Evening Star Newspaper, December 31, 1928, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., MONDAY, DECEMBER 31, :1928. - 17T AMAZING RADIO AND AVIATION PROGRESS SHOWN IN 1928 REVIEW| AVIATION’S LEADING FIGURES DURING THE PAST 40,000,000 MILES FLOWN BY CIVIL FLYERS IN YEAR Demand for Planes Exceeds Supply. “Limitless Possibilities” Seen by American BY OWEN L. SCOTT. VIATION, at 25, really came of | age this year with a flourish | that fairly dazzles those who | try to fathom what its forth- coming period of maturity holds in store. Orville Wright, the first man in the world's history to fly an airplane, now | sees the future of flying “limitless in its possibilities.” Even the development of the past year strikes the National | Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as | “amazing.” And now we have the word of Dan- | fel Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics that “the interesting and highly diver- sified research that is continuing in aviation will produce results that today we_might term ‘fantastic’” President Coolidge, speaking of the recent progress, declares that “no achievement of man in the progress of civilization has had a more rapid ex- pansion than aviation.” Yet Henry Ford is convinced that “we can expect greater progress in the next 10 than we have seen in the past 2 the development of fiying. To Herbert Hoover, the President- elect, “it is impossible to estimate the important consequences of this evolu- tion of communication and transporta- tion.” Growing Public “Airmindedness.” These enthusiastic estimates are based on the almost startling progress made by aviation during the past year. Col. Charles A. Lindbergh and other noted fivers saw their accomplishments bear fruit in a growing public “airminded- ness.” ‘The Government was quick to capitalize this interest, and furnished the spark for remarkable commercial development by slashing postal rates. As a result, 16,000 miles of airways are in operation. Manufacturers can- not turn out planes fast enough to sup- ply the demand for equipment to han- dle available business. Civil aviators flew 40,000,000 miles during the year with a constantly diminishing propor- tion of accidents. . Military and naval aviators covered another 18,000,000 miles. Capital has flowed into the in- dustry in great amouats, a strange con- trast to the situation only 25 years ago when the Wrights were unable to in- terest any American in even a modest backing for their airplane. This picture, however, is common- place compared with that which may be drawn of the immediate future. Train a3l Air Service. Early next Spring, distance will almost be halved when regular combination train and air service lops 48 hours from the time it takes to travel between New York and Los Angeles. - And before the vear is out another 12 hours is expected | io be cut from this schedule. Giant, tri-motored, luxurious _air equipped with all of the comforts nd knick-nacks of the de luxe train, are to do the trick. Until now, the crush of air mail business and the in- | ability of obtaining needed equipment has retarded development of passenger lines. The coming year is to mark the cnd of that handicap. New thrills will keep pace with the progress in modern travel modes. The chips now being built accommodate 12, 14, 16, 18 and 32 passengers. They are roomy, equipped with the most com- fértable of seats and providing plenty of room to walk about. There is run- ning hot and cold water, two-way radio communication and- sight-seeing possi- bilities plus a loud speaker hook-up with ihe pilot. The largest of the new planes is to provide sleeping accommodations for 16. Its completion will inaugurate the air Pullman, Regular passenger routes, with service to start during the year, include lines from New York to Los Angoles, New York to Chicago, Chicago to San Fran- cisco, Kansas City to Los Angeles and New York to Atlanta. Air Mail for Nearly Every, City. At the same time virtually every city of 50,000 and over will be placed on a regular air mail route. Specially-built mail planes, carrying over a ton, will go into service manned by postal clerks sorting mail just as they now do on mail cars. Then continents are to be brought into neighborly nearness by the projects already outlined. “Within another 12 months,” President-elect Hoover de- clares, North and South America will be connected with air lines. Even now air mail goes from Montreal all the way 10 Mexico City and to Havana. “All nations are looking forward to the day of extensive, regular and rea- sonably safe inter-continental and inter- oceanic transportation by airplane and airship,” says President Coolidge. “What the future holds cven the imagination may be inadequate to grasp.” This growing industry even though Jjust emerging into the big business class contributes materially to the Nation’s prosperity. The Aeronautical Chamber of Commerce advises that in its manu- facturing end aione, $100,000,000 will be spent next year to build from 10,000 1 12,000 planes. Important Problems Remain. But there remain important problems. The Guggenheim Foundation asserts that “the development of more and more economically sound air transpor- tation routes is dependent upon two considerations: Night flying and in- creased commercial speed.” Lighted air routes now total 8,000 miles. They are being extended. Speed 1s another matter. The Italia Tragedy. A month later the groundwork was laid for one of great air tragedies. On May 23 the airship Italia left Spitz- bergen on a