The Electrical experimenter

May, 19 1 THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER 19
CIVIC FORUM MEDAL FOR
DR. BELL.
Dr. Alexander (Iraham IjcII, inventor
of the telephone, Iiefore a gathering which
filled Carnegie Hall, received the Civic
Korum Medal of Honor for Distinguished
Public Service on March twenty-lirst.
This medal was presented in 1914 to Major-general
George VV. Gocthals and in 1915
to Thomas .'\lva Fdison. After many eloquent
speeches in his praise, Dr. liell responded
modestly, endeavoring to share the
tributes to him with those who have l)eei\
associated with him in developing the telephone.
"I may perhaps claim the credit of blazing
tlie trail," he said, "but I am embarrassed
at all the honor which has been
done me, because so much of it should go
to the many men who have since improved
upon and extended its use— to such men
as .Mr. Carty and his associates. Why, I
am not even able to understand some of
the mechanism which they have introduced
into the use of the telephone. Wlicn they
telephoned from Arlington and were heard
at KitTel Tower in Paris, I could not see
how it was done, nor could I understand
how an operator in Hawaii was able to
pick up the message."
Dr. Bell told how, shortly after he got
the idea of the telephone in 1874, he had
called on Professor Henry at the Smithsonian
Institution, who was then recognized
as the greatest authority on electricity
in America. Professor Henry listened
kindly to his plan, and told him that he
thought he had the germ of a great invention.
"I told him that the trouble was that
I did not have enough knowledge of elec-
tricity," said Dr. Bell. "He said, 'Get it.'
Now the fact is that, had I known much
about electricity, I would never have invented
the telephone. I
would have thrown up the
idea as wildly improbable.
My study had been that
of sound."
A NEW INSULATING
MATERIAL.
"Galalith" is a hone-like
substance similar in many
respects to celluloid. It is
manufactured from casein
and formaldehyde. A solution
of casein is obtained
by treating skimmed milk
with caustic alkali, after
which the solution is clarified
and the casein then
precipitated by means of
acids and filtered. The
water is then extracted
under pressure and the
product slowly dried over
a period extending several
weeks. The product obtained
is casein plate,
which is treated by thoro
saturation with formaldehyde
and dried again.
Galalith is said to be an
excellent insulating material
somewhat transparent,
altho never completely so,
and of a yellowish-white
horn-like color. It is
workable cither in the hot
or cold state, the cold galalith
being softened by
treatment in hot water. It
is odorless, and much less
inflammable than celluloid.
It cannot he made into very thin sheets.
Senator Shcppard recently introduced an
amendment to the naval appropriation hill
calling for $.50,000 to be expended in the
erection of a radio station at Galveston.
HEINRICH HERTZ.
Born Feb. 22, 1857. Died Jan. 1, 1899.
Inventor of Wireless.
EIXKICH HERTZ was born on I"ebuary
22, 1857, in Hamburg, Germany.
le received his early training in the
Hengineering schools but at the age of twenty-one
he decided upon an academic career
Heinrich Rudolph Hertz—Father of the Wireless
Telegraph. Upon His Scientific Researches
and Practical Demonstration of
Maxwell's Electromagnetic Theory, Marconi
and Others Have Built Up the Commercial
System We Knov» To- Day.
and entered the University of Berlin as a
pupil of Von Helmholtz and Kirchoff.
Of the many gifted students of physics
who have come forth from the celebrated
TO ALL RADIO AMATEURS.
f-J~fHE Department of Coiiuiicrcc of ll'asliington, by its Secretary, the
I Hon. IVvK C. Rcdfield. has kindly sent us the follo'ving information
of particular interest to all amateurs in the United States at the present
time.
Secretary Redfield has issued orders that for the present no nrw licenses
to radio amateurs will be issued and the reneti'al of outstanding amateur
licenses zcilt be granted only by the Department upon special favorable reports
by the radio inspectors. (This refers to sending outfits only.)
The Department also informs our readers, reminding them of the fact
that the operation of transmitting radio instrum.ents without licenses is prohibited
under severe penalties, which, under the conditions of the time,
Zi'ould be e.racted in the case of those zi'ho shozved no regard for the requirements
of the lazv.
