Evening star. [volume], January 14, 1929, Page 29, Image 29

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

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REID TAKES LEAD
IN RADIO INQUIRY
Illinois Representative Is Out
spoken in Opposition to
Davis Amendment.
BY MARTIN CODEL.
In the rush of activity pertaining to
radio now centered in Washington one
of the striking developments is the
appearance of a new leader in radio
legislation in the person of Representa
tive Prank R. Reid (Republican) of
Aurora, 111.
The trend of his searching inquiries
into the status of broadcasting since the
November reallocation, particularly
while former Commissioner H. A. Bel
lows was testifying at the House hear
ings, distinctly reveals him as the out
standing opponent of the Davis equali
zation amendment and as an advocate
of high power. In a less spirited way
he also appears as a supporter of the
Federal Radio Commission’s effort to
improve radio conditions pursuant to
the amendment.
On these issues he is decidedly at
odds with Representative Ewin Davis
of Tullahonut Tcnn., author of the
amendment fc tfYvide wave lengths,
powers anfl MRts on the air equally
among the JMt zones and equitably
among the Crates according to their
EDpulation. Conflicting views at the
earings have largely been between
these two. Party lines have not been
drawn on these moot issues, but it is
certain they will be the big subjects of
the subsequent congressional debates on
radio.
Davis Is Adamant.
Mr. Davis has made it plain that he
will not be swerved one jot or tittle
against his amendment by the wide
spread opposition to it among radio
engineers and by the recommendations
for a breakdown of the zone system
urged by Mr. Bellows on behalf of the
National Assbciation of Broadcasters.
He also continues to oppose high power,
and he has made reallcation the target
of attack for its reservation of cleared
channels for super-power and for the
predominance of chain stations on these
channels.
Mr. Reid is best known as chairman
of the important flood control com
mittee. He fought the Davis amend
ment, along with most of the Illinois
delegation, at the last session of Con
gress. His present active appearance
on the radio scene is generally attrib
uted to his interest in the effort of the
Chicago Federation of Labor to obtain
better facilities under the allocation
for its 50-000-watt transmitter, WCFL,
now building in Chicago.
It was he who drew from Chairman
Robinson of the Federal Radio Com
mission the statement that radio re
ception conditions were better before
the reallocation than now. From Mr.
Bellows Mr. Reid exacted the opinion
that there can be no doubt that the
reallocation has brought about consid
erable improvement. Such opposite
views and the conflicting testimony of
listeners have led Mr. Reid to urge that
competent technical witnesses be called.
Chairman Robinson’s view that the
reallocation should have been ap
proached gradually was supported by
Mr. Bellows, who leads a faction of the
radio industry that wanted a different
kind of reallocation. Mr. Bellows, how
ever, would not go along with Judge
Robinson and Representative Davis in
their opposition to high power, declar
ing that the 5,000-watt maximum which
they support has just as great an in
terference range as 50,000 watts. He
also favored cleared channels.
Majority members of the Federal Ra
dio Commission, who have been at odds
with their chairman on the allocation
project, will be heard by the House
committee this week. Their defense of
the reallocation primarily will be based
on scientific principles, which, they will
claim, they exercised so far as the Davis
amendment permitted. They will con
tend that the extension of the commis
sion for only one year by the last Con
gress was tantamount to a mandate
from that body to improve reception
conditions within that period.
They also will claim they have brought
about improvement generally through
out the country, and that the present
structure is flexible enough to bring
about further improvements as the
radio art progresses.
Estimate of Volume.
One of the most significant of recent
announcements in the radio world is
that of Radio Retailing, a leading jour
nal In the trade, estimating that the
1928 radio sales attained a record re
tail value of $650,550,000. This is the
largest estimate made for the year that
featured the political conventions and
other great stimuli to radio sales. It
compares with a total of $425,600,000
in 1927.
The magazine estimates that 9,000,000
sets of all kinds were in use at the end
of the year, compared with 7,500,000 in
1927. The radio audience is placed at
about 35,000,000 persons, against 26,-
000,000 the preceding year.
The survey, regarded as one of the
most trustworthy In the field, shows
that 2,550,000 factory-built sets, includ
ing consoles and built-in receivers, were
retailed last year for $306,000,000.
About 81,000 combined radio and
phonograph sets were sold for $38,000,-
000. The number of tubes sold totaled
50,200,000 for an aggregate of $67,300,-
000. About 2,460,000 loud speakers
were sold for approximately $66,000,400.
