History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Biographies/John William Ormsby Hamilton/Notes

1897 01
Detailed report of Hamilton's first marriage in the social pages "SOCIAL. . . . The marriage of Mrs. Elizabeth Galbraith James, widow of the late Dr. James, of Heidelberg, Victoria, and only daughter of the late Mr. James Paterson Jameson, formerly of Kelmore, with Mr. John William Ormsby Hamilton, only son of the late Thomas Ormsby Hamilton, of Hobart, was solemnised at St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, on Wednesday, December 23, at 2.30 p.m. The Very Rev. W. Macquarie Cowper, Dean of Sydney, officiated, and was assisted by the Revs. Read and Simpson. The service was fully choral, and the sacred edifice was beautifully decorated with ferns, hot-house plants, and choice white flowers. The bride was given away by her brother, Mr. David S. Jameson. She was handsomely dressed in white silk, handsomely trimmed with Brussels lace and chiffon. The costume was completed by a becoming picture hat of white crinoline straw, trimmed with ostrich tips, and a lovely shower bouquet; jewels — diamond pendant and gold bracelet, gifts of the bridegroom. Miss Jameson, niece of the bride, Miss Hamilton and Miss Isabelle Hamilton (sisters), and Miss Fisher (cousin of the bridegroom) were in attendance. They were similarly attired in white Indian muslin, richly finished with valenciennes, and wore picture hats to harmonise. Shower bouquets of pink roses made a happy note of contrast. Their souvenirs of the occasion were gold bamboo bracelets. Mr. T. Copley Calvert was best man, and Mr. C. H. Slade groomsman. At the conclusion of the ceremony a reception was held at the Australia, where Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton received the congratulations of their friends. Later on the newly-wedded pair left for Armidale en route for Warwick, Queensland, where they will take up their residence. The wedding gifts were both numerous and well chosen, and among those present were Mrs. James Barnet, Mr. and Mrs. John Calvert, Mr. and Mrs. John Hern, Mr. G. C. Westgarth, Mr. Artlett, Mr. and the Misses Bibby, Mr. and Mrs. Cartwright Ashe, Mr. Norman West, Mrs. Z. O. Hamilton (mother of the bridegroom), Mr. T. H. Magrath, the Misses Magrath, the Misses Fisher, the Misses Wilson, the Misses Van Henckelum, Mr. and Miss Drake, Miss Marsden, Miss Seaborn, Mr. and Mrs. Penfold, Mr. P. Cooley, and Mr. Cecil Cal-vert."

1904 12
Apparent first reference in Trove for Hamilton and wireless telegraphy "The representatives of an English wireless telegraphy company (Mr J. W. Ormsby Hamilton) approached the Postmaster-General on Thursday, and asked him if it would not be possible to establish the system in the Commonwealth with advantage to the Postal Department. Mr Sydney Smith stated that he did not think wireless telegraphy was required in the settled portions of the Commonwealth, and it was then suggested that a communication might be established between British New Guinea, Thursday Island, and Queensland. The Postmaster-General declined to commit his department to a project of this character, but admitted that it was possible that the Defence Department might favorably consider such a proposal."

1905 05
First detailed description of proposal of International Telegraph Construction Co with commentary by Hamilton '''WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. AN AUSTRALIAN SCHEME. LOOPING ISLANDS AND MAINLAND.''' The Postmaster-General, the Minister of Defence and the Admiral in command of the Australian squadron have under consideration an important and far-reaching scheme for the installation of the Shoemaker system of wireless telegraphy, submitted to it by Mr. J. W. Hamilton, attorney for the Commonwealth of the International Telegraph Construction Company of London and New York. The scheme, as far as it affects the Commonwealth, proposes to couple up New Zealand with Australia direct, and again via Tasmania, and also via Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island; then to link Queensland with Port Moresby, in New Guinea, and with Samarai, in the same possession. It also embraces a series of stations beginning in Queensland and reaching out to Yapp Island, in the Carolines Group, and so on to the cable routes radiating from Yapp Island, via Samarai and Herbertshohe, in German New Guinea. As far as the Admiralty is concerned, the scheme proposes to install six of the ships of the Australian squadron with the instruments, at a cost which will for a few hundred pounds place Admiral Fanshawe in possession and absolute control of generator, receiving and sending apparatus, without any vexatious royalties to pay or outside interference to combat. The inducement held out in connection with the linking of New Zealand and Australia with the Shoemaker system is a reduction in the rates for messages from 4½d. to 1d. per word. This reduction, it is claimed, is no mere guesswork. The company's agents point out that the cost of wireless telegraphy installation and maintenance is about 10 per cent. of that of a submarine cable. There is, it is remarked, a company being formed at the present time to connect Monte Mario, in Italy, with a station in Argentina, 6000 miles away, where 4,000,000 Italians live, by means of which messages will be sent for 6 c. a word, as against the present cable charge of 1 dol. 50 c. per word! The reduction is here far greater than that proposed in connection with the Australia-New Zealand stations. The guarantees in the matter of continuous service offered by Mr. Hamilton to the Federal authorities are remarkable. They embrace a minimum continuous transmission of twenty-five words a minute where poles or an elevation of 200 feet high is obtainable, and a maximum of forty words a minute. When it is remembered that the majority of cables cannot go higher than ten words a minute, the revolution in long distance transmission now proposed can be easily appreciated. To these guarantees is added another, to the effect that the messages sent by the Shoemaker instruments cannot be cut into, as is the case with other systems, by other messages. Interference is reduced to an absolute minimum. In case some slight interference is detectable a very simple operation counteracts it at once. The present position of the scheme is that the Federal and Admiralty authorities are investigating its merits. Mr. Hamilton has had several interviews with Mr. Sydney Smith and his adviser, Mr. Hesketh, the departmental electrician. Sir Joseph Ward, Postmaster-General of New Zealand, is much taken by the proposals, and is pressing the Commonwealth authorities to take some decided action in connection with them.

