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Show 20,000 AMERICAN WATCHDOGS How Our Boy Wireless Operators gstes I -b,,,,- , Are Forming a Great Army of Defense Jf&7aifc! I H The wireless man seems to boiom- pppM H niprcscnt. Ho is found in every H part of the country. The delicate H antennae arc strung above the sky- lines of every city, and there are few H persons who are not acquainted with H some enthusiastic amateur. Possibly B ho is a boy in short trousers, who fl operates his own wireless, and is W one of 20,000 such amatours scat- H' tcred all over the United States. H Of what use to humanity aro tlicsc Hj non-professional operators? Not so Hj very long ago those familiar with Hli the wireless would have answered R the question thusly: "None at all. Hj They arc a reckless lot at times ft criminally mischievous. Many send Hl out distress and alarm signals, and H: coastal stations receiving messages i arc more ihan likely to believe them H the usual amateur hoaxes." In 1010 Hj scleral bills were introduced in H Washington which fairly promised H to throttle the activities of every H wireless enthusiast in the country. H This, of course, brought the amateurs Hl to their senses quickly, and thou- H! sands of letters were written to of- Hj ficials at the capital letters in Hj which the wireless amatgurs prom- H ised to behave in future. H: FIRST LI ST, Hj OF DEFENSE. B Today, when the nation is aroused H as never before by the propaganda of H preparedness, the eyes cf military HL leaders are on the wiilesa aina- H tcurs. They aro recognized as con- H, stituting a resource for national dc- H fense which has been almost cn- H tircly overlooked. So enthusiastic Hfj are the majority of amateurs to B: show Undo Sam that, instead of be- W ing a menace, they arc a blessing, j that they havo formed an assocl- f ation known as the Radio League of H: America one of whose alms, it Is an- K nounccd, is to aid the government l should it ever bo attacked. B1 An account of the formation of Hlj Hi is league is given in the Electrical U Experimenter, Its official organ, and H says in part: Hlj "The advent of the great European H war in 1914 found tho United States H: in an unprepared condition as re- Hi gards its defenses and vigorous pppji 1 steps were promptly taken to wake H us up from our lethargy. President H "Wilson's recommendation to the U country for a vast increase of our j army and navy has been so much Hj' discussed of lato that no further . H reference to his valuable advice is K required here. Hj ITCHES EASX V B TO DESTROY. w "But there exists today a formld- V ablo defense weapon, which up to j now has not been exploited by Uncle 1 Sam. We refer to the thousands of amateur radio stations scattered broadcast through the entire length and breadth of this fair land. There is hardly a hamlet today which does not boast of several amateur wireless wire-less stations, and their number is increasing in-creasing by .many hundreds each day. "As the European war has so thoroughly demonstrated, quick transmission of intelligence Is of paramount importance. Telegraph and telephone linos are put out of order with ridiculously small effort by tho enemy and whole sections of hostile fleet could approach our long, badly patrolled coasts and try a lauding of an armed force. There might not be a telegraph or tele-phono tele-phono line around for miles, or, If it did exist, it is certain that spies operating op-erating on land would havo found llttlo trouble in putting it out of commission beforehand. "But there will be a lone amateur ama-teur on tho alert who has seen the approaching fleet, and within thirty seconds' Washington will have the priceless intelligence. Vice versa, there might be a handful of poorly equipped United States militia holding hold-ing the enemy at bay temporarily. It Is concelvablo that this small body of country are thereby isolated. Such sections arc then helpless and no Important messages can be safely transmitted In either direction. All i this helps tho enemy enormously, ' and the thus isolated section is then -c entirely at his mercy. If Franco or & Belgium had possessed an effective amateur wireless scout servlco there might possibly be a different story to tell today. In those days of fast military movements, quick report- , ing of war Intelligence Is of incalculable incal-culable lmportapce, and If this is - , true of Europe It is even truer in tho United States, the country of . such vast and undefended coast lines. v A Mi AMATEUR MIGHT SAVE NATION. . . V "One needs not be a dreamer In order to apppreclato how easily a I . . in i.i H IHieselioysaw learning wireless telegraphy in response to the demand for young operators, In case of war tbev m would be the Tcry backbone of the wireless defense of tho United States. They learn both the continental H and. tho Horse-codes. BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBI sssssssssssssWsi men might have neither sending nor receiving apparatus, Somewhcro back of the hills the United States regulars are coming to the rescue of the sorely pressed militiamen. The want the latter to hold out for a few short hours and want to tell them of their coming. Tho radio message containing this intelligence is flashed flash-ed over tho hills, but is not received by tho exhausted men. However, Just as all hope is given up, a lad of 17 years with streaming hair runs up to tho major of tho small band and breathlessly conveys the cheering cheer-ing news to him. He caught the message over his pitiful thirty-foot aorlal on top of his barn," but It saved the day. Ho did not even have a sending station. His outfit comprised com-prised only a cheap homemade re- 1 : -f celving set. But it did the work just tho same. ) "Such occasions aroi almost certain cer-tain to arise in the future, and it Is thus of tho utmost Importance that every patriotic radio amateur should offer his station to his country. "If Uncle Sam grants the amateur the free use of the ether it is certainly cer-tainly up to the amateur to give something in return for the privilege. privi-lege. It was with this thought uppermost up-permost in his mind that Mr. Gems-back Gems-back (editor of the Electrical Experimenter) Ex-perimenter) in July, 1915, first conceived con-ceived the idea of organizing the Radio League of America. 