The battery market exceeded $50,000,-
000. Equipment and parts brought in
around $20,000,000. Both showed
marked declines, the former particu
larly due to the preponderant sales of
house-current sets. Radio exports came
near the $11,000,000 mark.
From another source it is learned that
the types of sets leading the market in
1928 ranked in the following order:*
Atwater Kent, Majestic. Radiolas,
Crosley, Zenith, Bolster, Philco, Fada
and Steinite.
The only figures available placed At
water Kent production at around 800,-
000 sets and Majestic at more than
425,000.
(Copyrlght. 1929. by North American
Negnaper Alliance.)
Hi
An irrepressible fun maker
and songster—a vaudeville
headliner—Vitaphone’s offer
ing for your entertainment
tonight. Tune in —smile—
... M .
I RADIO’S MAJOR FEATURES
TONIGHT.
B:3o—Gypsies: Spanish program
—WEAF, WTAG, WGY, WWJ,
WEEI, WGR. WCSH, WTIC,
WCAE, WLIT, WON, WJAR,
WRC, WTAM.
8:30 —Duo Discs; popular num
bers—WJZ, WBZ. WBAL,
WHAM, KDKA, WLW, WJR,
KYW.
9—Marrying Off Sally; story of
an ugly duckling—WCAU,
WOR, WNAC, WEAN. WFBL,
WMAK, WCAO, WJAS. WADC,
WKRC, WGHP, WMAQ, WHK,
WLBW, WMAL.
9:3o—Real Folks; Parent-Teach
er meeting—WJZ, WBAL,
WBZ, WHAM, KDKA, WLW,
WJR, KYW.
KLAN IN NEW YORK
TO BE INVESTIGATED
Complaints Made That Organiza
tion Is Violating Walker
Law of State.
Special Dispatch to The Btar.
NEW YORK, January 14.—At the
request of Robert Moses, former secre
tary of state, District Attorney Banton
has assigned John McDermott, assist
ant district attorney, to begin to
day an investigation of the Ku Klux
Klan. While in office Mr. Moses re
ceived numerous complaints that the
Klan was violating the Walker law, the
constitutionality of which was affirmed
last November by the United States
Supreme Court.
This law specifies that a secret or
ganization must file a copy of its secret
oaths with the secretary of state, and
also covers section 53 of the civil rights
law, which makes It a misdemeanor for
a secret organization to demand that
its members be bound by an oath.
Complaints were made against the
Knights and Women of the Ku Klux
Klan, Inc. This organization was orig
inally incorporated in a charter grant
ed in September, 1923, under the name
of Alpha Pi Sigma. On October 30,
1925, the name was changed from
Alpha Pi Sigma to the Knights and
Women of the Ku Klux Klan
Subpoenaes have been issued for the
officials whose names appeared on the
charter in 1928.
According to the original certificate,
Alpha Pi Sigma was purely a fraternal,
patriotic and secret society for both
men and women, with authority to
grant charters to subordinate lodges.
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h!gh n o tes as wel as 1 e pleasing greater than ever! Greater power, greater response, even
lows. No unnatural rumbling; no sharper tuning 1 Distance range that is little short of amaz
blurred tones. Speec c ear and ing! And the New Type Electro-Dynamic Speaker.
•^ trem cl l^2iS^i o ? mC Tremendous volume without distortion. Truly, the most
without distortion. Startlingly true remarkable value on the radio market today,
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the power for vast distance range; IH ocv r JIVITIPIItfi at InP rfllil
marvelous selectivity plus superb I
tone; the power to perform under
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Wo Aerial -Weeded monthly You need not wait to pay cash ;
Philco needs no aerial for local own this new Philco now — pay out of income*
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THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON*, D. C„ MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 1929.
U. S. AND CANADA
TO SPLIT WAVES
Countries to Enter Confer
ence at Ottawa on Thor
oughly Amicable Terms.
This country and Canada are not at
loggerheads over the division of the
continental short waves, nor is there
any point of controversy with Cuba,
Mexico and Newfoundland yet existing
or in prospect. Adverse reaction in
Canada to the allocation of most of the
639 available short waves by the Federal
Radio Commission last week has been
due to a misapprehension that grew
naturally out of the highly technical
nature of the assignments.