In the course of an interview yesterday Mr. Hamilton supplemented the facts summarised above with an interesting statement concerning the advantages of wireless telegraphy generally, and of the particular system he is in Australia to represent. "Wireless telegraphy," he said, has many obvious advantages over the old submarine cable system. The cable system is not only more costly, but it is ineffective for defence purposes. Wireless telegraphy is, in fact, indispensable, present methods of warfare being considered. It enables, for example, messages to be transmitted over a distance of 2000 miles, between fleets, with the utmost accuracy. Take the case of the "Times" enterprise during the present war. The instruments used on the "Times" ship were so effective that they became a positive terror to the belligerents. The "Times" got to know too much, and was ordered off by the Japanese authorities, and the senders were threatened with instant death by the Russians. Messages of 2000 words were sent continuously with perfect accuracy. Our instruments — those invented by Mr. Harry Shoemaker — were used by the "Times" for this enterprise in preference to five other competing systems. We were then working with the De Forrest [sic] company, but have now separated, and have a distinct company. In addition, I may mention that the American Government has selected our Shoemaker instruments for installation on United States war ships. The British Government has also given instructions for them to be tested, with, presumably, a similar end in view. Mr. Shoemaker has quite recently entered into a ten year contract with the Western Union Telegraph Company of America for the utilisation of his system by that great corporation. We have already, in working operation daily, stations at Wilson's Point, Connecticut and Point Judith, Rhode Island, which are in connection with other stations 550 miles distant. Those stations operate without a hitch. Even American river steamers are being equipped with wireless telegraphy apparatus, so useful has it become in commercial life."

PMG clarifies the Government's position on the proposal of the International Telegraph Construction Co "NEWS OF THE DAY. . . . The Postmaster-General, while interested in the description given in yesterday's issue of 'The Age' of the offer made by the International Telegraph Construction Company of a wireless telegraphy scheme which will link Australia with Tasmania, New Zealand, British New Guinea and a number of the islands of the Pacific, declines to state at present whether or not the scheme is officially regarded as an acceptable one. The Minister of Defence was in negotiation with the Admiralty over the matter, in order that the British and Commonwealth authorities might have the same system for defence purposes. So, until the whole matter was further advanced, no statement could be made."

Adelaide Register reports a little differently "COMMONWEALTH NOTES. MELBOURNE, May 26. . . . Wireless Telegraphy. The postal authorities ere perplexed by the contradictory information received regarding the merits of rival wireless telegraphy inventions. The Shoemaker Company has offered to provide a wireless service between New Zealand and Australia. Mr. Hesketh, chief electrical engineer of the Queensland Postal Department, was asked if this company was well known in the old world, and he is almost unable to recall its existence. The postal officials have therefore asked the Minister for Defence to cable to the Admiralty regarding the overture of the company, and also to ascertain if the British Government has any agreement with the Marconi Company respecting the equipment of British warships with wireless apparatus."

Sydney Sunday Times report, again a little different "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY FOR AUSTRALIA. ('SUNDAY TIMES' SPECIAL MESSAGE.) MELBOURNE, Saturday Night. Referring to the matter of installing a system of wireless telegraphy between Australia and New Zealand, also to its proposed use in various parts of the Commonwealth, the Postmaster-General said today that he could not state yet whether the Marconi or some other system would be adopted. Mr. Smith has referred a question on this subject to the Defence Department, and he proposes ascertaining what the British authorities have done in the matter before he fixes upon any particular system. 'The Marconi people, I understand,' he said, 'will not work their system in conjunction with any other, and if it happened that we adopted another system, while the British Government had a contract with Marconi, we might find ourselves in difficulties at war time. I shall do nothing definite in the matter until I get full particulars of what the British Government has done.'"

