restrictions are re moved by the conclusion of peace. "A Simple Matter." "l is aJ simple matter when once you find the governing law," said Mr. Weagant to a reporter. "Radio ex pert havej looked for it for years and some of them have claimed to have d.so?vered' it, but they were either fakejrs or jhad made honest , mistakes in scientific Judgment. I have got it. i That fact jean be easily demonstrated and will be at the proper time. If I should describe the details of the ap paratus it would be a simple matter fpr radio ! engineers to recognize the new! law. j We feel constrained not to divulge the secret generally until peae has; been concluded." Mr. Weagant said he was positive . the Germans had not made the discov ery 'themselves or had any knowledge of his discovery. He declared that on ly a few days ago he was listening to Wireless messages being sent to Gerniany jand that the German opera tor .requested the sender to repeat the messages j and use more power. That" Would nop have happened if the Ger mans had known how to utilize the new' method, the Inventor said. "Static" has been the hoodoo of wireless telegraphy ever since Mar coni convinced a doubtful world of the j actuality of the new method of communication. Little buzzings and big jelatterings along the air currents, particularly on moist days, have per sistently Interrupted the clear flow of 'the wireless messages and made their reception practically Impossible. The Inventor described the sound in the Instruments as similar to that made by some one throwing a handful, of peb bles against a glass window. On cold, enappy days the adverse atmospheric condition has not been so bad. But the; trouble was always the worst from lJune to October. IA Prophetic Decision. Mr. Weagant recalled a decision In the) United States district court on January 7, 1916, in which Judge Julius Majyer made a prophetic announce ment in; regard to the solving of the static problem. It was in the case of Elntner; vs. the Atlantic Communica tion company et al, where the Issue Involved the invention of a new trans mitter for wireless apparatus. Refer ring back to the "state of the art" of wireless communication on July 1, 1907, a date figuring in the case, Judge Mayer said : "On that date there were just two possibilities : (1) To annul, exclude, WANTON DESTRUCTION BY THE HUNS I This British official photograph, weioh was taken on the British western froptj before the signing of the armistice, shows the wanton destruction with Which the Germans ravaged the country that they were evacuating Thla one time beautiful statue in Doual was Been Solved by R. A. Weagant eliminate static ; or, J2) to Improve the wireless note hy method of appara tus, or both, so far beyond the art as to constitute invention. The first has not been done. He who shall accom plish that need have no fear of the H fate of his invention." So the radio operators kept on searching for that principle which Mr. Weagant has at last found. We have his word for it, awl the word of Ed ward J. Nally, vice president and gen eral manager of the Marconi company, and the fact that the perfected wire less has been used by the government during the war, although not yet offi cially a;mounced. It has made the bridging of the North Atlantic by wireless, always the hardest route for aerial messages, ac cording5 to Mr. Weagant, easy. It has eliminated long distances, the most Im portant goal radio engineers have striven! for. "Before the war. we were limited to six or seven hours communication a day across the Atlantic and across the six thousand mile stretch from San Francisco to Japan," said' Mr. Wea gant. "Now we can use the wireless continuously. Before the war it would have been impossible to get all the 'news' which the German wireless tried to scatter over the world. Now we can get it all. I am not privileged to say to v what extent our discovery has figured in the war, but I can say in a general way that almost every thing the Germans sent out bearing on the question of peace was received. Will Save Money. "A considerable, saving of money will be effected. In some sending sta tions the power needed is cut in half. Instead of steel masts 400 feet high, as some are, and cost $18,000 apiece, a mast the height of & telephone pole is enough for receiving." The inventor said that the trouhle with most of the radio experts who had been experimenting with "static" was that they had given up too soon. Many of them came to the conclusion that the solution' of- the problem was impossible. They regarded "static" as a thing erratic, Incalculable, way ward,, willful, a law unto itself. The turning point came when the Marconi engineer decided that "static" was a natural law.ratlonal and follow ing a definite system, that only needed to be understood tq be conquered. That was n 1908. Since that time