flight across the North Pole. Gen. Umberto Nobile commanded the chip with its 15 men. They reach:d the Pole and cruised about for some hours, but on May 25, when returning, the ship was wrecked. later the few remaining survivors of his y were taken from the ice, late in | While this disaster was holding pub- lic attention, one of the most impressive of airplane achievements was being ac- complished by the Southern Cross, pi- loted by Capt. Charles Kingsford-Smith and Capt. C. T. P. Ulm. This ship con- uded a 7.800-mile flight in approxi- | mately 88!5 hours, flving from our Pa- cific Coast to Honolulu, the Fiji Islands | and Brisbane and Sidney, New South Wales, to Australia. On the same day—June 17—that Miss Amelia Earhart s e | ful attempt to be the first woman to fiy the Atlantic, Roald Amundsen took off from Tromsoe, Norway, in the survivors of the airship Itali most noted of Arctic adventurers, who had explored the mysteries of the Far th both by dog sled and airship, never returned. Circling of the Globe. Later that month Capt. C. D. Collyer | set out to break the record time for ng the globe. Thy accomplished their purpose witl bination of airplane, railroad and steam- ship, making the circuit in 23 days 15 hours and 8 seconds Early in Auzust two attempts to fly and John H. M Guggenheim of the Guggenheim | After weeks of terrible | privations. Gen. Nobile was rescued and | | in matters of health. The sum of $2- | the study of influenza. | should have a decided effect on public Leaders. land tried a like flight and were hauled from the water. / Shortly afterward Bert Hassell and | Parker D. Cramer decided to fly from | Rockford, TIl, to Sweden. They got as | far as Greenland when their gas ran out. A party of scientists saved them. Something of the travel possibilities of the future were revealed on Aug 20, when Art Goebel, with Harry J. Tucker as a passenger, took off from Los Angeles in the Lockhead Vega plane | Yankee Doodle on a non-stop flight to | New York. The distance was negotated in 18 hours and 58 minutes Then in September, Wi of for the South Pole on one of the last great ploneering adventures. Comdr. Byrd, with the most completely equipoed expedition in the history of exploration, | left in October to peer into the secrots | | of the Antarctic. ‘Something New in Thrills. After these events the world was | treated to something new in flyir thrills. The German dirigible, Zeppelin, started out across the Atlantic from Friedrichshafen, Germany, with 20 passengers and a crew of 40, After traveling over 6,000 miles in 1111 | through” almost continual weat: | turbances, the giant ship landed at | | Lakehursf, N. J.” Then at the last of | October the ship returned, making the | | trip in record time of 71 hours. | | This accomplishment was followed by | { the announcement that the Navy De- | partment is to build two dirigibles—al- | | most twice as large as the giant Graf Zeppelin—to add to its fleet. There | was talk of competition between dirig- | ibles and airplanes, but fiyers of both | lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air { machines admit that the great field for | | the Zeppelins is in making long flights | | over the water jumps. The airplane | | holds its sway for land travel. | | The last of the year's transatlantic | | attempts by airplane was made when | | Lieut. Comdr. H. C. MacDonald took off | | from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, on ! | October 17. He never was heard from | again, | | | | Twenty-fifth Birthday Anniversary. ‘Then, to cap the year’s climax, on December 17 the twenty-fifth birthday | anniversary of the flying machine was | celebrated on Kill Devil Hill, near Kitty | | Hawk, N. C. It was here that Orville | Wright flew the first airplane, after | Wilbur had cut the restraining line | and had guided the plane down its ru;n\v;va;; r four seasons the Wright brothers had tested out their i&‘lefisg of soaring flight on the hills near Kitty Hawk, They had evolved new principles of aerodynamics, which they were con- vinced would solve the problem of fly- | ing. And their dreams were realized | when the rather rickety, kitelike plane, | weighing 750 pounds anc powered by | a 12-horsepower engine, flew for 120 | feet on its first trial. It was five years later before Ameri- can officials or the American pul would become interested in the Wrights’ accomplishment. Foreign capital had to finance the first development of the airplane. Twenty-five yeurs later Amer- icans are pouring their aoney into air- plane stocks, while wealthy Americars finance holding company after holding company designed to back the manufac- ture of planes and to finance operating companies. “The Wright brothers’ original invest- ment was a few thousand dollars,” Col. | Paul Henderson, president of the Amer- ican Air Transport Association, says. “The aeronautical industry in the United States now represenis a capital investment of $100,000,000 in airplane | factories, ~commercial air transport equipment, lighted airways and im- provements of airports. “Just as the train extended trade areas, opened up new markets and| speeded up business generally when it silenced the hoofbeats of the pony ex- | press, so the airplane is being utilized by business in ever-increasing measure.” Civil Flying Holds Attention. This year’s developments have con- | | centrated public: attention on civil fly- | ing rather than on military and naval | | aeronautics, , | The development of the two branches | of ‘aviation are correlated. As