Hamilton advises the Shoemaker has taken out no fewer than 80 patents in wireless telegraphy "COMMONWEALTH NOTES. MELBOURNE, May 29. . . . Wireless Telegraphy.— No fewer than 80 patents in connection with wireless telegraphy have been taken out by Mr. Schumacher, whose system and instruments have been placed under offer to the Federal authorities by Mr. J. W. Hamilton, the Australian representative of the International Telegraph Construction Company. It was stated in error last week that the proposal emanated from the Schumacher Company. Mr. Hesketh, the electrical engineer of the Queensland Postal Department, has examined a specification of Schumacher's latest patent, but negotiations between Mr. Hamilton and the Federal authorities have been suspended pending the receipt of certain information which the Admiralty has been asked to supply."

Sydney Evening News opinion piece based heavily on the 26 May 1905 article "CHEAP AND WIRELESS. WHILE the local military forces are returning to first principles in the shape of communication by means of carrier pigeons, the Federal military authorities are considering a new scheme of wireless telegtapliy with the same purpose in view. At the Victoria Barracks in Sydney there is talk of establishing a 'columbary,' or home for pigeons; while in Melbourne is being discussed the possibility of linking islands and continents and spanning oceans and seas by electricity. As a pastime the training and flying of post-pigeons is a harmless sort of amusement enough; but in the presence of the discovery of wireless telegraphy the utility of its pursuit seems fairly open to question. A proposal, it appears, has been made to the Commonwealth Government by a London and New York firm of experts to connect Australia with New Zealand once direct, and again via Tasmania, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island; also to effect communication between Queensland, the Carolines, and German New Guinea. Of course, most people have realised that the contest between submarine and wireless telegraphy most sooner or later reach an acute stage. So far as regards this country, always supposing that those responsible for the present offer are able to fulfil their promises, and of that there would appear to be small doubt, the contest would seem about to begin. And it must be confessed that the inducements offered in favour of the wireless scheme are very great. For instance, the International Construction Company say that by its system, if adopted, there will be a reduction in the rates for messages between Australia and New Zealand from 4½d to 1d per word. The cost of installation, it is claimed, is so much less than that of the submarine cable as to leave a profit even on the scale of the enormously lower charge. In support of this statement, an instance is quoted of an undertaking which is being entered upon in Italy to connect a station in that country with one in Argentina at a distance of 6000 miles. Messages over this route will be forwarded for 1 cent. per word, as compared with the existing cable rates of 1 dollar 50 cents. per word — or in the proportion of one halfpenny as against six shillings. The conditions offered by the representative of the International Company to the Federal Government are well worth noting for their comprehensiveness and guaranteed effectiveness. Where an elevation of 200ft in height is procurable, either by erecting poles or taking advantage of the natural features of the country, a continuous transmission of 25 words a minute as a minimum, and of 40 words as a maximum is vouched for. This improvement on the submarine cable's average of speed of 10 words per minute is a most important feature of the system; as is also the guarantee that, unlike some of the other systems, this one of Shoemaker's cannot be interfered with and rendered unintelligible by other messages. Considered in its entirety, this wonderful and far-reaching scheme seems to carry with it extraordinary possibilities in the future. There appears, indeed, to be no reason, if the present proposals ever take successful and concrete form, why the 'Hertzian wave' should not send its vibrations across the Australian continent, via Singapore and Java, to England and Europe. Such a service at popular rates would render submarine cables worth less than their weight as old wire. And there can be no question but that at the present moment, even, attention is being devoted in other directions than ours towards those surfaces of the globe in which it is possible to send messages chiefly by landlines, and to bridge over comparatively small spaces of sea by the wireless method. Viewed in the light of recent discoveries and of improvements in the latest instruments, the success or otherwise of any undertaking of the kind seems to lie, to a great extent with the ability to construct convenient stations for the receiving or sending of messages. And perhaps it may be possible to presently perfect arrangements so as to cause the receiver at any particular point to translate its message into a form suitable for sending automatically. When, if such an invention has not already been hit upon, this can be done, many of the wayside stations will be almost wholly self-working, and ocean floating stations will waft the world's news and the messages of the world's people over the length and breadth of the earth. In both warfare and commerce the perfected system of wireless telegraphy will prove invaluable. Deep-sea cables can be groped for and cut by an enemy; but one can neither cut the impalpable atmosphere, nor 'tap' the invisible 'wave.' With reference to the particular scheme submitted to the Federal Government, we are told that the Commonwealth and Admiralty authorities are giving it their careful consideration. Were the Naval Commander-in-Chief on the station to have his ships all fitted with the requisite apparatus, and in addition to possess personal controlling power over the sending and receiving instruments, the advantages of such a plan are too obvious to need comment. Meanwhile, perhaps in place of experimenting with pigeons the local military forces might do well to inquire into what may with a certain amount of assurance be advanced as the superior claims for their purposes of wireless telegraphy."

