Wireless To Warn Vessels In Fogs.

New York Times 100 years ago today, August 7, 1912:
French Government to Make Experiments — A "Radio Compass" Invented.
KNAPSACK WIRELESS KITS
British Army Adopts Equipment, Which Can Be Carried by Four Men — The Mast of Aluminum.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    LONDON, Aug. 6.— The War Office has appointed a committee to consider the application of the recent remarkable developments in wireless telegraphy to the needs of the army. The Chairman of the committee is Sir Henry Norman, the author and traveler.
    Interesting experiments are about to be undertaken by the French Government in connection with the use of Hertzian waves for fog signals. It is believed that the system will prove of great value to navigators, as vessels equipped with wireless apparatus will receive warnings when the usual lights cannot be seen. One great difficulty is that of establishing direction, so as to enable a mariner to determine from which station a message has come. Several English and Italian investigators have now, it is said, formulated practicable schemes, and by means of a "radio compass" ships will, get bearings accurately.
    A complete wireless installation which can be carried in the knapsacks of four men is the latest development of radio telegraphy adopted by the British Army. A "knapsack station" has a range of about ten miles. It is carried in knapsacks strapped on the backs of soldiers, four men each carrying a load of twenty pounds. The mast is about thirty feet in height, of extremely light though rigid construction, being made chiefly of aluminum in tube form.