News and Views

Abstract

THE radio-telephone service between London and New York was openedsuccessfully to public use on Jan. 7. Those who took part in the conversations for the first time were most favourably impressed by the clearness of the articulation, the voices of the speakers being at once recognisable. After sunset on Jan. 7 on the eastern side of the Atlantic the atmospheric conditions became very bad, which is quite an unusual occurrence for this time of the year. Yet still nearly all the subscribers who had booked times in advance were able to hold conversations. In six minutes the Times exchanged more than 600 words with its correspondent in New York, there being only one or two pauses for repetition. Sixtyeight years ago, Queen Victoria sent a message to President Buchanan at the rate of one word a minute, and eighteen years later Graham Bell talked to the future Lord Kelvin by telephone over the length of a room. Kelvin was filled with wonder, and pictured many developments which have come to pass. But even he never imagined that easily recognisable tones could be transmitted through 3000 miles of empty air without wires or cables almost as quickly as light. First we send signals, next we speak, and in the future we doubtless shall be able to see over thousands of miles. At present this long-distance telephone service is limited to telephone users in the neighbourhood of London and New York, but we look forward to this restriction being removed shortly, as telephone communication is now possible with towns on the Pacific Ocean. We do not think that differences in local times will have much effect on the traffic in long-distance communication.