1905 06
Audley Coote emerges as another promoter of the International Telegraph Construction Co "WIRELESS SYSTEM OF TELEGRAPHY. ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN. LOOPING THE COLONIES AND ISLANDS. A few days ago an article was republished in these columns from the Melbourne 'Age,' giving some particulars of an important proposal, now under consideration by the Postmaster-General, the Minister for Defence, and the Admiralty in command of the Australasian squadron, for the installation of a system of wireless telegraphy, which will couple up Australia with New Zealand, thence stretching away across the Pacific to Fiji, Samoa, Fanning Island, Honolulu, and on to San Francisco. As far an the Admiralty is concerned, the scheme proposed to instal six of the ships of the Australian squadron with the instruments at a cost which will for a few hundred pounds place Admiral Fanshawe in possession and absolute control of generator, receiving, and sending apparatus, without any vexatious royalties to pay or outside interference to combat. The inducement held out in connection with the linking of New Zealand and Australia, is a reduction in the rates for messages from 4½d to 1d per word, and a minimum continuous : transmission of 25 words a minute, where poles of an elevation of 200ft. high are obtainable, and a maximum of 40 words a minute, in comparison with the present cable rate of transmission of something like 15 to 20 words a minute. The suggested system is that known as the Shoemaker system, a definite offer, as far as the coupling up of Australia and New Zealand is concerned having been made by Messrs. J. W. Hamilton and Audley Coote, advisory representatives of the International Telegraph Construction Company of London and New York, who are at present in Australia. The present position of the matter, however, is that the Federal and Admiralty authorities are investigating its merits. The Postmaster-General of New Zealand, Sir Joseph Ward, displayed considerable interest in the scheme when he was in Australia recently, and discussed it with the Federal Postmaster-General, and on his returning to his own colony, he expressed the opinion that there was a possibility of the proposals fructifying. Further than that, there is just now no definite information. Mr. Audley Coote, who is at present in Sydney, on being interviewed by a 'Daily Telegraph' representative, supplied some additional information regarding the scheme generally, and the possibilities of wireless telegraph, to the development of which considerable attention is now being given, on account of its immediate, as well as its prospective value as a comparatively cheap agent for rapid communication by sea and by land. THE SHOEMAKER SYSTEM. 'You hear,' he said, 'a great deal now about the wireless system of telegraphy, principally the Marconi system, but there are other wireless systems said to be equally reliable, and which are now being worked successfully for both Governments and companies. For instance, the Harry Shoemaker system, the instruments and patents for which were used by the De Forest Wireless Company on the London 'Times' ' chartered steamer at the commencement of the Japanese-Russian war. All these wireless patents are now held by the International Telegraph Construction Company, of London and New York. Fresh developments in wireless telegraphy seem to be eagerly sought after by English and American companies. News comes to hand that Mr. Shoemaker, of Philadelphia, who was at one time the leading technical spirit of the De Forest Company, has made such improvements in his system, now called the 'Shoemaker system,' that he is enabled to send and receive messages perfectly and continuously through mountainous country, in any weather, over a distance of 800 miles by land and 1200 miles by water. This is a record, as no other company's system has so far been able to achieve such results. 'It is generally known that trouble has arisen in connection with the wireless system in the way of interference with other systems when messages are in course of transmission. This difficulty, however, has quite recently been entirely overcome by Mr. Shoemaker's latest patents, which provide for such a contingency, and which secure non-interference. Mr. Shoemaker is now actively engaged in putting his system to further practical use, having formed a company which is now installing systems in the United States, South America, and the Pacific Islands, for use in commercial and shipping circles. The leading telegraph company of the United States, viz., the Western Union, has undertaken to co-operate with him in opening up fresh stations.' THE DOOM OF THE CABLE. Mr. Coote, who has probably had to do with the laying of more cables than any man in Australia, solemnly, but still with conviction, pronounces the coming doom of the submarine cable with the advance of the wireless system of communication. 'They can now be left,' he says, 'to Force Majeure, or, say, 'the devils of the sea,' for the reason that the wireless system is coming so rapidly to the fore that I think it will come into general use as quickly as that of the telephone. For instance, there would be no difficulty at the present moment of coupling up with the wireless system Sydney and Honolulu, a distance of about 6000 miles, using the most convenient islands en route as 'stepping-stones' for stations, in distances of about 1200 miles apart. The immediate offer made by the International Telegraph Construction Company to the Federal Government and New Zealand is for a route from Sydney by way of Lord Howe Island to Auckland, New Zealand. An alternative route suggested is one from Victoria to Tasmania, and thence to the Bluff, New Zealand. For this we guarantee a 30 words per minute continuous service. 