History of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Australia/Topical/Stations/VKT Nauru/Notes

1908 09
"WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. LINKING UP PACIFIC ISLANDS. LONDON, 4th September. The New York 'Herald' announces that a plan is taking shape for linking up the important islands in the Pacific by means of wireless telegraphy."

Proposal by English syndicate Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company for network of coastal stations in the Pacific "LINKING THE PACIFIC. COMPLETE WIRELESS SERVICE. A VALUABLE SCHEME. BENEFIT TO SHIPPING. In the cable news yesterday was an item to the effect that the 'New 'York Herald' announced that a plan was taking shape to link the important islands of the Pacific by wireless telegraphy. This referred, no doubt, to the scheme proposed by the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company, an English syndicate, whereby not only would the wireless system be installed on the various islands, but connection would also be made between Australia and New Zealand. The company has been working on the scheme for some months, and it is understood that their suggestions are meeting with the favourable consideration of the various Governments concerned. It is intended to thoroughly cover Oceania. Every island or group of importance will be provided with a radiotelegraphic station. The exact location of all these stations has not yet been disclosed, but it is known definitely that among the The points at which it is intended to instal radiotelegraphic stations, are indicated in the above chart by X. islands selected are Fiji, Samoa, New Hebrides, Solomon, Marshall, Caroline, Gilbert, Fanning, Sandwich, Tahiti, Tonga, and New Guinea. It is also on the cards that the Pacific Phosphates Company will have the installation carried out on their possessions, Ocean and Pleasant Islands. The promoters of the scheme are meeting with every encouragement, and by the end of the year it is anticipated that a start will be made with active preparations for installing the service. The company is to maintain communication, and for so doing is asking the various Governments controlling the places to be benefited, to support the service. It is understood that the Fijian authorities have proposed to pay a large sum for the installation of the service on the principal islands under their jurisdiction. Other islands have agreed to co-operate with the company, but nothing has yet been decided with regard to the two most important centres, Australia and New Zealand, without which the scheme would be incomplete. The matter has been considered by the Governments of the Commonwealth and the Dominion, and it is an open secret that the proposal has been favourably received. The question will be placed before the Federal Parliament when it meets, and should the scheme be approved of, and New Zealand be willing, no time will be lost in getting on with the work of linking up the scattered groups. It has been decided to make Suva the headquarters in the Pacific, and from there the messages will be flashed on to Australia and New Zealand. In the Pacific the scheme is being strongly supported, as it is well known that there is little chance of a cable service between the scattered islands being installed. Traders recognise the necessity of a faster means of communication than they now possess, and once the system is started it will not be long before every island of importance is connected. In addition to the scheme proving most valuable from a commercial point of view, it will be of considerable assistance to meteorologists in forecasting the weather, as daily reports can be sent from the outlying parts giving warning of sudden changes, which will enable traders and others to prepare for the hurricanes which prove so disastrous in the islands. Then, again, it is claimed that the system will prove of valuable assistance in the matter of defence, as with stations scattered all over the Pacific, a hostile fleet will have little chance of getting close to Australia without being seen. Apart from the increased convenience to be derived from a radio service through the islands, such an installation will be of financial benefit to the Commonwealth. It is intended to transmit all messages received at Fiji from the other islands to Sydney and New Zealand by means of the Pacific Company's cable. This will materially increase the earnings of that body and the Federal Government will not be called upon to make up such a large deficiency as it does at present. It is not intended to utilise the radio service between Fiji and Australia except as an emergency, as once a cable is installed the wireless system cannot profitably compete with it. However, a wireless station will be put in close proximity to the cable station, and should the latter service be interrupted by any means, communication can be maintained with the new system. Another important feature of the scheme is its value to the shipping industry. With radio stations scattered about the Pacific Ocean and on the Australian and New Zealand coasts, the shipping companies will be able to install apparatus on their boats, and thus be able to maintain communication constantly with the shore. In fact, negotiations have been carried on between the Union Steamship Company and the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraphic Company with regard to the installation of the service on their liners, and it is understood that directly the island scheme is settled, all the New Zealand and island boats will be fitted with apparatus. This would prove of considerable convenience to shipping people, besides being a safeguard against such accidents as might easily befall a vessel drifting about disabled, as the Hawea did last month. The system of wireless telegraphy to be used in linking up the islands is the Poulson. This is the latest invention, being an arc system instead of a spark. The company originally used the De Forest idea, but as it found the Poulson to be much more reliable and less expensive, it altered all its stations, and installed the Danish invention. The system has been found to be thoroughly efficient. Several lines of steamers are fitted with it, and messages have been received from a distance of 2500 miles. A thoroughly competent operator can send as many as a hundred words a minute through the air, but the average sending speed is 30 words a minute."

