Evening Star Newspaper, October 11, 1931, Page 54

“YOUNG MEN FILL TELEVISION RANKS Youth Holding Most Respon- sible Positions in New Industry. BY MARTIN CODEL Television, even more than the other branches of radio, is distinctly a young man's game. The expanding ranks of the experimenters in visual broadcast- tng, radio’s hope of the near future, are veritably honeycombed with youth. As in the early days of amateur radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony, youngsters predominate among the 20,- 000 or so “lookers-in” estimated to be in the United States. What is more interesting, however, is the fact that outh is so prominent amcng the men inldmg high places in the technlca} of | and administrative development wisual radio. 01a Heads Still Prominent. Although many of radio’s older heads. men who have played leading roles in bringing sound radio to its present status, are now turning their attention to television, some of the recognized best minds in the visual radio art are mere youths in their twenties and irties. ‘hYoungest of all the administrative figures in television is George Gruskin who at 22 is president of the Sanabria Television Corp., Chicago, which has demonstrated an auditorium _television | projector capable of showing received dmages in a 10-foot-square screen. U A. Sanabria, the inventor, who is re- garded as one of the technical geniuses of the new art, is only 24. In Boston, Hollis Baird, also 24, is the enginecring chief of Short Wave #nd Television Laboratories, which is producing and marketing short wave and television apparatus and doing gome significant developmental work on ~:the transmitting side. Philo T. Farns- iworth, of Salt Lake City, another 24- ear-old lad, is the scientific mind of elevision Laboratories, Ltd., of San Francisco, and his patents on a cathode ray and narrow band of transmission system are to be used by the Phila- delphia Storage Battery Co., makers of Philco radio, in its proposed television developments. California Youngster Leads. In his late twenties, Edwin L. Peter- ®on of Ray-O-Vision Corporation of America, Hollywood, Calif.,, is securing patents and working on still another radically new television method, the nature of which is a guarded secret, and is now in the East to pursue his laboratory work. Peterson, like Sana- bria, Baird and Farnsworth, is amply backed financially by men who have a high regard for his technical capacity At Camden, N. J., where the R. C. A Victor Company has combined the tele- vision resources of the R. C. A., General Electric and Westinghouse companies, the man in charge of the highly secret cathode ray system being developed there for production within the next year or so is A. F. Murray, who is in is thirties. G. T. Trainer, one of the engineering heads of this work. 1s not more than 30 vears old. R. M Morris, in charge of the staff installing the National Broadcasting Company’s| television station atop the new Empire State Building, where R. C. A. Victor equipment will be used, is in his early thirties. ‘The Columbia Broadcasting System’s television cxperiments are in charge of Edwin K. Cohan, Columbia’s chief en- incer, assisted by Richard E. Wallace. oth are in their middle thirties. Bill Schudt, jr., Columbia’s acting director of television, who is staging the per- formances being broadcast nightly over the network's New York station, is in his late twenties. Directors Under 30. Jenkins Television Corporation has D. E. Replogle as its chief engineer. One of the most popular ycung men in ra2dio. Replogl> is aboui 36 vears of age. One of his best aides, Charles E. Huffman, is only about 28. At Wash- ington, C. Francis Jenkins, himself one of the older heads in radlo, leaves mcst of his lab-ratory work to Paul Thomsen and Stuart Jenks, ex-amateurs, neither of whom has yet reached 30. R. D. LeMert of Bazersfield, Calif., who is working on a single side-band method of transmitting television images for the Pioneer Mercantile Co., recently licensed by the Federal Radio Commission, is somewhere around 30; he is a former associate of Farns- worth's. Harry Leubke, in charge of television for Don Lee's KHJ, Los An- geles, the first broadcaster on the West Coast to be authorized to install tele- vision, is in his early twenties. So is M. F. Marquard, who is chief engineer for WCFL, Chicago, which has been the scene of television experiments for sev- eral years. The Chicago Daily News, first news- pipe to install a television station, has en using the Sanabria system, under license from Western Television Ccr- poration, with which Sanabria for- merly was affiliated. Its technical ad- viser in Ken Mathaway, a man in his thirtles. - Young Hoover in Ranks. Out on the West Coast also, Herbert Hoover, jr. 29, once a foremcst radio amateur, has been turning his hobby interests to television. Donald Lippin- cott, on>-time Olympic sprinting cham- pion, former chief engineer for Magna- vox, is now a patent attorney deeply interested in_the Farnsworth system of television. He is in his thirties. At 28, Gerald C. Gross, short-wave engineer of the Federal Radio Commis- sion, has directly under his overlordship the Federal administration of the tele- vision wave lengths. The chief of his division is Lieut. E. K. Jett, retired Navy officer, recently named assistant chief engineer of the commission, who has not yet reached 40. In Europe, John