'The proposed extended route, to give rapid communication across the Pacific, is this:— Say, Sydney to Lord Howe Island, thence to Auckland (New Zealand), thence Suva and Fiji, thence Pago Pago and Samoa, thence Fanning Island, thence Honolulu, Hawaii — in all about 6000 miles. The longest stretch would be 2500 miles, between Honolulu and San Francisco. At present, as I have already pointed out, the wireless system is not wholly effective beyond a range of 1200 miles, but nevertheless I am convinced that within 12 months this 'toll-gate' will be swept away, and the long-distance difficulty will be surmounted — at least to the extent that distances like that just mentioned will be within easy range of the system. The cable, as you are perhaps aware, is not so effective over a long distance as it is over a short one — the messages take much longer to transmit. So with the wireless system at present. The ether waves do not operate so freely over a long distance, but as the difficulty of sending messages through mountainous country and their interruption by contact with another system has been overcome by our system, so will the long-distance trouble.' SOME COMPARISONS. Mr. Coote went into a comparison of the cable system with the wireless system, for the purpose of showing the advantages of the latter. 'Take,' he said, 'the nearest cable to us, the Pacific cable. That cable cost over £2,000,000, which also provided for the repairing ship, costing £100,000, and which now costs of itself £10,000 a year to maintain. The communication could be now given with the wireless system for £200,000. This Pacific cable is, as you are aware, a Government undertaking, and has in one of its sections a single stretch of cable 3500 miles in one length. This stretch is their 'toll gate,' and will always remain so, because the messages that travel rapidly over their ordinary stretches of cable do not travel at the same rate of speed over this long-distance section. 'Now, take the wireless system of telegraphy. The 'ether rays' above us are there, and will remain there till the crack of doom, and only require to be tapped and made use of for all time. They are already harnessed, and can be held by the various systems at quite an infinitesimal cost compared with the making and laying of submarine cables. For instance, you are probably aware that I laid the first section of the Pacific cable, viz., from Queensland to New Caledonia, a distance of about 900 miles. This cable cost to make and lay about £200,000. The two places could be coupled up by the wireless system at very small cost in comparison. The bottom of the sea has fallen in twice since the cable was laid, and twice broke the cable. In one instance the subsidence left a chasm nearly as large as Tasmania. The cost of repairs to the cable have each time been heavy. When I tell you, further, that a submarine range of mountains was discovered as high as the Himalayas — 18,000ft. — about 500 miles off the coast of Queensland, and coming up to within 900ft. of the surface of the ocean, that will, I think, give some idea of the trouble to lay and locate a cable round the sidlings of such unseen archipelagos.' A FURTHER SCHEME. Mr. Coote has also maturing a scheme for coupling up New Caledonia and the New Hebrides with the wireless system of telegraphy. The New Hebrides are now isolated, except for the monthly steamship service to and from Sydney. 'Before the Consul-General for France left Sydney,' said Mr. Coote, 'I had an interview with him on the subject, and also with the Governor of New Caledonia, who was in Sydney recently. They were both favorable to the proposal which I put before them, and they will, I understand advise their Government that it should be accepted. The scheme provides for the installation of the wireless system from New Caledonia, now connected by cable with Queensland, to Vila, New Hebrides, where both the French and the British Residents have their headquarters. I am in hopes of being able to arrange in connection with this proposal for a joint purse between the Federal Government and the New Caledonia local Government, with respect to meeting interest, etc., on the cost, which will not amount to more than £10,000. For that sum, in fact, we could hand over the system as a going concern, in full working order. As to its advantages in the interests of shipping and commerce in those parts, I need only point, as an instance, to the case of the Fiji steamer Pilbarra. If the wireless system had been in vogue, the mishap would have been known here in half an hour after her plight was discovered at the New Hebrides. 'You may rest assured,' said Mr. Coote, in conclusion, 'that those long-headed, clever, engineering wireless experts have come to stay, and I feel sure in quite the near future the wireless system will be soon established in Australia and the outside world, as easy and free in its methods as the cable offices are today, but with rates astonishing in their cheapness in comparison with those existing today.'"

