seven
o'clock
He was familiar with electrical disturbances in the ether , but this was beyond anything in his experience . Moreover , when he next tried to use his instruments he discovered that something had put the whole apparatus out of commission . About an hour later he felt a pronounced pressure in his eardrums , which gradually passed off . The wireless refused to work for nearly eight hours , and it was still recalcitrant when he went off duty at seven o'clock . He had not felt the quivering of the earth round Washington , and being an unimaginative man he accepted the other facts of the situation philosophically . The statics would pass , and then Georgetown would be in communication with the rest of the world again , that was all . At seven o'clock the night shift came in , and Hood borrowed a pipeful of tobacco from him and put on his coat .