Admiral | | W. A. Moffett, chief of the Burcau of | Aeronautics of the Navy, says, “It is, of | course, axiomatic that civil aviation | bears the same relation to naval and | military aviation as the merchant ma- rine bears to the surface Navy. The | bureau is proud to have contributed its | share to the advancemen: of commer- cial aeronautics, particularly in the de- velopment of the air-cooled aircraft | engines which are so widely used com- mercially.” The Army fiyers are handicapped by {old promotion restrictions that keep | them from a high rating in the service, | | but those in the corps have a year of | | accomplishment to their credit. Ma- | chines are being developed to a high | point of efficiency, with obsolete equip- ment rapidly replaced. | In the Navy aviation is considered an integral part of the fleet. It is being | | developed to a high level of perform- | ance with equipment of the most mod- | ern type. | Both services in the time of trotible | would have a great reserve of pilots and ships to draw from in the commer- | | cial field. Many of the best commercial | | pilots, including Col. Lindbergh, have | | come from the Army training schools, | | and before the year is out a West Point | | of the air may be an actuality at San | ' Antonio. 1928.) | __¢Continued From Sixteenth Page.) ‘ of measles. The theory that tuberculosis | { can be prevented by vaccination has | now been exploded, and it is believed that this is a virus disease. Advance has been made on the use of blood tests in determining parentage and heredity. In surgery half of the human brain has been removed and | vet the patient lived. There appears to be a decided in- crease on the part of the Government 500,000 was recently appropriated for In the present | congressional session there will be pre- | sented the Ransdell bill, which has the | support of many noted individuals and sacieties throughout the country. This measure would authorize the creation | of a natonal health institute for funda- mental research, There have been notable improve- ments in the ventilation of schools and public buildings _everywhere, which health of the future, Meteorology. The international co-operation estab- lished in weather forecasting promises to be of great future value in shipping and in all projects involving dependerice on the weather. Ships are to be chosen by various nations which will report meteorological observations from their | positions twice or possibly four times a ,day. In this manner better forecasting | of conditions over the ocean will result. | Photography. to the United States from Europe were unsuccessful. Capt. Frank T. Courtney took off from Porto Tim, Azores, and was picked up in mid-ocean. Majs. &dzikowski and Kasimir Kubala of Po- The outstanding development in pho- | tography this year has been the intro- | per hour over a 62-mile course for sea- | tored plane. plane. lantic. | minuates, thus establishing a new record. (23) Lgeut. Comdr. H. C. MacDonald, who disappeared after leaving Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, for England. and back again. January. 10th—The Collier trophy for 1927 was awarded to Charles L. Lawrence. 14th—Maj. Bourpe, Licut. Plachta and Master Sergt. Belcher, Marine Corps, | made the first non-stop flight from tae | United States to Nicaragua in 12 hours | and 2 minutes. 20th—Richard Wagner, Germany, es- | tablished a world record of 130.1 mflesi planes with a useful load of 2,204, pounds. 23d—Richard Wagner, Germany, es- tablished a world altitude record of 9,334 *feet for seaplanes with a useful load of 8818 pounds. In both these flights Wagner flew a Dornier Super- wal with four Gnome-Rhone-Jupiter motors of 480 horsepower each. 24th—M. Paillard, France, established a world speed record of 135.6 miles| per hour for airplanes with a useful load of 2,204 pounds, flying a Bernard monoplans with a 420 horsepower Jupiter motor. 27th—The Navy dirgible Los An- geles was landed on the deck of the airplane carrier U. 8. S. Saratoga near Newport, R. I February. 2d—Richard Wagner, Germany, es- tablished a world speed record of 110.15 miles per hour for seaplanes with a ul load of 2,204 pounds. 5th—Richard Wagner, Germany, es- tablished a world duration record of, 6 hours, 1 minute and 56 seconds and a world distance record of 621.46 miles | for seaplanes with a useful load of 8,818 pounds. In both or these flights he used the Dornier Superwal four-mo- 7th™~Bert Hinkler, England, left Croydon A! rt, London, on the first successful solo flight to Australia in an Avro Avian with a Cirrus motor. He isited Rome, Malta, Basra, Karachi, Cawnpore, Calcutta, Rangoon, Burma, Singapore and Port Darwin, completing the trip February 23. 12th—Lady Heath left Cape Town, Africa, on a solo flighy 1o England in an Avro Avian with a Cirrus motor. 13th—Col. Charles A. Lindbergh com- pleted his Latin-American good will flight, landing at St. Louis, Mo., in the Spirit of St. Louis. The flight began at Washington December 13, 1927. 21st—Harry J. Brooks, United States, flying a Ford monoplane with a 36- horsepower motor, established a world distance record of 972 miles for light airplanes. He flew from Detroit to Ti- tusville, Fla. 26th-27th—The U. S. S. Los Angeles made a non-stop flight from Lake- hurst, N. J.,, to Panama, 2,178 miles in 40 hours. | | | | March. 