L. Baird, cousin of the American Baird, is England’s out- standing television worker, and he is 8 young man not yet 40. Germany boasts a radi> genius in the youthful Baron von Ardenne, who lately has turned his attention to television. He is in his middle twenties. Some Older Leaders. Not all the television workers are #0 young, of course. Outstanding in the field are such men, well beyond their meridian, as Vladimir Zworkyn, for- merly of Westinghouse, now stationed &t Camden; Dr. E. F, W, Alexanderson of General Electric; Dr. Frank of Westinghouse; Dr. Herbert E. Ives of Bell Laboratories; C. Francis Jenkins, the Washington inventor; Dr. Lee De Forest, known as the father cf radio for his invention of the vacuum tube, and Dr. August Karolus of Leipzig, in- ventor of the cathode ray tube being ‘used in the R. C. A. development. Men in their forties prominent in television research and development are Dr. Alfred Goldsmith, chief engineer of R. C. A;; Jchn V. L. Hogan, New York inventor and consultant; Ells- worth D. Cook of United Research, a Warner Brothers subsidiary in New York, and Capt. Richard Ranger, for- merly of R. C. A, well known for his facsimile apparatus. George Young, son D. Young, a youth bordering cn his les, is carrying on the :Ran&er facsimile work as an engineer of the R. C. A. and assoclated com- panies. Canada Television Grows. Canada has seven licensed television broadceasting stations, according to the latest log of broadcasters issued by the Department of Marine and Fisherics at Ottawa. Like the United States, the Canadian radio authorities license such stations on an experimental basis. Like the American authorities, too, they al- locate them-to the same bands of fre- suenclea. although none of the Cana- experimenters has as yet been as~ signed to the ultra-short waves, A NDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., OCTOBER 11, 1931—PART "FOUR Juvenile'Radio Artists at Work SOME OF THE STARS OF “THE LADY NEXT DOOR.” HE photographer caught these youngsters in the N. B. C. studios in the | midst of a broadcast. Walter Campbell Terry is doing an impersonation of Sir Harry Lauder. Folks Behind BY THE RADIO EDITOR. | tives to these radio skits. The Microphone TRANGE how authors find their | inspirations where one would | least expect it. Take Raymond Van Sickle, for instance. It was the memories of the many un-| happy times he was almost forcibly | dragged by his mother to prayer meet-| ings, ladies’ aid gatherings, and similar | functions, that provided him w‘l,lh the inspiration for “Bird and Vash.” | Although this program, heard daily over the Columbia network, is still in what might be called its swaddling) clothes, it already has attracted con- | siderable attention for its authentic| characterization of two middle-aged | townswomen of a Midwestern com-| munity. Rc&(’-‘rling to Raymond’s boyhood, it is only fair to say that it wasn’t be- cause his mother was inconsiderate of his feelings that she insisted he accom- pany her on these expeditions. She had a good reason, and that was be- cause most of these social affairs of Frankfort, Ind., were held in the eve-| ning. Yousee, the Van Sickles lived just outside of town, and Mrs. Van Sickle, being & timid soul, felt that she | needed her son’s escort. And, according to the author, “At first I put up a terrific struggle when- | ever I had to go along. I hated it, and even offered to practice my piano les- | sons, but it didn’t help. However, after awhile I didn’t mind so much.” Years later, when the same Raymond was residing in Australia, he found| time hanging heavily on his hands, so he decided to derive some benefit from those meetings. Accordingly, he fabri- cated two characters that were com- posites of the “club” women of Frank- fort. His brain-child first took the form of a series of letters from Vashti Snodgrass to her friend Bird Gokey back home in Indiana. Later he found that for authenticity their style woul have to be verbose, so he brought them together in a series of sketches. | Van Sickle claims he finds it a lot| is married, and is somewhat of & ph:’l-‘ y | Bird is a_spinster, and comparison with the more prosaic Vash, she is “flighty.” Bird has in- herited a considerable sum of money, and she and Vash gmbark on a tour of the world. “I get my biggest kick from the re- action of my Indiana friends and rela- Each in her way has contributed to the composite Bird and Vash, and it's a funny thing, but they all see their neighbors’ like- nesses in my two ‘girls,” but none their own.” ‘The names of many of the characters that crop up during the various epi- sodes are often those of real people. osopher. And you can believe it or not. but more | than half of the incidents really have happened. And now more about Van Sickle himself. He has been around the world some five or six times. In Australia he played 68 consecutive weeks in various dramatic productions. While in Mel- bourne he conducted & column in_Aus- tralia’s smart weekly publication, Table Talk, under the title “As Others See He has written a number of plays and short stories, and as an actor he has appeared in more than 25 Broad- way plays. in support of such stars as Patricia Collinge, Eva LeGallienne, Alice Brady, Mrs. Fiske and others. BRITISH DEVELOP SHORT- WAVE BROADCASTING Secret Work Waves for Program Expan- on Seven-Meter sion Advancing. The secret development of