800,000 -SMALL STATIONS. "By referring to the 1915 government govern-ment book, JRadio Stations of the United States, it will be seen that only 3,723 amateurs have been licensed li-censed aince 1913. The reason for this surprisingly small registration is found in tho fact that the law docB not require receiving stations to be licensed nor small sending stations sta-tions located in tho interior of large states, where the effect of a weak spark coil would not extend over the stato borders. Such stations aro exceedingly ex-ceedingly numerous and havo been estimated to run about 300,000. Now, then, thoro appears no reason for doubt that sooner or later tho government gov-ernment would pass a new law requiring re-quiring tho registration and licensing licens-ing of such stations in order to havo such stations available in case of national stress. "No ono can foretell what surprises sur-prises such a new law will bring the amateurs, and for that reason it cannot be denied that it is far better saved tne aay. i-io aia noi even nave prises sucn a new law win oring tue J ' 'At -i "ir a scnding station. His outfit com- amateurs, and for that reason it a 1$ prised only a cheap homemade re- cannot be denied that it is far better infill -iwnTtmM BmlmmMA . rl llSBBHPlBmAVcW-S-BBBBBF kswHsBsrwBV and more patriotic to give this necessary neces-sary information voluntarily to tho government instead of waiting until a new law is passed which might perhaps bo detrimental from the viewpoint of the amateur." Only a few days ago tho government govern-ment sent out blanks to all wireless operators in tho country with the object ob-ject In view of listing their apparatus appa-ratus and station calls as part of the national preparedness program. PLEDGE THEMSELVES FOR WAR. The charter of the Radio League of America states that one of its primary pri-mary objects is to keep available for government use a complete list of such amateur radio stations aB will agree tp give assistance in time of national danger. There are no dues. Every member pledges himself him-self to aid tho government "in periods pe-riods o war, riot and disaster," to &;ife" 0M , -IS assist in detecting and apprehending apprehend-ing violators of the laws governing wireless communication; never to send a misleading call, but to transmit trans-mit all distress calls to the nearest official. Manning our boundary stations alone would require most of our trained wireless operators if the United States was drawn into war. This would leave no provision for interior communication. That is where the amateurs would prove valuable. It is said that an Important Impor-tant factor in the German success 13 tho network of wireless stations which covors the entire nation but these stations are manned by professionals. profes-sionals. J BEST OPERATORS MERE BOXS. Amateur wireless stations have been restricted, i not prohibited, bf the countries of Europe. UncU Sam has been more liberal, allowing his children to acquire knowledge, letting them do as they please, so long as they do not interfere with what is best for the welfare of tho public at large and this., say. those. Today, when tho nation is aroused as H never before by the propaganda of 9j preparedness, the oyes of military K leaders are on tho wireless am a- H tear the typo shown above. Ho ) 7! is recognized as constituting a re I sonrco for nntional defense which H hns been almost entirely over- looked. Most of the best operators D aro mere schoolboys, but are nc- H live, alert and efficient. ' H who favor the new scheme of de- H fense, may provo the wiser course. H Most of tho best operators are H mere school boys, but they are ac- In tivo, alert and efficient, rating high- H cr in examinations than experienced H telegraph operators who would qual- H ify for wireless positions. They H seem to master the codo and develop H speed and accuracy in transmitting B messages much more quickly than H those who are older; but it ib the H trained telegraph operators who H would bo depended on as supervi- H sors of wireless stations In time of B war, despito tho effective service the H boys would render as assisting op- H erators. , H ' RICH YOUTHS I DISTINGUISHED. W irA... M X . 1.m LnWA Aa I AHI HiclUy Ol II1UHU IVUU uuvo vjjq- ji PH tinguished themselves by skill with H wireless are tho sons of wealthy m parents. John Hays Hammond, Jr., 1 a member of the advisory board of M our national defense commission, H was ono of these. Before acquiring M his majority young Hammond had B perfected a system of directing the H movement of ocean vessels by wire- H less control which was pronounced H 'valuable for tho submarine work of H tho United States navy. Under his H direction the navy is now oxperi- H jmenting in an endeavor to improve H this discovery. H Safety at sea and military com- B munications aro regarded as the two B most importnnt services rendered by i H the wireless system. Its commercial VH value, however, is rapidly increasing. j H No girls havo as yet qualified as j JH licensed operators, although It is WSSt stated unofficially,, that hundreds of j p girts cre "feinsmlttlng Messages in r, Hg stations controlled by thLfc- licensed r Vl brothers. Many French girls havft , V qualified as wireless operators and gft are now in active servico in the war KS zone. T (Copyright, 1916.), 1 |