TLS, one page, 8 x 10, Beinn Bhreagh letterhead, October 9, 1902. Letter to R. Norman Vyvyan, the "Manager, Marconi Wireless Telegraph Station, Sydney, C. B.," in full: "I see by the newspapers that Mr. Marconi is on his way across the Atlantic, and that he expects to receive messages from his Cape Breton Island Station. If this is so, I should be very glad if you would send him a message on the Atlantic inviting him to visit me in my Cape Breton home." In very good to fine condition, with overall creasing, and wear to the right edge. During this period, both pioneering inventors were experimenting in Nova Scotia—Marconi with wireless telegraphy, and Graham Bell with powered, heavier-than-air flight.
Accompanied by a page from Leslie’s Weekly for September 2, 1902, containing an account by Everett Wilkes of visits to both Vyvyan and Bell, entitled 'Two Remarkable Inventors Experimenting in Nova Scotia.' Of his visit to Marconi's first wireless telegraph station in Glace Bay, he writes: 'Mr. Marconi was absent at the time of my visit, but his personal friend and chief of staff, Mr. Vyvoyan [sic], to whom I presented my letters of introduction, received me cordially and talked freely on the great subject which he and his employer have nearest at heart. I was allowed to take pictures of the exterior of the station, but not of the interior of the receiving room, the most important part of the plant. During Mr. Marconi’s absence nobody is permitted to enter this apartment except Mr. Vyvoyan…Mr. Vyvoyan stated that the delay in commencing commercial operations was due to Mr. Marconi’s anxiety to have his system thoroughly tested before offering it to the public.' The reporter then made a call on Professor Graham Bell 'which required a not very long journey from Glace Bay…There, for the last five years, during the summer months, he has been experimenting, and the goal to which he is looking forward is the construction of a dirigible flying-machine…It is perhaps an unfortunate thing for science that Professor Bell is now a wealthy man; otherwise he might work a little harder.'
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