Mr. Wea gant has devoted the better part of his energies to ascertaining just what the j properties of this law were. The pre- j Hminary work was done largely at ex-j periment stations In New Jersey and Miami, Florida. In 1916 government assistance was enlisted and the ex- l periments took on a far more definite j character. By the time this country i was ready to enter the war the work had reached practical completion and patent application claims had been al lowed by the United States patent of fice. From that time forward the prob lem has been one largely of perfection of detail. "All I did was to set out to discover the new law of nature and make It work for man. and that's all I have done," said this modest inventor. "I set up all sorts of hypotheses and con structed all sorts of apparatus, and when one theory wouldn't work I tried another. It was like failins in 999 ways and finding what you are after on the thousandth .attempt." Of course the question came up again as to just what the inventor had found out, what the new law of na ture was. And what millions of lay men and a few thousand scientists, who were taking the attitude of the Missourian, wanted to be shown. It was stated that some of them had pub licly doubted the solving of the "stat ic" puzzle. The inventor smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "That's quite natural," he said. "It sounds big to make the announcement pulled down by the enemy for the that we have perfected wireless after all these years, but I know we are safe. 1 would like to tell the whole story, but I am restrained until the peace pact is signed. 1 don't expect people, including scientific men, to believe it until they use it. It is like flying people would not believe it could be done until they actually saw it done." Mr. Weagant asserted that they were not seeking a monopoly of the Inven tion, and said the British and French governments already were familiar with him while he was acting for the United States government. He said that reasonable protection would be se cured, but that he intended to give his secret to the world, because of the great importance of having the best communication facilities possible ev erywhere. Mr. Weagant was born in Canada, but his parents moved to Vermont when he was a baby, and he has made his residence in this country most . of the time since then. He studied at Stanstead college and at McGill university, where he received the de gree of bachelor of science, He worked for the Montreal Light, Heat and Pow er company, the Westinghouse com pany at Pittsburgh, the De Laval Steam Turbine company, the National Electric Signaling company, and in 1912 joined the Marconi company. He is a comparatively young man with hair slightly tinged with gray and has clear, sharp gray eyes, which reflect an active and highly trained mind. He is rather diffident and retiring, but ex presses his opinions in a voice that is deep-toned and convincing. GRATEFUL TO RED CROSS Italian Mothers Wept With Joy Sight of Children Returned to Health. Rome One by one the, mountain camps and seaside colonies of the American Red Cross in Italy are clos ing for the season. In cities in th north and south, in Sardinia and Sicily, mothers are welcoming "''their Mother Greeting Child Returning From Camp. children home and rejoicing in- their changed appearance. "It is amusing to watch mothers seeking to recognize their little ones-" writes one of the American Red Cross workers. "And it is touching to see their delight when they at last realize that the brown, sturdy youngsters who rush into their arms 'are the delicate Giuseppinas and the anemiq Angelos who left them earlier in the sum mer." . Pouring into the Rome office, the headquarters of the American organ ization in Italy, are letters from these mothers telling of their gratitude. They are written laboriously and painstakingly, the majority of them, each cramped character eloquent of earnest sincerity in this, the penned expression of their gratitude. Follow ing is one of the many received: "I. Maria Ferrario, mother of Angelo Ferrario, am overjoyed at the improve ment in health of my little son. He returned from the mountain camp -of the American Red Cross at Gressonei, fat and with color in his cheeks, of which he stood In suchgreat need. I can find no words to express my grat itude' for your kindness. May God protect and bless the kind benefac tors who have done so much for the children of Italy's soldiers.M TEXAS OIL INDUSTRY BOOMS War Stimulus Results in Development of Refineries With 278,500 Bar- . rels Capacity. Dallas. Under the spur of war, Texas in the last year has effected a' tremendous development of her oil in dustry. ' Today there are in operation in this state 42 refineries, with a capacity of 278,500 barrels daily. They are capa ble of refining double tjse