1st—A Loening amphibian started the first successiul amphibian flight across the United States, Washington to San Diego, 3.300 miles. $th—Lady Mary Bailey, England, left Croydon on a flight to Cape Town, (20) Parker D. Cramer, who piloted the Greater Rockford from Rockford, Ill, to Sweden. (5) Comdr. Richard Byrd, whose explorations (1) Orville Wright. The twenty-fifth anniversary of his first flight at Kitty Hawk, N. C., was celebrated in 1928. Guggenheim Foundation which is taking a leading part in the development of aeronautical science. automobile, is now devoting a part of his tremendous resources to development of the airplane as a commerce carrier. talents to development of combined rail and air transport. (6) Hon. Elsie MacKay and (7) Capt. Richard Hinchliffe, whose attempt to make the easi-to-west flight in an airplane ended in tragic mystery. Capt. Kohl, (9) Maj. Fitzmaurice and (10) Baron von Huenefeld, the trio who flew from Ireland to Newfoundland in an airplane. Carl B. Elison, who flew from Point Barrow, Alaska, across the North Polar Sea by airplane. dirigible airship which flew over the North Pole once, but which came to a disastrous end on its second trip. C. T. P. Ulm, pilots of the Southern Cross on its epochal flight of 7,800 miles from California to Australia. 2 (17) Capt. C. D. Collyer and (18) John H. Mears, whose skillful use of airplanes enabled them to set a new globe-circling record. (21) Art Goebel, who flew across the continent in 18 hours and 58 (13) Gen. Umberto Nobile, (14) Capt. (2) Daniel Guggenheim, hcad of the (3) Henry Ford, already a pioncer in the development of the (4) Charles Lindbergh, who is devoting his t the South Pole are marked by his use of the air- . (8) (11) Capt. Wilkins and (12) commander of the ill-fated Italia, the Charles Kingsford-Smith and (15) Capt. (16) Miss Amelia Earhart, first woman to fly the At- (19) Bert Hassell and (22) Dr. Hugo Eckner, whose Graf Zeppelin fired the imagination of the world in its flight from Germany to America Africa, in a D-H Moth with Cirrus| survivors of the airship Italia, and was motor. 14th—The Hon. Elsie Mackay and Cranwell in an attempt to cross the Atlantic and were lost at sea. 30th—Eddie Stinson Haldeman, United States, set a_worla’ endurance record of 53 hours, 36 min. utes and 30 seconds in a Stinson-De- troiter plane, with Wright Whirlwind motor. 30th—Maj. de Bernardi, Italy, es- tablished a world's speed record of 318.62 miles per hour in a Macchi- 52 seaplane with Fiat AS3 motor. April 12th—Capt. Kohl and Baron von Huenfeld, Germany, and Maj. Fitz- maurice, Ireland, fook off from Bal- donnel, Dublin, on a flight across the Atlantic in a Junkers monoplane, landing the following day on Greenly Island, New Foundland; 36 hours and 30_minutes. 14th—Capt. Dieudonne Costes and Lieut. Comdr. Joseph le Brix, France, completed a 35,000-mile flight around thc‘ world, landing at Le Bourget, Faris. kins end Carl B. Eielson, tock off in a Lockhead Vega from Point Barrow, Alaska, in a flight across the North Polar Sea, arriving at Spitzbergen, April 21, May. 8d-5th—Lieuts. Arthur Gavin and Zeus Soucek, U. S. N, flying a Navy PN-12 patrol plane, established a world's duration record of 36 hours and 1 minute for seaplanes, return- {ing to point of departure. Pt 23d—Th2 airship Italia, Gen. Um- berto Nobile, Italy, and a crew of 15 men, left Spitzbergen to fly over the North Pole. The airship was wrecked May 25 after crossing the Pole. 30th—National Balloon Race began at Pittsburgh and was won by Capt. | W. E. Kepher and Lieut. W. O. Ear- | eckson, U. S. A., flying 261 miles. | 31st—The Southern Cross left Oak- land, Calif, on a transpacific flight to ‘Australia, stopping at Honolulu, Fiji Islands, and Brisbane en route, con- cluding the flight at Sidney, June 10; 17,800 miles, in 88 hours’ flying time. June. 2d-4th—Adj. Louis Crooy and Sergt. Victor Groenen established a world’s | duration record of 60 hours and 7 minutes, refueling in the air, and re- turning to point of departure, in a DH-9 airplane. 11th—Capt. Emilio ico, left Mexico City flight to the United States. 17th—Miss Amelia Earhart in a Fokker tri-motored plane piloted by Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, left Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, landing at Burry Port, Wales, after 20 hours and 40 minutes. 17th—Roald Amundsen took off from Tromsoe, Norway, in search of Carranza, Mex- on a good wil Capt. Walter Hinchcliffe took off from | and George | 15th—Capt. Sir George Hubert Wil- | ost. 23d—Lieut. Lundborg, Sweden, res- cued Gen. Nobile from an ice flos, where he was stranded with members of the Italia crew. 27I§h-28th—l‘i(‘ut. Arthur Gavin, U plane, established a world’s altitude record of 19,593 feet for seaplanes, with a useful load of 2,204 pounds. 30th—The National Air Tour start- ed from Detroit, Mich., 24 planes par- ticipating, in a 6,000-mile tour through 15 States, ending July 28. 30th—The International Balloon Race for the Gordon Bennett trophy, started from Detroit, Mich, th United States acquiring permanent pessession of the cup through the victory of Capt. Kepner and Lieut. Eareckson, Army Air Corps. July. 3d-5th—Capt. Arturo Ferrarin and Maj. Carlo del Prete established a world |airline distance record of 4,466 miles |from Rome f{o Ronros, Brazil, in a Sa- | voia-Marchetti S-64 plane with a Flat 550-horsepower motor. 5th-7th—Johann Risztics and Wil- helm Zimmerme.n, Germany, established {a world endurance record of 65 hours and 25 minutes at Dessau, flying a Junkers’ W-33 with a Junkers’ LV 280- horsepower miotor. 