Article July 19, 1900 Issue

Speech with Europe

A Way Found to Telephone Across the Ocean.

Boston Herald

At last a way has been found to telephone across the Atlantic Ocean. That old scientific bugbear, the saturation of the cable covering with conflicting currents, which prevent the voice being heard over long distances, has been overcome, and nothing except the laying of a properly constructed cable now prevents our having direct speech with Europe.

The discovery is announced by Prof. M. I. Pupin of Columbia College, and even if Professor Pupin's reputation did not vouch for the authenticity of his claims, the enthusiastic manner of their acceptance by scientific men generally proves that a most important discovery has been made. Aside from this spectacular element of telephoning across the ocean, the discovery is of such value to land telephone and telegraph lines that not only will it be possible hereafter to talk directly between New York and San Francisco, but the cost of doing so can be reduced to what is now demanded for less than half that distance.

And yet this valuable discovery, although it required years of sifting through complicated forms to perfect it, is quite simple in character. It would remind you, as far as its quality of simplicity is concerned, of the mass of complicated designs which Edison adopted and discarded before he hit upon the simple vacuum bulb as a final form for the incandescent lamp.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Speech with Europe

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access