As a matter of fact, the United States
has assumed considerably less than 50
per cent of the exclusive frequencies
for its commercial interests. The way
is still clear for an understanding with
Canada regarding the division of these
waves, even if the Dominion’s radio
officials should continue to insist upon
a 50-50 division. The several North
American countries will enter the forth
coming Ottawa conference on thorough
ly amicable terms.
Canadian marine authorities in
charge of radio, cognizant of the mis
apprehension, have notified the Federal
Radio Commission that they do not re
gard as unreasonable its pre-emption
of a parcel of only 63 wave lengths for
exclusive point-to-point services, nota
bly the new radio-telegraph systems
to be established for public messages
and press traffic.
Os the 639 frequencies in the short
wave band a total of 393 will be shared
by all the countries of the continent.
For example, the 134 reserved for tlie
amateurs will be used alike by amateurs
of the United States, Canada, Cuba,
Mexico and Newfoundland. The 100
frequencies for experimenting with vis
ual broadcasting—that is, still pictures,
television—and the four other waves for
miscellaneous experimentation are also
shared.
Add to these the mobile service chan
nels, which of necessity must be shared,
and the preponderance of mutual fre
quencies becomes readily apparent. The
shared mobile frequencies number 73
for ship and coastal stations, 64 for
aircraft and landing fields, 5 for rail
roads and 6 for portable transmitters
for geophysical prospecting and police
signaling. The seven set aside for
power companies to use for emergency
communication when power lines are
down are also shared.
Os the remainder the United States
has assumed only 63 exclusive fre
quencies at this time, 40 going to the
newly established Universal Wireless
Communications Co., 20 to the several
press wireless corporations and 3 to an
agricultural report service in California.
Specific wave assignments to these serv
ices remain to be made. •
This leaves 183 wave lengths yet to
be divided, and this is the group of
wave lengths that will be under con
sideration at Ottawa. Out of the 183
the various governments will doubtless
take a group of channels each for their
governmental services. Some will be
used jointly and others exclusively.
After disposing of their governmental
needs the conferees will consider the
needs of the respective commercial
services in their countries.
Canada’s sensitiveness about all radio
may be explained by the fact that its
officials have long felt that they have
been imposed upon by the broadcasting
interests on this side of the border.
The Dominion has only six of the 95
wave lengths in the broadcasting spec
trum, and for the period of the break
down of the radio law in this country
did not have even the untrammeled
use of these. Broadcasting stations in
the United States were flagrant in their
violation of the “gentlemen’s agree
ment," procured through th; agency of
Cold Can't Cause
Them to Disappoint!
Singers can’t always keep from
catching cold, but they can get
the best of any cold in a few
hours—and so can you. Get the
Herbert Hoover, that the six channels
should not be “pirated” under any cir
cumstances.
As matters stand now Canada has
these six channels plus the shared use
of 12 others on which stations in the
Southern tier of the United States are
operating. The Dominion wants more
exclusive channels, but that is a sub
ject that is entirely apart from the
short wave question. Two separate
parts of the radio spectrum, each em
ployed for utterly different purposes,
are involved.
The conferences at Ottawa will
eschew the broadcasting problem, be
cause the United States wants it con
sidered apart and because Canada is
very much concerned about getting
enough short waves to communicate
with its outlying portions not reached
by land lines. It is understood that,
unlike the United States, Canada pro
poses to use some of the short waves
for radio-telephony.
William R. Vallance, assistant solici
tor of the Department of State, will
represent the United States at the
Ottawa conference, along with several
members of the Federal Radio Commis
sion, probably O. H. Caldwell, H. A.
Lafount and Samuel Pickard. Because
the House hearings on the bill to ex
tend the Radio Commission are sched
uled to begin January 8, it is likely that
the Ottawa conference will be post
poned from January 9 to January 21.
(Copyright, 1928, by North American
Newspaper Alliance.)
compound that comes in pleas
ant-tasting tablets, one of which
will break up a cold so quickly
you’ll be astonished. Pape’s Cold
Compound is what they call it,
and any drugstore you visit will
have it—for 35 cents!
A bad cold that has settled on
the lungs is conquered the same
way; just takes a little longer.
Pape’s way is better than “dop
ing,” so remember the name.
Light Put to Use in Stopping Trains
* And Acting as Burglar and Fire Alarms
BARNES, England OP).—British sci
ence has put light to commercial use
with a radiovisor.