11th-12th-—Lieut. A. W. Gorton and | Chief Boatswain E. E. Reber, U. 8. N., established a world record distance rec- ord of 1,336 miles and a speed record of 81 miles per hour for seaplanes with a useful load of 2,204 pounds flying a Pg 12 Navy patrol plane, at Philadel- phia. | tempted non-stop flight to Mexico City {and was killed in a storm over New | Jersey. | 22d_Collyer and Mears arrived in |New York after a record trip around she world in 23 days 15 hours and 8 secends. 29th—Peter Hesselbach established an American glider record of 4 hours and 5 minutes at Corn Hill, Cape Cod, Mass. August. 1st—The new United States air mail postage rate of 5 cents for the first halr ounce became effective. 1st—Capt. Frank T. Courtney, Eng- land, left the Azores on an attempted flight to America, but was forced down and rescued by the liner Minnewaska. 3d—Maj. Louis Idzkowski and Maj. Kasimir Kubala, Poland, left Le Bourget on an attempted flight o America and were picked up at sea August 5 by the steamer Samos. 16th—Bert R. J. HaSsell and Parker D. Cramer left Pockford, Ill, on an at- tempted flight to Sweden, but were forced down in Greenland and were res- cued September 2. 20th-21st—Art Goebel and Harry J. Tucker made a record non-stop trans- continental flight from Los Angeles to flying a PN-12 Navy patrol | 13th—Capt. Emilio Carranza, Mexico, | left Rcosevelt Field, N. Y., on an at-| Aviation’s Chronological Story in 1928 |New York in 18 hours and 58 minutes in the Lockheed Vega moncplane | Yankee Doodle. September. 2d—M. Maurice Finat, France, estab- lished a duration record of 24 hours and 36 minutes for light airplanes. 5th—The French government estab- {lished a ministry of aviation, with M. Laurent Eynac as minister. 5th—The class A transcontinental air race from Roosevelt Field, N. Y., to Los Angeles was won by Earl Rowland in a Cessna monoplane with a Warner | Scarab motor. 8th—Classes B and C in the trans- | continental races left Roosevelt Field ifor Los Angeles. The class B race was won by John Livingston in a Waco and the class C by Robert W. Cantwell in a Lockheed. 8th-16th—The national air races were 1 held at Mines Field, Los Angeles, Calif. 18th—Juan de la Cierva flew his au- |togiro “windmill” plane from London to Paris. October. 4th-5th—The first Aeronautical Safety | Conference was held in New York City. 8th-28th—The International Aero- {nautical Exposition was held in Berlin. 11th—The German dirigible Graf Zeppelin left Friedrichshafen, Germany, on a flight across the Atlantic with 20 passengers and a crew of 40, arriving at Lakehurst, N. J., October 15 after a flight of 11115 hours. 17th—Lieut. Comdr. H. C. MacDon- ald, England, left Harbor Grace on an attempted flight across the Atlantic and was lost. 24th-25th—Capt. C. B. D. Collyer and Harry J. Tucker made a record west- bound transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles in 24 hours and 51 minutes. 29th—The Graf Zeppelin left Lake- hurst on its return flight to Germany, landing at Friedrichshafen November 1 after a 71-hour trip. November. 4th—Lieut. D'Arcy Greig flew at a speed of 319.57 miles per hour in a Supermarine-Napier S-5 monoplane, but the record was not official because it failed to exceed the former record of De Bernardi by 5 miles per hour. 8th—The second Gordon Bennett bal- loon trophy was presented to the Army Air Corps for permanent possession in this country. December. 1st-9th—The first International Aero- nautical Exposition was held in Chi- cago. 12th-14th—The fisst International Civil Aeronautics Conference was held in Washington. 16th—Lieut. James E. Dyer, U. S. N,, received the Herbert Schiff Memorial Trophy for flying 1,215 hours without accident for the year ended June 30. 17th—The twenty-fifth anniversary of the first airplane flight was cele- brated at Kitty Hawk, N. C. or effort being required on the part of the operator. In England a method of making snapshots in natural colors with a single exposure has been introduced. The light strikes three separate films, which are placed one behind the other, each being sensitive to certain colors. Much advance in the technique of moticn picture production has taken place and motion pictures of Jupiter chowing its satellites and their motion have been made. Motion pictures of microdissection of individual animal cells have also been made. Physics. The science of physics has been expected discoveries than any other. This has rather *been the rule. The discovery that electrons act as if they were waves and that these waves are unpolarized by retlection ranks among the first of these discoveries, inasmuch as electrons had previously been sup- posed to resemble small particles. This discovery fits in admirably with the new wave mechanics. The second unexpected discovery is | duction into the amateur field of a | method of making colored motion pic- tures without any additional knowledge from incident quanta to molecules, the | transferred energy being employed | either in producing intra-molecular vi- | brations or in producing lattice vibra- | tions of crystals. This promises to pro- | duce much useful information concern- ing the ultimate nature of matter and radiation through further investiga- tions. The much-discussed and disputed Michelson-Morley experiment, which formed the foundation for the Einstein theory, has now received confirmation by the experiments of Piccard and Sta- hel and by other experiments by Michel- son, Pease and Anderson. Also among the front rank of discov- marked by a higher percentage of Un-erjes js that of ‘the banded structure of cosmic radiation, which proves that matter is being continuously formed in