Editorial commentary by SMH on previous, detailed analysis naive conclusion "LINKING THE PACIFIC. The scheme for linking the Pacific by a complete wireless service, which we were able to give in outline yesterday, is one that makes a strong appeal to the imagination. The innumerable little islands represented in our map are potential sources of great wealth, and incidentally of much trade and many fine markets for Australia. But up to now they have paid the penalty exacted by their geographical isolation. Trading facilities themselves have been hardly adequate even to the slight commercial development the islands have reached, and other communication is of the scantiest. It might well have seemed a few years ago as if these barriers were insuperable. To connect these island groups one to another by cable services is on the face of it an impossible proposition, and they might have appeared destined to live for ever their solitary lives. It is precisely in such an instance that the advance of science comes home to us with dramatic effect. As soon as it is mentioned everyone sees that the existence of 'wireless' completely alters the situation. It gives easy communication between group and group, and once it is justified by the demand, between island and island — a communication which neither meteorological nor seismic circumstances can break down. At a glance one sees that 'wireless' converts archipelagos into continents, while it leaves them the sea as their highroad. So far is we know no attempt to realise this dream has yet been made on a large scale, but the attempt may obviously be made in many places besides the Pacific, and it suggests a complete revolution in island relationships. Wireless telegraphy we have to remember is still in its infancy, and there is no reason to suppose that anything like finality has been reached. Indeed, the conflict of systems is largely responsible for the rather slow practical development of the method. So far as the present proposal is concerned, its success seems assured. The islands themselves are the parties principally interested, and the extension of the system to include Australia and New Zealand is really quite a secondary matter. Such a connection would undoubtedly prove of great use in the event of cable interruption, and so far as the Commonwealth is concerned a patient ear should be given to any proposition that may be made. At the same time, caution has to be used whenever concessions and contracts are in the air, and any proposition agreed to will have to be on a business basis. No doubt it is true that the island stations will collect and forward by cable a large number of messages which will pass over lines in whose financial position we are interested; and a further point that directly concerns us is the value of island wireless installations to our shipping trade in the Pacific. It is a very simple matter to equip steamers with wireless apparatus, and with such a linking up of the islands as is suggested they need never be out of touch with their owners. But the main interest of the scheme naturally lies in the remarkable facilities it must afford among the islands themselves. The promoters appear to have gone to work in a very business-like way, and their plans seem excellently designed. The system that has been chosen represents the last word in 'wireless,' and there is no doubt at all of its wonderful efficiency and its still more wonderful economy. We need not be surprised that the islands view the project with enthusiasm. The proposed connection with Australia should not be a matter of great expense, and as it is clear that it would be as useful to the company as it would to us, there will probably be no great difficulty in coming to an understanding."

1908 10
"NEW ZEALAND. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY. ENGLISH SYNDICATE'S PROPOSAL. WELLINGTON, Thursday. In reference to the offer by an English syndicate to link the Pacific islands by means of wireless telegraphy, the Government will make further inquiries before deciding. Sir Joseph Ward states that the Government recognises the advantages of the scheme, but the proposal submitted does not cover all New Zealand wants, as it does not include the Auckland and Chatham Islands."