Sydney Sunday Times lends its support to the proposal of the International Telegraph Construction Co "Mr. Sydney Smith, Postmaster-General, has a great chance in connection with wireless telegraphy, and we have reason to believe that he discerns it, and is giving the subject much thought. His development of the telephone services in the country is an indication that he is a live Minister, ready to adopt new ideas, and he may be sure of appreciation of further efforts to serve the public convenience. In the larger work lying to his hand he has an opportunity of rearing a lasting monument to himself."

Map illustrating main and alternative routes for proposal of International Telegraph Construction Co "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY SCHEME. (Start Graphic Caption) The sketch map here given will make clear to readers of the article on wireless telegraphy, published on Saturday, the scheme proposed by the representatives of the International Telegraph Construction Company of London and New York for coupling up Australia with New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Fanning Island, Honolulu, and San Francisco. The scheme, so far as it relates to Australia and New Zealand, is now under consideration by the Commonwealth and New Zealand Governments, and it is stated that the Admiralty is also interested in the proposals, which offer the advantages of what is claimed will prove a cheap and speedy means of communication. (End Graphic Caption)"

Sydney Daily Telegraph expresses conditional support for the proposal of the International Telegraph Construction Co "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. The 'fairy tale of science' of today not infrequently becomes the humdrum handmaid of mankind tomorrow. And this it would seem is likely to be the case with wireless telegraphy. Negotiations for the installation of the Shoemaker system between Australia and New Zealand, with the possibility of continuing the connection to Honolulu and thence to San Francisco, are now in progress, and should the installation become an established fact, it could hardly fail to prove an enormous benefit to the people of Australia, both for national and private purposes. Communication with the outside world would be provided at a small fraction of the cost of communication by cable, and the new system would be absolutely free from either accidental or intentional interruption. Cheap, speedy, and safe communication with the rest of the world is what the Commonwealth badly needs, and when it is obtained, doubtless many of the prejudices, founded on ignorance, which still prevail in the minds of certain people in Europe with regard to Australia, may disappear. For the purpose of national defence, the installation of some trustworthy system of wireless telegraphy — that is to say, whatever system may be decided upon by experts as most suitable for Australian needs — is in these days an absolute necessity. Potential enemies of the Empire in every part of the world are fully equipped with the means of sending messages without the intervention of wires, and for the Commonwealth to be faced with the prospect of hostilities against such enemies, when no workable system of the same kind is in existence in Australia, would be to terribly hamper the defenders. Wireless telegraphy, as many phases of the naval operations at Port Arthur showed, is a powerful weapon for attack, and also for defence. The Commonwealth cannot afford to do without that weapon when other countries are armed with it, any more than Australia could afford to do without the machine gun or the magazine rifle. On this point, however, the selection of the particular system to be adopted is of vital importance. For defence purposes, it will probably be considered necessary to have the same system which is in use on the ships of the British navy, or, at any rate, some system by which communication with British warships could the maintained. But if the defence authorities find wireless telegraphy a necessity, the commercial world also will welcome it as a boon. A great deal of business between Australia and Europe is at present transacted by means of the submarine cable as in every way preferable to the slow, tedious, and, in recent times, untrustworthy postal service. When it may take nearly three months to receive by post the answer from London of a question asked in Sydney, the questioner naturally uses the cable if he can afford it, and gets his question answered in 24 hours. Nothing but the heavy expense of cable communication prevents its convenience from being far more largely utilised. It may be safely conjectured that if a business man could for a few shillings send a message to London which at present costs him almost as many pounds, he would choose that means of communication every time as against the postal service, with its tedious delays. A satisfactory wireless system therefore might be expected to develop fresh commerce as well as to materially assist the protection of existing commerce at sea. Possibly, like most new inventions, at first it would bring with it certain small inconveniences for special classes. The busy brain-worker who is in need of rest could not hope to find it by adopting the favorite prescription of a long sea voyage. The longer the voyage the more he would be worried by daily messages conveying to him all that unduly exciting information which his physician was so anxious that he should escape. Then again the criminal flying from justice would be safer almost anywhere than on board a ship, the captain of which might any morning receive per ethergram the published description of the fugitive and the full account of his crime. However, the disadvantage to the criminal would be amply compensated by the gain to justice, and in this respect also the value of the new means of communication would be undoubted. At present the remoteness and the isolation of Australia have fostered ignorance in the rest of the world on the subject of Australian conditions. To reduce remoteness and annihilate isolation are the special functions of wireless telegraphy. The early installation of a cheap, rapid, and efficient system will be heartily welcomed."