inter-stellar space. The stellar gas ne- bulium, so long a puzzle to-spectro- scopists, in that it appeared to have no counterpart or possibility of such on the earth, has at last been definitely identified as lonized oxygen and nitro- gen, the spectral lines observed being due to electron transition in these ions, which are impossible under earth con- ditions. i the Raman effect. This is the discovery of scattering of light due to change of frequency due tq transfer of energy ‘The gap between X-rays and ultra- violet light in the spectrum has been bridged by Thibaud, Hung, Osborne and Hoag. Methods for measuring heats of dissociation of chemical compounds | spectroscopically have been found. The | behavior of binding electrons in crystals has been analyzed by Bragg. Experi- ental studies into the laws governing “field currents” show that these fit an interpretation based on the new wave mechanics. Additional data on the weight of the earth have been obtained at the Bureau of Standards. Thus the attack goes on in the theoretical and experimental side. Redetermination of the fundamental electrical units and the establishment of an international temperature scale are accomplishments of the past year. Direct, ruling of measuring scales has been done by use of light waves. Much has been accomplished in the produc- tion of sound-absowbing plasters which will prove of an immediate practical nature. In the matter of application, much of the work of physics finds itself in the field of electrical engineering, avi- ation, communications, radio and other fields, upon which ail of these and many other sciences are fundamentally based. Any advance in physics is usu< ally not long in finding itself in one or another or in several of these channels, WAGONER CITES GAIN IN OFFICE EQUIPMENT “Perhaps no class of commercial en~ terprise keeps closer pace with business generally than the office equipment industry,” asserts Philip D. Wagoner, ident of Underwood-Elliott-Fisher “By the extent of the use of type- writers, adding machines, accounting machines and other time-saving in- dispensables of the modern office, the advance of commercial and industrial progressiveness may accurately be measured. It follows that when busi- ness prospers this prosperity is quickly and faithfully reflected in sales cf office equipment. “An examination of the indices upon which economists rely in assaying our national business success promises that 1928 will probably exceed in prosperity the record-breaking year of 1926. “Coupling this 1928 prosperity with petus which will come from confidence in his administrative wisdom, the 1929 outlook is one engaging to every busi- ness man,” Hoover’s election and the business im- | WON AND Facilities Realigned Manufacturers M BY ROBERT MACK. IDING on' the crest of a wave of public demand and approval, radio has swept through another year, leaving in its wake a rec- ord of accomplishments little short of magic. It is entering 1929 in high gear, and with- plenty of gas. In every phase of the new art there was the pace that its regulation failed phenomenal progress, and it centered in the United States. So rapid. in fact, was the pace, that its regulation failed to keep abreast of the scientific prog- ress, and there lie ahead problems of administration and adjudication that | will find their way to the Supreme Cour?, for decision. A presidential campaign was won and lost with radio a major factor; the 600- odd broadcasting stations that remained on the air were juggled about and sifted in a realignment of facilities that had as its objective the equal distribution among the people of the radio facilities of the nation and the elimination of interference; the listening audience more than doubled and a small “look- ing” audience made its debut by virtue of the development of television; the manufacturing industry enjoyed a ban- ner year; new vistas of communication were opened by the relentless attack of science, and the first chapters were written into the unmarked pages of radio law. Two Sinister Shadows. But as the year comes to an end two sinister shadows hover over radio. One is foreign. Canada has steadfastly refused to negotiate with the United States as to the distribuation of the valuable continental short wave snec- trum unless this country agrees to the principle of a 50-50 division. It has been suggested that it is not Canada but Great Britain that is endeavoring to gather sufficient of these valuable short wave channels to make it possible to rid herself of dependence upon the United States for the transoceanic radio relay to South America and the Orient. With adequate facilities avail- able in Canada, she would be enabled to forget the United States as'a link in this vital communication. The other uncertain quantity is the suit of the General Electric Co.'s Schenectady station, WGY, against the recallocation order of the Federal Radio Commission. Now pending before the Court of Appeals of the District of Co- lumbia, this case involves the principle of property rights of stations. The con- tention was made by Charles Evans Hughes before this court on December 3 that station WGY has a vested prop- erty right to the 790 kilocycle channel, which the commission, under the re- callocation, had taken away from the station on a full time basis. Should the court rule that the station does have a vested property right, and that the commission is acting in contraven- tion of the Constitution by confiscating property without compensation, it may mean the return of radio broadcasting to the state of chaos that existed after the breakdown of the law in 1926—or worse. 