The original scans for this article are located at: https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1899-10-04/ed-1/seq-2/ and https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1899-10-04/ed-1/seq-4/.
 
San Franscisco Call, October 4, 1899, pages 2, 4:

MARVELOUS  WORK  OF  WIRELESS  TELEGRAPHY
 
NEW  YORK.  Oct.  3.--Marconi's  work  more  than  met  expectations.  During  the  race  2500  words  in  bulletin  service  were  sent  to  the  Herald  and  received  without  loss  of  time.  An  average  of  less  than  a  minute  elapsed  between  the  writing  of  a  bulletin  and  its  receipt  in  the  Herald  office.  Not  one  message  had  to  be  repeated.
connection NEW  YORK, Oct. 3.--Far and away the greatest achievement connected with the yacht race of to-day was the successful operation of the Marconi system of wireless telegraphy, by means of which every movement of the competing craft was bulletined to the Herald and The Call as soon as it occurred. Did either break out a sail that fact was given to the readers of the Marconi bulletins before the fresh canvas had been filled with wind. In short, the system worked to perfection. Of bulletins alone fully 2500 words were flashed from the towering mast of the steamship Ponce, and in not a single instance did it become necessary to repeat a message. Not only did Signor Marconi make it possible for the public ashore to closely follow the maneuvers of the Columbia and Shamrock, but he kept those who had the good fortune to be on the steamship Ponce well informed on the more important events of the day in the world at large. For the benefit of several gentlemen having Wall street interests early stock quotations were received, and the money market was closely followed.
    As the yachts got away the following message, the first concerning the actual race, was written, and in less than ninety seconds was published and public property in New York:
"Racers away; both yachts flying mainsail, club topsails, spinnakers, staysails, jib and jib topsails. Running before wind down the Jersey coast. Wind about eight knots and freshening."
Following this were bulletins giving more accurate descriptions of the work being done, and there was joy on the Ponce when word came back that everything was working so perfectly that only a very few seconds separated the chart room within which the sending was being done and the offices of the Herald and The Call. During those early moments of the race, when favoring winds filled the sails of the challenger while the cup defender was floundering a bit uncertain in the smooth sea, every breeze was described. The fifth bulletin read thus: "Shamrock apparently leading slightly. Both balloon jibs spilling wind, but Shamrock's sail is drawing the better. Course clear."
    It required one minute and a quarter to send this dispatch, yet the first three words, "Shamrock apparently leading," were received in New York and given out as a separate bulletin before the last word, "clear," was sent.
   Whenever the Marconi bulletins were posted the public was less than seventy-five seconds behind the yachts, and in many cases less than thirty seconds.
    By unofficial time the Columbia rounded the first mark at 1:48 and the Shamrock followed at 1:40:15. The time of the Columbia had been flashed all over New York before the Shamrock had followed. Aboard the Ponce there was the keenest apprehension of the work being done. Indeed, it is not too much to say that, except at the most critical moments during the race, more attention was given to the mysterious chart room and to Signor Marconi than to the yachts. Aboard the other excursion steamers, too, the passengers were deeply interested in the wireless reports. Almost without exception the Ponce was saluted by a round of cheers from every boat it met during the day. Signor Marconi was compelled to shut himself off from the curious, whose good-natured attentions hindered the work to be accomplished.
    In consequence, until after the race had been called off the chart room of the Ponce was closed, except to Signor Marconi and his assistants, the reporters for the Herald and The Call, and the representatives of the Government, who were present in an unofficial capacity to watch the results accomplished by the new system. These gentlemen were: Lieutenant Commander Qualtrough and Lieutenant Blish, representing the navy, and Captain L. W. Wildman and Colonel Kinsley of the signal service department. Mr.Kinsley is a civilian, but has given much attention to the wireless telegraph, and was engaged to study and report upon Signor Marconi's achievements. He was more than pleased with the work of the day, and at its close, when asked for an expression of his opinion, said:
    "My first report must be made to Captain Squier, but there can be only opinion when it is known that 2500 words in bulletins were sent ashore and the total could have, been greatly increased, and all of this was done without any vexatious delay or repetition."