Brisbane Courier Mail expresses conditional support for the proposal of the International Telegraph Construction Co "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. The wide use of wireless telegraphy in connection with the Russo-Japanese war, both by belligerents and war correspondents, has done much to demonstrate the practicableness of the ethergram methods. Naturally those concerned in the wider strategic aspects of defence in these seas are giving serious consideration to the supplementing of the cable system by installations of wireless telegraphy, and the result so far as it has been outlined, is a proposal of a very important nature to Australia and the neighbouring territories. A scheme has been submitted to the Federal Government for linking up New Zealand with Australia direct, and by way of Tasmania, also by way of Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island; then for linking up Queensland with Port Moresby and Samarai, in New Guinea. In addition it is proposed to connect Queensland with Yapp Island, in the Carolines, and places en route, and so on to the cable routes, we are told, 'radiating from Yapp Island, via Samarai and Herbertshohe, in German New Guinea.' The scheme has been submitted by Mr. J. W. Hamilton, attorney for the International Telegraph Construction Company of London and New York. It is proposed to install six ships of the Australian squadron with the Shoemaker instruments, and at a cost, we are told, of a few hundred pounds, 'place Admiral Fanshawe in possession and absolute control of generator, receiving and sending apparatus, without any vexatious royalties to pay or outside interference to combat.' For the Shoemaker system many advantages are claimed, and the offer made on behalf of the International Telegraph Construction Company includes a reduction in transmission rates between New Zealand and Australia from 4½d. to 1d., with a greatly increased speed in sending messages along the line. The offer made is under the consideration of the Federal Government and the Admiralty authorities, and Mr. Hamilton has discussed it with Mr. Sydney Smith, Postmaster-General, and with Mr. Hesketh, the electrical adviser to the department. When it is remembered that communication by wireless telegraphy has been made over 2000 miles between fleets it will be conceded that this linking up of the main British centres in the Pacific seems quite within the range of practical operations. Should it prove successful it will considerably modify the present Australian and New Zealand strategic schemes in so far as naval defence is concerned, and the risk of an enemy coming down on our coasts without warning will be very considerably mitigated. In connection with this matter it may not be out of place to urge the necessity for the early opening of wireless communication between Brisbane and Cape Moreton. This is a matter of commercial importance apart altogether from its desirableness in the way of conveying urgent news to and from the Cape. The decision of the Federal Government and the Admiralty upon the Shoemaker system submitted by Mr. Hamilton will be looked for with much interest."

1905 07
Ernest Kilburn Scott elicits information from Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co evidencing breach of Marconi patents by Shoemaker "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. Mr. E. Kilburn Scott, of the Electrical Engineering Laboratory, Sydney University, writes: 'Knowing that the Marconi Company would be interested in the various references regarding wireless telegraphy which have appeared recently in the Australian press, I sent them copies, and in reply I have today received the following interesting cablegram from London:— 'Contract with Italian Government for station Monte Mario communicate with Argentine is with Marconi Company. In action won by Marconi in United States Court against De Forrest, judge said Shoemaker claims so utterly unsupported they will not be discussed.' 'From the above it will be seen that after the most mature consideration 'the Italian Government has definitely contracted for the establishment of communication from Italy to the Argentine in South America, a distance of over 6000 miles, or about double the distance between Poldhu, in Cornwall, and Cape Breton, in Canada, which the Marconi Company has successfully worked for some time. 'This great increase in the distance of transmission leads one to think that perhaps the time when wireless messages may reach Australia from Europe is not so far distant, for in this new contract the distance is about the same as from West Australia to Suez. It will thus be seen that connecting up Australia with New Zealand and the various islands is play-work compared with what is now being done, and there ought certainly to be no foolish talk about experimenting, as the work only requires to be put in hand. 'The dismissal of the claims by the judge of the United States Court, as mentioned in the second paragraph of the cablegram, is very significant, because it may be assumed that if a company is unable to support its claims in its own country there is very little likelihood of its faring better elsewhere. The position is especially interesting in view of the fact that the British Government have identified themselves with the Marconi system only, and it shows that they have been well advised in taking this step.'"

The Sydney Evening News provides Scott's full letter to the editor (only the last portion here transcribed) ". . . If it is true, as the evidently inspired article of May 27 would have us believe, that the Commonwealth Government are considering a contract for an installation on the Shoemaker system, then I think they would be advised to first make sure of the legal position. At this juncture it cannot be too widely known that Mr. Marconi has successfully defended his wireless telegraph patent in the Supreme Court of the United States against infringement by the De Forrest Company. In commenting on this judgment, the 'Electrical World and Engineer,' of New York, which is one of the leading and most influential technical journals in the world, says:— As to the argument of the counsel for the defendant that the said prior disclosures and the imperfect operation of Marconi's apparatus prior to 1898 or 1899, when he introduced various improvements, deprived the original patent of all claim of novelty except for specific improvements on various parts of prior existing complete systems, the court held that this contention is not well founded, and that the facts stated serve to support the claim for Marconi of a high exercise of inventive ability. No prior existing system was complete, or had been shown or conceived to be commercially operative. A sufficient answer to the attempts to belittle Marconi's great invention is that with the whole scientific world awakened by the disclosures of Hertz in 1887 to the new and undeveloped possibilities of electric waves, nine years elapsed without a single practical or commercially successful result, and that Marconi was the first to describe and the first to achieve the transmission of defined intelligible signals. Trusting you will be able to insert my somewhat lengthy letter.— Yours, etc., E. KILBURN SCOTT. Electrical Engineering Laboratory, Sydney University, July 5, 1905."

