The history of wireless in China, which to-day was responsible for over 100,000,000 transmissions a yes bringing in a revenue of $5,000,000, started. 30. years ago, said Mr. Richards. Its inspiration probably was due to experiments tried during the Boer War and in the Russo-Japanese War, In China, the frst two stations, " crudely constructed, were built at Nanyangfu and Paotingfu, a place south of Peiping. At this time, Marconi and his followers were endeavouring to establish the first yadlo transmission across the Pacific. Those were days of disparagement und discouragement, which were only In 1918, the Ministry of Communlcations purchased three 25-kilowatt stations for China, One was established in the Gobi Desert, one at Urumehi, and one at Kashgar, in Eastern ' Chinese Turkestan (Sin-Kiang). The object was to establish communication between inland places end the coast, The construction of these stations was a tale in itself, Mr, Richards. said, The one put up in Urea, in the Gobi Desert, in 1022, was captured by Russians when tests were being made. The engineer escaped under shell-fire and subse. quently made his way to safety, An. other unique feature of the erection of these stations was that no part of the equipment, which included gon-orators, engines, and steel masts over 800 ft, high when erected, by contract should exceed one camel load or 120 1b, This naturally meant the most minute careful preparations, "The country through which the caravans kad to pass was little known, which added to the dimculties, 'Even when the masts Anaily wore erected in 1023 in Urumch! and Kashgar, there was trouble with the country' folk, who objected to the hosts In case they provoked the anger of mountain gods. An instance resourcefulness was' given by an fengircer in Eastern Turkestah, Who. finding himeelf short of fuel, distilled refined spirit from the crude el found the district and so kept his engines running.
A Political tssve China became involved in a major political issue on overseas wireless communication atter the War, Cohtracts had been made with Marconi, Danish company, a Mlisul concern involving £500,000, and an American company in California to the tune of 1V.5.$30,000,000, In 1921, the Chinese Government hiad made contracts for over one. hundred million dollars for equipment for overseas transmission. She was entangled in a vicious circle from which there appeared no escape, The Washington Conference In 1921 took the matter up, but mo logical conclusion was reached, As It happened, it was Just as well the whole thing fell to the ground, because a few years laier wireless Was revolutionized, The beam short wave of communication was invented and it was shown by Marconi that a ten-kilowatt. station could do work which previously had required 1,000 kilowatts. "Since then, progress had been made rapidly. "Tu 1028, the International Radio Station at Cheng tu was begun, The Nationalist forces curing the 1626-27 campaign learned the use of short-wave stations for easy communication, and shortly after work began to open radio trafic between China and the United States and China and Germany, and the first exchange of messages was, accom plished in 1990. This was followed by the establishment of similar transnifssion between Great Britain and Ching in 1934,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.