was so happy to hear on the telephone from Mammà that both you and our Elettruzzi are better. Now, my Crissy, you need to take care of yourself so as to get completely well. You will probably feel much better now that the worst of the cold is over.
Everything went well at the Academy this morning but I was sad not to have you there.
The King asked after you as we were going upstairs and I told him how sorry you were that you couldn’t come because you had a bad cold. He asked me to send you his best wishes and to tell you that nearly everyone has a cold at the moment. All the people I spoke to asked after you.
The decoration of the Order of Malta looked really magnificent. But I missed you more than I can say.
This morning was a bit empty since there was no letter from you but I’m hoping that there will be one tomorrow. I have meetings tomorrow and Tuesday but on Wednesday I’ll do my best to come to you because I can’t live without you. Sorry this is in such haste.
Millions of kisses and hugs to you my Love; and lots of hugs, but not so hard as to hurt her, to our Elettra.
I am so grateful to Mammà and Papà for all they do for us.
Your own
Guglielmo
EXCERPTS FROM GUGLIELMO’S LAST LETTERS AND MESSAGES
Royal Academy of Italy--the President--8th March, 1937
Darling Crissy,
...Until this evening on the telephone.
Lots of kisses to you and Elettra.
Guglielmo
Senate of the Realm -29th April, 1937
My darling Crissy...
...So much love and kisses to you and Elettra.
Guglielmo
3rd May, 1937
My darling Crissy...
A thousand kisses to you and Elettra.
Until this evening.
Guglielmo
Royal Academy of Italy--8th July, 1937
My darling...
...All my love for you and Elettra, darlings. Hoping to see you tomorrow.
Guglielmo
GUGLIELMO MARCONI’S TRANSMISSION ACROSS THE ATLANTIC FROM CORNWALL TO THE ISLAND OF NEWFOUNDLAND, 12th December, 1901
From the first day of our marriage my life with Guglielmo was spent mostly on board his yacht the Elettra sailing in the Mediterranean, the Atlantic and the North Sea. I remember our cruises off the coast of England. We usually set sail from Southampton and sailed along the lovely coast of Cornwall which was one of our favourite places. We spent most of our time on board but sometimes we left the yacht in a harbour or cove for a few hours to go and visit friends who lived in old manors or in splendid country houses.
We often dropped anchor in Poole Harbour, not far from the places where years before Guglielmo had carried out very important experiments and transmissions. We went ashore in the motorboat to the jetty belonging to Lord Montagu. After walking through a beautiful wood we found ourselves in front of a XIII Century Abbey which had been converted into a country house. We were welcomed by Lord Montagu himself, smiling and jovial. We spent happy hours with him and his friends and in the evening we returned to the Elettra and continued our voyage.
Guglielmo pointed out a few rare palms growing here and there along the coast. He liked the warm climate of Cornwall which was milder than that of the rest of England. After our stay in those pleasant surroundings we spent months and months in the fogs of London. Although Guglielmo was half English he had an inborn longing for the sun. And yet his scientific work, his experiments and his important responsibilities with the Marconi Company in London meant that for around forty years he spent most of his time in northern climes. It was only after our marriage that he began to return to Italy frequently and feel a closer link with the land of his birth.
When we disembarked from the Elettra to visit our friends we would find our very nice Russian chauffeur Bindoff, who had followed our route by road, waiting with the beautiful Rolls Royce to take us wherever we had planned to go. We would drive to join our friends in their stately homes, those unforgettable monuments to past centuries. We often visited Constance Cornwallis-West, the first wife of the Duke of Westminster, who was always delighted to see us and gave us a great welcome. Although she was no longer a young woman she was still beautiful, like her sister the Princess of Pless.
We sometimes went as far as Lizard Head in Cornwall and disembarked to visit the Poldhu Hotel which was on a sheer cliff on a promontory overlooking the ocean. Guglielmo had spent many months there in 1900 and 1901 while he was building the radio-transmitting station of Poldhu right behind the hotel on the cliffs by the seashore. He often spoke to me about that exciting time. He was only twenty-seven years old! His audacious plan was to send the first message across the Atlantic between Cornwall in England and the American continent. The Poldhu radio station had just been completed when the antenna system was destroyed by a violent storm. “I wasn’t discouraged”, Guglielmo told me with a smile. “It was all for the best because I set to work again at once and put up a new experimental antenna which gave very satisfactory results”.
In 1901 he also built a very large radio station on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. He arrived at Cape Cod with his assistants Mr. Kemp and Mr. Vyvyan. First he considered Barnstable but it was too far inland. Then he decided on Highland Light but the local people were suspicious and refused to sell him any land to build his station. Finally he was able to buy a piece of land at South Wellfleet on a high headland of dunes facing the Atlantic. There was nothing between it and the station at Poldhu but the Atlantic Ocean. He set up his headquarters at a boarding house, the Holbrook House in Wellfleet. The natives of Cape Cod predicted that the circular aerial system of twenty 200 foot masts would be blown down in the first Atlantic gale. They were proved right when the South Wellfleet station was completely destroyed in a violent storm. There was no hope for the time being of transmitting between Poldhu and Cape Cod and Guglielmo decided to move to Newfoundland. He had already spent months sailing along the Atlantic coasts in search of the most suitable promontory for his radio transmissions. He landed at Saint John’s, Newfoundland, the nearest point to Poldhu. He was received by the Governor Sir Cavendish Boyle and the Premier Sir Robert Bond.
Guglielmo immediately set up a rudimentary radio-receiving station on a hill near the sea, called “Signal Hill”. His two most trusted assistants Mr. Kemp and Mr. Paget had accompanied him from London. A stone-walled cabin panelled inside in wood was put at his disposal. By now it was winter. The building was surrounded by snow and ice but inside it was well-equipped and heated and they were very warmly dressed. Guglielmo had a table in the cabin for his instruments where he spent many hours of the day and night studying and making experiments. The North winds blew, freezing and violent. Guglielmo had suspended the antenna in the air using balloons which were destroyed by the storm. So he thought of holding up the antenna with a kite but this too was blown away. Undismayed, he immediately had another sent up in its place.