Hamilton provides a defence of the Shoemaker System against Scott's promotion of Marconi's System "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD. Sir,— Referring to Mr. Kilburn Scott's comments on wireless telegraphy, and his endeavour to belittle the Shoemaker system to the unmerited advantage of that of Marconi, I beg to point out that his statements place Mr. Shoemaker in an entirely false position, when he says that Mr. Shoemaker's claims were 'utterly unsupported' in the action Marconi v De Forest. As a matter of fact Mr. Shoemaker's interests have long ceased to be identical with those of De Forest; the points brought forward in the case were therefore quite immaterial to the Shoemaker system as it is worked today. I think that in justice to Mr. Shoemaker, the following facts should be made known:— 1. Over 80 patents have been granted in the United States and other countries for his inventions in wireless telegraphy. 2. Letters patent have recently been granted him covering New Zealand and the Commonwealth of Australia. 3. The Shoemaker system is now being installed by the United States Government on their latest battleships and land stations, such contracts being placed with us in spite of competition with all other known 'wireless' companies, including the Marconi company, notwithstanding the fact that the rival tenderers offered lower terms. Important contracts have also been entered into with the Republican Governments in South America. 4. The British Government sent an expert commission to America specially to inquire into and to test the Shoemaker. The report made was most favourable and highly recommended the system for service, with the result that we have been requested to furnish two complete equipments for installing our system by the English Admiralty. This action on the part of the British Government quite disposes of the error made by Mr. Scott. It will be seen from the foregoing that he is wrong in stating that the British authorities are identified only with the Marconi system. Admitted that the British Government have given Marconi very liberal assistance, it need not follow that the whole mantle of 'wireless' genius has fallen on his shoulders. Slow as the English proverbially are in adopting new inventions, the action of the Admiralty proves that they are fully alive to the advantages to be gained by inquiry. It would be absurd to suppose that any Government would be so blind to public interest as to limit their 'wireless' negotiations to one company and system when there exists such immense scope for development in the art as known today. I am, etc., J. W. HAMILTON. International Telegraph Construction Co. Melbourne, July 13."

Scott again responds to Hamilton's letter, almost a promoter of the Marconi System "WIRELESS TELEGRAPH. TO THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD. Sir,— I have been expecting the reply from Mr. Hamilton to my letter. Regarding the first paragraph, I simply have to repeat the statement made in the cablegram, viz.:— 'In action won by Marconi in United States Court against De Forrest, Judge said Shoemaker's claims so utterly unsupported they will not be discussed.' The fact that De Forrest and Shoemaker are now dissociated does not materially affect the above statement of the Judge. Regarding the 80 patents which have been taken out, I am too old in business matters to think much of such a statement. It is very easy to get a patent granted, especially under our laws, but it does not follow that it is novel, or at any rate a master patent. After the investigations of Hertz, Professors Hughes, Oliver Lodge, and Fleming, and others us well as Marconi, I do not believe anyone can now bring forward eight, much less eighty valid patents in wireless telegraph apparatus. Amongst technical men, all the principles of the system are common knowledge. Regarding the British Government, Mr. Hamilton says Shoemaker's system was investigated. Why, of course, and so was every other wireless telegraph system. The fact remains that the British Government entered into an agreement with the Marconi Company only, which came into force last January, whereby telegrams are now accepted in every telegraph office in the United Kingdom for transmission through any of the Marconi stations to America, the Continent, or to the many steamships which are equipped. Regarding the British Navy, every battleship and cruiser is equipped with Marconi apparatus, and, far from being slow, as Mr. Hamilton, insinuates, we were the first to appreciate wireless communication. The British Navy has had the Marconi apparatus in use for a considerable period. Regarding the Commonwealth Government and the Shoemaker system, I only say that it would be well for the Government to make quite sure of the legal position. At this juncture it cannot be too widely known that Mr. Marconi has successfully defended his wireless telegraph patent in the Supreme Court of the United States against infringement. In commenting on this judgment the 'Electrical World and Engineer' of New York, one of the leading and most influential technical journals in the world, says:— 'As to the argument of the counsel for the defendant that the said prior disclosures and the imperfect operation of Marconi's apparatus prior to 1898 or 1899, when he introduced various improvements, deprived the original patent of all claim of novelty, except for specific improvements on various parts of prior-existing complete systems, the Court held that the contention is not well founded, and that the facts stated serve to support the claim for Marconi of a high exercise of inventive ability. No prior existing system was complete, or had been shown or conceived to be commercially operative. A sufficient answer to the attempts to belittle Marconi's great invention is that, with the whole scientific world awakened by the disclosures of Hertz in 1887 to the new and undeveloped possibilities of electric waves, nine years elapsed without a single practical or commercially successful result, and that Marconi was the first to describe and the first to achieve the transmission of defined, intelligible signals.' I am, etc., E. KILBURN SCOTT, Electrical Engineering Department, Sydney University. July 17."