As previous "WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY FOR AUSTRALIA. According to a statement made by the Bureau of Manufacturers of the United States, a project is on foot to establish wireless telegraphy among the scattered islands of the Pacific Ocean. Capitalists who are interested in the extensive phosphate operations on Ocean and Pleasant Islands of the Gilbert Group, and in the new works about to be established on the island of Makatea of the Tuamotu Archipelago, are pushing the scheme, and propose to connect nearly all the groups of islands in the South Pacific by the service. It is desired to include in this system the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Fijis, the New Hebrides, the Solomon, Samoan, Cook, Society, and Marquesa Islands, and the phosphate Islands of Ocean, Pleasant, and Makatea. It is expected that the various Governments having possessions in the South Pacific will aid in the establishment of the proposed system. Negotiations have already proceeded so far that the success of the efforts seems to be almost assured. The nearest available ocean cable office to Tahiti is at Auckland, 2250 miles away, from which a steamship of the Union line of New Zealand arrives at Papeete once every 28 days, and a direct communication by a steamship of the Oceanic Company with San Francisco, 3658 miles distant, is had once in every 36 days. The name of the proposed concern is the Pacific Islands Radio-Telegraph Company. Of the proposed capital of £70,000 the owners of the phosphate deposits on Ocean and Pleasant Islands have subscribed £10,000. In this radial system there will probably be 10 or 12 circles, the largest having a radius of 1250 miles, and requiring for each station an engine of 60-h.p. It has not yet been decided where the main office of the proposed company will be."

As previous "SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. The London 'Shipping World,' in referring to the recent shipping disaster at Christmas Island, says:— 'The long delay in advising the loss of the Aeon is likely to have a good effect in hastening the proposal to link up the Islands in the Pacific by wireless telegraphy. The scheme at present is to connect Ocean Island and Pleasant Island, of the Gilbert Group, from which large quantities of phosphate are now shipped to Australia and Europe, with the mainland of Australia, and gradually to bring the various groups of islands in the Pacific into connection. The suggested system will probably include ten or twelve circles, the largest having a radius of 1250 miles. Each station will require an engine of 60 horse power.'"

As previous, proposal approved in principle by Aus & NZ PMs "LINKING THE PACIFIC. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY SCHEME. COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT APPROVES. An important scheme for linking Australia and New Zealand with many of the principal islands of the Pacific has received the preliminary approval of the Commonwealth Prime Minister, and negotiations are now proceeding between Mr. Deakin and Sir Joseph Ward with the object of defining formally the relations of the two Governments and the business men who are backing the project. The scheme is the child of an English syndicate, the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company, whose representative, Mr. Hamilton, had several interviews with Mr. Deakin when he was in Melbourne a few months ago. The plans of the syndicate are comprehensive, and are said to be viewed with favor by the imperial authorities, as well as by the two Australasian Governments. Every important island or group in Oceania is to be linked with Australia and New Zealand, and the location of radiotelegraphic stations at the principal strategic and commercial centres is already under discussion. It is definitely known that among the islands selected are Fiji, the New Hebrides, the Marshalls, Samoa, the Solomons, the Carolines, the Gilberts, Sandwich, Tonga, Fanning Island, Tahiti, Papua. It is also said to be probable that the Pacific Phosphates Company will have an installation of plant at their depots on Ocean and Pleasant islands. It is further stated that the Government of Fiji has promised to pay a large sum for sub-installations at the small islands under its jurisdiction. The British authorities in other islands have promised similar co-operation. So sanguine are the promoters of success that when certain negotiations in London are complete they propose to make arrangements for the installations to be made early in January, 1909. It has been decided to make Suva the head quarters in the Pacific, and to join the Oceanic wireless services with the cable service of the Pacific Cable Board. Communications have passed between the Union Steamship Company and the syndicate, and it was announced last week in New Zealand that directly the islands scheme is settled all the company's boats will be fitted with wireless apparatus. The New Zealand Government is pressing for an extension of the scheme, so as to embrace the establishment of stations on the Auckland and Chatham Islands. The Australian Prime Minister, when seen on Thursday, said that he was generally favorable to the scheme, but the details had yet to be fully discussed. He had written to Sir Joseph Ward on the matter and expected an answer by any mail."

1908 12
"LINKING UP THE PACIFIC. Statements have been published that Mr. Deakin when in office had expressed approval of a scheme for the linking up of the Pacific Islands by wireless telegraphy. The Prime Minister was asked in the House of Representatives today if the Commonwealth was backing the scheme with funds, and if so to what extent. Mr. Fisher replied that no papers indicating proposals of the kind had come before him, and he did not think that the Commonwealth would enter into anything speculative in that way."