["Wireless on the Otranto", The Brisbane Courier (Qld.), Tuesday 26 July 1910, page 4]

WIRELESS ON THE OTRANTO.

SOME LONG-DISTANCE MESSAGES.

OTHER MAIL STEAMERS TO BE EQUIPPED.

If the wonder of wireless telegraphy remains with the skilled experimenter the fascination which signalling across space holds for the world at large need not be a matter of surprise. The absence of visible connection between the sending and receiving instruments strikes the imagination at once. Nothing could be more marvellous to all appearance--, that the response of mechanism on board a ship in mid-ocean to the etheric vibrations set up hundreds of miles away. The progress of wireless telegraphy has been wonderful. Every mail steamer will, in the near future, have the apraratus installed. The Orient Company has made a start with the Otranto, which arrived at Pinkenba from London yesterday, and it is stated that all the vessels of this fleet will be similarly fitted. On the upper deck of the Otranto the Marconi system has been installed in a cabin specially set apart for the operator. Mr. E. T. Fisk, who yesterday stated that the apparatus had been put to great use during the voyage. The installation on the Otranto kept 1106 passengers supplied daily with the chief news of the world; 70 vessels were communicated with, and messages were received from 26 land stations. During the voyage the greatest transmitting distance was 830 miles. All through the Mediterranean Sea the passengers were suppied with news from the Poldhu wireless station, in Cornwall, a distance of 1500 miles. Last Friday night, while the Otranto was lying at Circular Quay, Sydney, she was in communication with the P. & O. liner ?Mar....n, then 150 miles west of Adelaide, or 812 miles over the land from Sydney. The installation on the Otranto is similar to that on the Cunard liner Lusitania. The Otranto also carries an emergency set of Marconi apparatus, which is worked from a storage battery, and is always available for use, whether or not a current is supplied by the ship. The weather conditions make absolutely no difference in the working of the emergency apparatus. In 1905 Mr. Fisk passed through the Marconi Company's training school, and subsequently, he operated marine installations on vessels of the Cunard, Allen, and other large liners. His next engagement was with a sealing expedition, among the Arctic ice-floes, when, he said, the commercial value of wireless telegraphy was fully demonstrated. Two out of fifteen ships which left St. John's, Newfoundland, were fitted with wireless--the ?Fa..le and the Florizel. He had charge of the installation on the latter. The two ships with wireless found a big patch of seals and filled up, while the other ships, which were not fitted with the wireless equipment, were not nearly so successful. The captains of the Florizel and E'?le attributed their success to being able lo compare notes in regard to the indications of the presence of seals, and so locate grounds. The two ships also kept in communication with headquarters, and sent reports as to what they were doing. On the same trip the wireless installation prevented loss of life, for the Florizel was able to locate the crew of another sealer which had been crushed in the ice, and 180 men were rescued.

On the present voyage of the Otranto, the steamer Trieste was reported to be eight days overdue at Bombay, and H.M.S. Hyacinth was despatched to search for her. After leaving Colombo, the Otranto received a wireless message that the Trieste had arrived safely. Mr. Fisk passed on this message to the Hyacinth, and thus saved her many days of fruitless search. When on the Australian coast the Otranto was in communication with P. & O. and White Star liners, and two hours after leaving got into communication with H.M.S. Powerful, in Sydney Harbour. The Marconi International Marine Communication Company, Limited has now fitted about 400 vessels with its system, and has wireless stations working day and night between London, New York and Montreal.