-/-OLIC-^IOH

+ 9 frfto or of the Jolentlflo Aoprlotia

SSUSfili gha FjLrat ^ransat3,unfclq v0lophonlc gr.u^jftfaft

Dear Siri-

I tun preparing a short history/ of wireless telephony, jnl
having been for ooino years oat of touch with t.iia 11 e oi' worit, am unable
to obtain oertai: rather important data relative to the history of the Art,
Si ce the scientific American roaches so any thousands of engi eers, it
has occurred to re* that the information algM be obtained if you would
bo so kind as to publish this letter of Inquiry with the statement that
I should bo extreiiely obliged if those engineers having the information
at their disposal would please forward it to

The first point in regard to whioh information is desired is

this 8

A&otrfc xjvombor	Rook, |rs»9acrftBt9*i/Ga, an crssrih unisk*

Sggtlflntl, ffllrVLooo flft/tiopq - pro \n open tloa^jyid tra woro working na/tl-Y
"LI" tuiio, fWqWicy W9 j6o cyo3!bo ?or sec ont, to fWoiu dayli£»t

o ohut down for a!.: out a r :>nt 1 at ti is 't i-rw to dake some change /n
the aon UiioT^WOTw.^Uf: oi tiio . . r>rl v - dah on . bxit jymt inu I aendVkJ (
ofcoa jlocally fl'j n Br. at tc ., t iou moat) oi the time at 3nmt R©t:k 'rae
abe;;^ v.itiK; ^pltinQ ifffltL n-^J ,lfeh to I o cjorspletod, in ii atallikg
to^i^j ourj»w T7iruleMtelephoj» systo i batwoan the stati >n at j >r . it
liock^ ISETS^ehusotts, fouli BtrJSio nt PlyrWlh, asaachnsotts, 1 torrtrt -olve
miles away.

lioontlrao the operators at Uaerihamish wore listening regularly evory
nijht to other stations, partly for the >urpose of keeping in practice and
obtaining data as to at lospherio absorption, etc., and partly so as to be
sure to get any rasso. gos whioh d. ;at be sent from Br-Jit 00k, as we were
using wireless exclusively in order to save cable expenses. Practically
all the listening was done on H(*w tune as we had shortly previously made
our very important discovery, later published In tho ulootrician, that
while the absorption increased with increasing wave length up to .boat
100,000 frequency, beyond th.t point the absorption fell off very rapidly
as the frequency was deoroaeed until t about 70,000 frequency trie absorp-
tion was oorn jaratively sr^ill •

Soiaetirae, I think* in November. 1906, I received a registered letter
marked personal from one of the ^acrlhtdsh operators. In this lottor he
stated that he had been listening in on a certain date, which he specified,
and at a oortain hour, about four o*cloc; In the -orning t* 1 recollect it,
and had noticed a reniorica )lo phono sonon wliich showed that apeoch could be
transmitted by speaking in proximity to tho rotary spark gap ho were then
using 10 iW'm rotary spark gap, giving about 500 or 1000 sparks per second.)
He stated that at the date and hour specific I lie had ieard one of our Braafc
Bock engineers giving instructions to one of his assistants in regard to
tho running of the dynamos that the speech had cono in vory clear and plai ,
and that he wao able to identify the speaker aa Hp, Stein (now, I believe,
with tho Bell Telephone Company); he wrote out in detail the words Whloh
he statod he had heard :r. Stoln apeak to his assistant, as he hod written
them down after hearing themj tho whole amounting to five or six sentences
totalling between fifty and one hundred words.