1t may mean, in the opinion of some legal experts, that every station that had its assignment changed by order of the commission will have the right to claim a vested property 1ight to the full time channel upon which it operated after the law broke down. It may mean that the United States will have to com- pensate each of these stations for con- fiscation of its property, and, in the final analysis, it may mean the disrup- tion of the entire present framework of broadcasting. Science Centers on Television. Scientific interest during 1928 cen- tered around television development, which moved out of the laboratory and into the sunlight; but still remains pale on the home horizon. Some 10 broad- casting stations began broadcasting television during the year under experimental authorization and rigid regulation. They serve a limited audience. Man’s vision spanned the Atlantic for the first time on February 8. On that day the Baird Television Development Co. 'of London transmitted images that were picked up by the receiving set of R. M. Hart at Hartsdale, N. Y. The images were crude, imperfect and broken, but they were images, neverthe- less, and they had crossed the Atlantic without wires and almost instantly! The world’s_imagination was quick- ened, and on February 20 Baird placed his instruments on sale. He gave the first public demonstration of the new art at that time. Meanwhile television ‘development continued within the locked laboratories of the American organization. On Feb- ruary 25, however, the Bell Telephone laboratories at New York gave a public demonstration, and in July the Bell scientists discarded the use of the powerful glare of artificial light that theretofore was needed to record moving scenes and displayed television in the sunlight. Dramatic Performance Broadcast. Dr. E. F. W. Alexanderson, consulting engineer of the General Electric Co. and chief engineer of the Radio Cor- poration of America, made the next im- portant stride in visual broadcasting. On September 11 at the General Ele tric Co.’s research laboratory at Sche- nectady he, for the first time in history, broadcast a dramatic performance in which the voices of the players were synchronized with their movements. Forty minutes of this novel entertain- ment were seen and heard over a syn- chronized set 4 miles away from the research laboratory. After this the prediction was made that it would not be long before a chain of radio- theaters would be established throughout ti.e world. Toward the end of the year several manufacturing concerns began manu- facturing television receiving and send- ing apparatus, confident that the public will not have long to wait for its radlo movies and the other potentialities of this new offshoot of radio. The year 1927 witnessed the budding of transatlantic telephony and it was halled as the greatest radio ~-complish- ment of the year. But 1928 saw it burst forth’ in full bloom, with about a dozen European countries directly linked with the United States by means of two-way conversation telephone circuits. Beginning with Great Britain in Jan- uary, one after another the countries of Europe aligned themselves with the United States in the transatlantic ra- dio telephone system. Even Australia, 10,000 miles distant, joined the chain. Now the number of inter-connected telephones of Europe, Canada, Cuba, Mexico and the United States total more than 30,000,000. That is, one may %mk up his telephone anywhere in the nited States and get a ‘“connection” with a party in Australia, or Germany, or Cuba, as well as in the other nations now aligned in the international wire- less telephone exchange. The Short-Wave Spectrum. A spirited contest for places in the | highly important short-wave spectrum 1 —discovered by amateurs—had its in- | ception in the first month of 1928, and even now awaits the action of the commission. It is this spectrum that is the newly discovered “reservoir” of radio, where television must be ac- commoqxted; where the great invisible | I A | rigl is PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN LOST ON AIR During Past Year. ake Good Gains. Television Developed. networks of radlo-telegraph companies, pareilelnig the wired services of the Western Unioa and Postal Telegraph Cos., must go; where the commercial aviation will fin | iiself, where ship-to- ship and_ship-t-shore communication will be placed, and where the overflow of broadcasting eventually must go. Certain governmental activities already are racing up and down this broad expanse of unexploited radio territory. The higgest single administrative step in the interest of radio listeners was the reallocation of November 11. Acting pursuant to the legislation adopted by Congress in March, order ing redistribution of wave lengths ace cording to population, the commission, after receiving the advice of ranking radio engineers, promulgated its plan that was to reclaim radio from the heterodynes and interference that had engulfed it since 1926, when the radio law broke down. Thus far expert opinion generally seems to be that the plan is working satisfactorily and is destined for com= plete success, with a few minor adjust= ments. Practically every one of the 620 stae tions on the air was moved. Onl 300 of the total were permitted broadcast simultaneously, and time division was invoked to a large de= gree. Manufacturing Industry Spurts. The manufacturing inaustry took & big spurt over 1927. Improved recep= tion resulting from the reallocation is seen as a factor in further increasing sales in 1929. Radio dealers realized approximately $400,000,000 in sales of receiving apparatus, an increase of some $25,000,000 over the preceding year, based on unofficial statistics. There was a definite trend toward electric “plug-in” receivers and dy=- namic loud speakers during the year. Sales of the plug-in models were four to one over battery sets. The electri- fied set was introduced in 1927, but the dynamic power speaker was an in- novation of 1923, and was greeted by a responsive listening public. A nation-wide survey of receiving sets completed in May by a radio periodi- cal at the behest of the commission placed the number of receiving sets at 12,000,000 and the radio audience at some 45,000,000. About the same time last year the estimate was 6,500,000 re- celving sets. Since the survey was made, however, the industry estimates that at least another million sets were sold and the audience increased by some 5,000,000. The survey showed that 7,500,000 standard receiving sets with loud speak- er volume were in uss, and that to- | gether with crystal or one“tube receivers of obsolete type still in use on farms in rural sections the total number of sets in actual service in May was in the neighborhood of 12.000,000. ‘The results of the year’s radio re- search at the Bureau of Standards show a completely developed practical type of directive radiobeacon to supply signals of the visual type, a satisfactory type of aircraft radio receiving set and antenna system, and a simple vibrating reed type of visual indicator for in- stallation on an airplane instrument board. Also a fuller understanding of shielding methods for engine ignition systems was attained. The aviation weather service also was broadened during the year. The Weather Bureau established five new upper air meteorological stations to supplement the 37 existing at the out- set of the year. The majority of these are located at airports throughout the country and furnish information two, three or four times a day to weather control stations along the airways. The information from over 200 first= order stations is collected twice daily and used for forecasts of flying condi= tions. These forecasts are made avail- able to pilots using the airways through airway communication stations. Army and Navy Communications. The Army and Navy communications services continued their peace-time activities on large scale. ' The year 1928 saw the holding of three great radio shows—at San Pran- cisco, New York and Chicago. At these annual ‘meccas for dealers, jobbers and manufacturers everything new in radio was displayed. Millions of dollars worth of orders were placed. Imposing arrays of radio sets and accessories by the manufacturers vying for the busi- ness of buyers were on display. And for the first time in history television apparatus was shown, although more as a novelty than anything else. “Wired radio” as an adjunct of “spaee radio” is promised for 1929. Dur- ing 1928 Wired Radio, Inc, & sub= sidiary of the North American Co., has been engaged in planning the debut of this new form of entertainment, pro= viding programs by radio waves di- rectly along the power lines that enter the homes. but without disturbing “space radio.” Regular broadcasting stations will put on the programs. Hectic Year in Administration. Nineteen twenty-eight was a hectie year in radio administration. The Radio Commission was to pass out of existence as an administrative body on March 15, this responsibility returning to the Commerce Department.. But on March 28, President Coolidge signed the Dill« Davis bill, extending the life of the commission for one year, and specifying under the terms of the Davis amend- ment that the broadcasting facilities of the Nation be dividled among the five radio zones. This was affected by the reallocation of November 11. Under that law the commission expires this coming March 15 as an administrative body, but there is every indication that Congress again will extend its life for another year. The personnel of the new commission, however, most likely will be radically changed. nadio law was written during the year. Perhaps the most imporfant case remains to be decidea, and ihiat is the appeal of Station WGY, previously mentioned, and now pending before the Court of Appeals of the District of Co= lumbia. Because this im nt case involves the question of vested property hts of a station its result anxiously being awaited by brcadcasters and listeners alike. ‘The commirsion won the only case tried involving the constitutionality of its activities under the radio act of 1927. This was the case of Station WCRW of Chicago, contending that the commission was violating the Con- stitution by reducing its power from 500 to 100 watts. Federal Judge James H. Wilderson of the District Court at Chicago held that the commission has the authority to reduce a station's power, and that such action is not in contravention of the fifth amendment to the Constitution by depriving the station of its vested property right without due process of law and without compensation. Several other cases are pending in the courts that will add chapters to the virtually clean pages of radio law. But the Supreme Court eventually will be called upon to render its judgment, and establish precedents in this new field of public service that every day more firmly is fixing its place in the life of the American citizems 9