In a test covering 10 months a street
lamp was lighted and shut off auto
matically at dusk and sunrise. The de
vice consists of a small light sensitive
apparatus, which can be used in con
junction with electrical current of any
voltage to operate alarm bells, switch
on lights, control trains and work sig
nals.
For automatic train stopping a lamp
is arranged on the rails so that when
a signal is set at danger the lamp pro
jects a beam of light along the track
toward the oncoming train. In the
event of a second train overrunning a
danger signal it will come w'ithin the
range of a train-stop lamp and halt.
With electric trains circuit-breakers
can be worked in conjunction with the
train-stop lamp. t
The uncanny burglar detecting pow
You’re missing something if you don’t hear “FORHAN’S SONG SHOP”
Thursday night at 8, Sta. WRC.
There are no bargains in health
*
To safeguard precious health and pre- healthy as the gums. So brash gums
serve your teeth, avail yourself of the vigorously, morning and night, with
best skill and knowledge of dental the dentifrice made for the purpose,
science. It is economy. It is the only Forhan’s for the Gums. It helps to
reasonably sure means of preventing keep them firm and sound.
d ‘““ e th *‘ ne B ,ec * ed Forhul , a for
thos ravaging the ayatem, robbing few d .„ notice
a vast improve
r°"*» “* 01lo ” of meat in the way yoor gam. look and
teeth. Tin. diae.se .. the more tenon. fed _ „ onder _ _
fcr only denul core can Mem .ta ad- e hto
Tmtee once it.. eontreeted. Glld Uun Forhen'e clean. teeth and
See your dentist at least every six helps to protect them from decay,
months. There are no bargains in health. Get
Brash' yonr teeth regularly. But a tube of Forhan’s from your druggist
don’t forget that teeth are only as and start using it today.
Forhau’s for the gums
* 4 persons ont of 5 after forty and many younger are bargain-hunters. They
sacrifice health to the extravagant price of neglect.
I An amazing fact about epidemics H
-t\ In small towns and large; when colds, make them take care of their colds 1
1 grip, and influenza reach epidemic pro- promptly and vigorously! How much
t portions; when the schools are dosing; saner and safer, to take GROVE’S I
HI when people are painstakingly avoiding BROMO QUININE whenever the onset
crowded gatherings—practically every of any cold is felt, in epidemic time or not.
druggist’s stock of GROVE’S BROMO Mildly laxative, the tiny tablets clean the
QUININE is cleaned out. The insistent tract “ d rid , th f °f feumu-
J demand for GROVE’S reaches such vol- 1
ume that drug stores telegraph for express nipped while it merely threatens. Or it is
and air-mail shipments from our manu- . thrown off quickly.... There are two precau
% facturing laboratories. dons: First, immediate treatment. Second, die
HH . . right treatment. That is why it is important ■ i
What a pity that many people need t * emphasize GROVE’S, when asking fbc
to drastic a warning as an epidemic to GROVE’S BROMO QUININE. Price 30c
era of the harnessed light already have
been tested in a big London store. In
the burglar alarm infra-red or invisible
rays come from a concealed lamp.
Passage of a shadow in front of the
lamp cuts off the beam and starts an
alarm bell.
The radiovisor will automatically light
a train passing through a tunnel and
lamps at the approach of a fog. It Is
reliable as a fire alarm. Not only Is the
alarm given, but a light is lit which
gives the indication of the place of fire.
Oldest Ship to Be Museum.
Believed to be the oldest ship afloat,
the three-masted Success is to sail to
Australia, where she will be converted
into a floating museum, a reminder of
the days when she carried emigrants.
The Success was built of teak wood in
Burma in 1790, and has been on exhibi
tion in Ontario.
0. C. NATIVES TO MEET.
Society Arranges Musical Program
for Friday Evening.
The Society of Natives of the Dis
trict of Columbia will hold its monthly
meeting at the Washington Club, Seven
teenth and K streets, Friday, 8 pm.
After a short business meeting there
will be a musical program by the mem
bers of the choir of the First Baptist
Church, and a playlet by some of the
younger members of this church. The
program is under the direction of Mrs.
Ella C. Robinson, chairman of the en
tertainment committee. Lee D. Lati
mer, president of the society, will pre
side.
Russ Hines Promising.
Engineers’ reports of mining proper
ties being worked by an English syndi
cate indicate that large quantities of
lead, copper, silver, gold and zinc
should be obtained from the mines in
1930. The reports were made public
at a recent meeting of the syndicate.
29