    Lieutenant Commander Qualtrough was more outspoken. He became an enthusiast early in the day, and before nightfall was declaring his belief that the United States Government would do well to persuade Signor Marconi to install his system in the Philippines at the earliest date.
    "If we could only have had this last year," said Lieutenant Commander Qualtrough, "what a great thing it would have been. When we landed marines at Guantanamo the ships were unable to lend assistance for the reason that the enemy could not be located, and by firing at random our own forces would have been placed in danger. With the aid of the Marconi system the men ashore could have directed the fire and all would have been well.
    "The English are prepared now to do just what I have outlined. They send a Marconi apparatus ashore with a landing party and communication with the ship is never lost. In the Philippines the system would right now be of great service to us. It would do away with wires, which are easily cut, and it would enable us to have perfect communication between the islands. The system is certain to be made use of by the army and navy. Even if to-day's record could not be improved upon it would be of great value. But I have seen enough to know that it is impossible to predict the limit of the wireless currents. Great things may be accomplished in the near future. Lieutenants Blish, Denfield, Newton and I will meet Signor Marconi to-morrow morning for a conference. After Signor Marconi completes the work which the enterprise of the Herald and The Call made possible he will proceed with a series of tests and demonstrations for the Government. Rear Admiral Bradford is greatly impressed with the possibilities of his discovery."
    Before the end of the contest a few private messages were accepted by Signor Marconi for delivery ashore but after the battle the final bulletin to the Herald and The Call announcing "No race" had been filed, there was a rush for the chart room and the good-natured operator was kept busy almost until the Ponce reached the pier sending the messages forced upon him.
    Among those who were on the Ponce and who sent messages ashore were: Mr. and Mrs. George Crocker of San Francisco, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Whitney, Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Thorsen, Dr. and Mrs. E. M. Culver, Mr. and Mrs. J. E. Kerr, Mr. and Mrs. R. N. Liddell, Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Alexander, Mr. and Mrs. H. T. Knowlton, Mrs. George W. Westinghouse, Theodore H. Price. R. T. Wilson Jr., H. Coppell, J. S. Bryan, Richmond Vasi, Stanley McCormack, J. K. Cameron of Baltimore, E. T. Bell Jr., Captain E. J. McKinstry, B. A. Aymor, E. Sands, W. N. Knowles, Arthur Coppoll and John S. Cravens.
    The working of the Marconi system was, so far as possible, explained over again, and the listeners never to grow tired of hearing about it. The tape on which the messages from shore was taken bit by bit to be preserved as souvenirs of the trip. From Navesink little was heard on the Ponce save the announcement after each message that had been properly received. But after the bulletins ceased a dispatch came along saying that the system had worked perfectly all day. There been no interruptions, and the only delay been one of slight importance and that was on the land wires leading from Navesink into the office of the Herald and The Call.
    Thursday and on succeeding race days the steamship Ponce will leave her pier at 9 o'clock instead of half past 9. This will make it certain that those on the steamship will be enabled to see the yachts go over the line for the start. Prior to the yacht races the Herald and The Call received from the American Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Company an official letter stating that they were the owners of the Dolbear patents, covering, they claimed, all rights to wireless telegraphs and telephones in the United States, and that they formally protested against the use of the Marconi system in reporting the cup events. The letter further stated that while reserving all rights to take, in the immediate future, such legal action in the matter as they might decide upon, they did not propose to interfere with and stop the Herald and The Call Marconi reports, but desired it distinctly understood that they made such temporary waive solely in the interest of science and because of the great public interest in this important demonstration of practical wireless telegraphy.
    Professor Dolbear and his associates have for years been experimenting on wireless telegraphy with most satisfactory results, and in 1886 a patent was issued to Professor Dolbear, with which the company claims that the Marconi patent conflicts. But in the company's courteous and public-spirited letter they decline to seek to interfere with the race reports by the Herald and The Call. Professor Dolbear's work and the results he has obtained show the active interest that is being taken in this field of science by American inventors, and in the near future the American Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Company intend to give a public exhibition of the workings of their system.