amount of oil produced in the Texas fields last year. Fields of unsuspected volume have been opened and made to aid In keen irig" ships and army motors at top speed. In the coastal region wiiere ten refin eries arc in operation, the first unit of a big oil plant on the Houston ship canal is nearly completed. It Is in tended to have a capacity of 20,000 barrels a day and represents an Invest ment of from $8,000,000 to $10,000,000 1 A:i V 0 j This British official photograph shows a part of the crowdof women and children that gave the Liverpool-lrisb soldiers. such a stirring ovation when they entered the town. NOW MAKING GARMENTS FOR NEEDY EUROPEANS This photograph shows the surgical dressing unit of th- Red Cross which bandages and is now making garments for the French and Belgians, who are at the machine is seen Mrs. Payne Whitney. . SHIP WHICH CARRIES THE .PRESIDENT The top photograph In this group is that of the George Washington, npon which President Wilson is making his trip across the water to the peace conference. Below the ship Itself are views of the elaborate Interior of the vessel, including the dining room and two scenes in the "imperial suite." " - - Man's Invisible Partner. When we learn to depend more on the man within than we have been accustomed to do on the man with out we shall learn the worth, of the .invisible partner. Born with us at the 'cradle it waits only the touch of wisdom to bring it out. It grows with us through the years a help or a hin drance. We have much to do with him. Too many crush him out of be ing. Those who- stop to listen to his suggestions learn life's better way. -. lien he is made the consulting pow e4 of life's ambitions he supplies the "val urge that endows men with tslB35 and power. ,1 The Suggestion. , Miss Caustic These men who crit icize sy severely the wearing of over iills and trousers by women at work amuse me. i ' Mr. Curious Why so? Miss Caustic Because the men who are the loudest in denunciation are sure to be the ones whose wives wear the breeches at home. Baltimore American. Diamond Cut Diamond. In Bavaria, where the crown prince, and indeed all Prussians, are hated, they tell a story about a burglar. A burglar, the story runs, returned home in the dawn light in a dreadful temper. "What's the matter 7" said his wife. "Didn't you have no luck?" "Luck? Naw!" snarled the burglar. "I made a mistake in the blackness, and tried to burgle the palace where the crown prince lives. He was home, too." "Oh," said the burglar's wife, "what a misfortune ! I was wonderin' how it was that you come back with nothin' but your underwear on." Typical Reformer. Traveling Salesman Has the awal ened conscience yet made its appear ance in this vicinity t .- - Crossroads Storekeeper Partly. For instance, old Si Hubbard, who owes me $9.87 for' the last nine years, is a-boastln' that never agin will he ac cept free seeds from any danged con gressman. Buffalo Express. has been ordered to give up work on in-need of clothing In the foreground LIEUTENANT JN RADIflUCORP Miss Lorena Reed of Richmond, Me., ho has just been appointed a second lieutenant m the radio corps of the signal department of the army. Miss Reed is one of the most capable women electricians in Maine. She has ' done excellent work in radio operating, hav ing qualified in a Boston school. The Remedy. Discussing the influenza epidemic and the many so-called influenza cures. Dr. Horace Whitney Williams said in a lecture at the University of Chicago : "Isolation, warmth and perfect care are theonly treatment. The so-called cures remind me of w story about a grocer. To this grocer a patroD brought back a pound of butter. ' 'I want to complain about this bot te?,. It's awful the patron said. "The grocer sniffed It 'Smells sweet enough to me,' he observed. " 'But, it's full of hair,' said the patron. 'I counted eight or nine hairs In it Yes, sir,' this butter's full of hair, and I want to know what you're going to do about it & " 'Why, make it right of course said the grocer genially, and he leached up and took a tiny packet from, a shelf. 'Here. Here's a packet of hairpins. You can pin it back with 'em as you go. along.'" j Paris Libraries. It has been found that , the libraries ' of the city of Paris have more than justified their existence since the out break of the war. The number of per sons frequenting the libraries and bor rowing books has increased by 200, 000 .since the summer of 1914. The public taste during the war period in clined toward historical works and works of general interest Books on' special scientific subjects and on Eng lish, Italian1 and Russian literature " haw also' 'been in great desoand.' 1 i ;:
Jackson County Journal (Sylva, N.C.)
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Jan. 3, 1919, edition 1
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