I'p to the time that we go to press, the Department has not formulated
final plans as to ivhat steps zvill be taken in regard to radio amateurs as
a ii'hole, and zvhethcr they ZfitI be allozved to continue to operate the same
as before. It is our personal impression, however, that no drastic steps
are likely to be taken by the Government as long as the amateurs cooperate
zmth the Department. .
In viczv of this zee most urgently and earnestly request all amateurs at
the present time to refrain from using their transmitting stations except for
regular zvork. In other zvords, all unnecessary gossip and fooling should be
rigidly suspended for the present', particularly the "Q.R.M." mii.iance zMch
at best, only serves to irritate our officials, and wakes their work harder.
If amateurs do not z'oluntarily stop such annoyance the Government wilt
certainly prohibit the use of all priz'ately otiiirrf radio outfits.
These are no times to use the ether for a lot of nonsense: zve all 'wish
to help our country as much as Kv possibly can until normal conditions are
restored again.
Alzvays remember, that our Government has granted the radio amateurs
more pozvers than anv other country in the zi-orld, and in times of stress,
it is up to the amateurs to shour of zi'hat stuff they arc made by cooperating
Zi.'ith our officials to the fullest extent of their po-wcrs.
THE EDITOR.
Berlin laboratory, there are probably none
who have become so world-famous as Heinrich
Hertz. His qualities as an investigator
were speedily recognized by Von Helmholtz,
who urged him while still a student,
to undertake the solution of the orize prob-
lem proposed by the Berlin .Academy of
Sciences in 1879.
From 1880 to 1883 Dr. Hertz was an assistant
in Von Helmholtz's laboratory; he
then lectured for two years as instructor at
Kiel. I'rom 1885 to 1889, he was professor
of physics in the Polytcchnische of Karlsruhe,
in the latter year Clausius, a professor
of this institution, died, and Hertz
was selected as his successor in the University
of Bonn, where he spent the few remaining
years of his life.
Hertz's career as a scientific investigator
covered a period of scarcely more than ten
years, during which time he publisht thirtysix
papers. Of these, a series of thirteen
which appeared in Wiedemann's Annalen,
were upon the subject with which his name
will forever be connected, the laws of the
propagation of electro-magnetic induction
thru space. Of lliis great work, which afforded
a complete experimental verification
of the Maxwellian theories concerning electro-magnetism
and the relation of electric-
ity to light, there is no need to speak of its
great importance to the scientific world.
The importance of Hertz's contributions
to this great subject received instant recognition.
It would indeed be difficult to find
any other instance in which researches bearing
upon a most subtle and difficult question,
and absolutely devoid of basic elements
of a utilitarian or even of a popular character,
having secured to their author such
sudden fame. In addition to the recognition
of those wno were able to appreciate
his work. Hertz received the acclamations
of the entire world of thought. Fortunately,
he possest a nature of such complete
simple-mindedness that his sudden rise into
a position akin to notoriety had no effect
upon him. The unassuming bearing which
had always characterized him remained
with him to the end.
In delightful harmony
with the genuine and simple
nature of the man
were his surroundings in
the quiet university town
of Bonn. His laboratory
was situated in the apartments
formerly occupied
as a dwelling by Clausius
in a wing of the old palace.
Since electricity has
become utilitarian, we find
it associated everywhere
with moving machinery
and with the rush and
bustle of modern industrial
life, but in Hertz's
laboratory, there was nothing
to suggest the science
of electro-technics. The
place seemed to breathe
that spirit of academic repose
which to the inmates
of the present day must
have seemed to have vanished
altogether from the
world. What might such
a man, in such an environment,
have not been
able to achieve, had he
lived?
The promulgation of
the theories of Dr. Heinrich
Hertz in connection
with Wireless waves,
stimulated universal interest
all over the world,
which led to their use in
the propagation of intelligence
thru free space.
In 1892, Hertz's researches
upon the electric waves were gathered
together in a volume under the title
"Untersuchungen ueber die .\usbreitung der
Elektrischen Kraft." .Mmost on the day
of his death, another excellent translation
of Hertz's researches appeared.