ultra-short wave broadcasting is reported from London, where British Broadcasting Corporation engineers are known to be working on plans {o harness the waves around 42,000-43,000 kilocycles, approxi- mately 7 meters) for the purpose of providing further channels. These ex- periments, paralleling the development |of the ultra-shorts for television and communications in the United States and other countries, have been prompt- NEW ENGLAND LEADS IN RADIO OWNERS Every Other Home Has Set, Census Reveals—Other Reports Are Awaited. Virtually every other home in the New England States had a radio when the radio census was taken, along with the decennial census of population, on April 1, 1930. ‘This is revealed with the issu- ance last week of the Census Bureau's radio census, report for Massachusetts, which shows that State taking the lead among all of the 43 States and District of Colurabia thus far reported in its pro- portion of radios to homes. Of the 1,024,527 families counted in Massachusetts by “census enumerators, 590,105, or 57.6 per cent, replied in the affirmative when asked by the census enumerators whether they had radios. Massachusetts thus noses out little Rhode Island for top ranking, a pre- vious report having shown that 94,594 of Rhode Island’s 165811 families, or 57.1 per cent, had radios when the cen- sus was taken. Reports for the other New England States showed: Connecticut, 213,821 out of 389,596 homes, or 54.9 per cent; Ver- mont, 39,913 out of 89, 439, or 44.6 per cent; New Hampshire, 53,111 out of 119,660, or 44.4 per cent, and Maine, 74,803 out of 198,372, or 39.2 per cent. ‘The combined total for all six States is 1,069,347 radio-equipped homes out of 1,987,395, or 49.6 per cent. California still maintains its lead in aggregate number of homes having ra- dios with 839,991. Ohio ranks second with 810,767 and Michigan ranks third with 599,106. Massachusetts ranks fourth in total, due to the smaller pop- ulation it embraces. Its top place in proportion is accounted for by the fact that nearly every community in its bounds shows that better than 50 per cent of its homes are radio-equipped. Because 18 months have elapsed since the radio-set census was taken, the totals and proportions for each State have increased materially in the in- terim. Nevertheless, the Government figures furnish the- first approximate index to the radio-set population of the United States, despite the fact it is well known that many persons, fearing the set count was a forerunner to a radio_tax, refused to divulge whether they had radios. | The New England States, led by Mas- | sachusetts, “show consistently ~higher | averages than any other section, though | some sections’ figures cannot be com- piled until the reports from New York, | New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois and | Texas are made available.’ The Census Bureau hopes to have these out within the next month or two. It is anticipated that these reports will bring the total for the United States to somewhere be- tween 10,000,000 and 12,000,000, GOV. ELY APPOINTS " ADVISER ON RADIO George A. Harder of WBZ-WBZA Named to Staff by Massa- | chusetts Executive. | RSN Radio creates another portfollo in public life with the appointment of the first “official radio adviser” to & Governor. | | This precedent was established yes- terday by Gov. Joseph B. Ely of Massa- chusetts, who announced the appoint- ment of George A. Harder of WBZ- WBZA, the Westinghouse stations in Boston and Springfield, as the radio ad- viser to the administration. That other State chief executives will grasp the | significance of the move and follow with similar appointments seems likely, With political batteries now warming up for the Nation-wide presidential campaigning and with radio destined to play an increasingly important role in it, Gov. Ely's appointment is a striking iliustration of the reliance being placed in radio. The swashbuckling, gesticulat- ing, soap-box campaigner of former ys, appealing to a Atreet-corner audi- ence. has capitulated to the radio orator who can forego arm waving and speak his piece into the microphone, reaching an audience that is city wide, State wide or even Nation wide, Plans have been started for the grow- ing of hemp on more than 4,000 acres of fun to take these two women on a|ed by the overcrowding of the European I in Colombia, and it is hoped to produce tour of the world via the radio. Vash ether. 1,000,000 bags a year. Plymouth before you buy any motor car. Experience for yourself its smooth, brilliant performance. Learn the value of Plymouth’s outstanding engineering features. New PLYMOUT D 9 SOLD BY DODGE, De SOTO AND CHRYSLER DEALERS FLOATIN G POWER FREE WHEELING EASY-SHIFT TRANSMISSION HYDRAULIC BRAKES DOUBLE-DROP FRAME SAFETY-STEEL BODY o) American Legion ‘When the National Commission of the' American Legion meets at national headquarters in Indianapolis November 15 and 16, it will give careful study to & number of subjects contained in reso- lutions adopted by the national conven- tion in Detroit. These subjects include immigration, undesirable aliens, na- turalization, deportation, _education, study of the American government, the flag ritual, conservation, communism, pacifism and the investigation of so- called peace socleties. ‘The regular meeting of Victory Post, American Legion, will be held Tuesday evening in the Odd Fellows’ Temple, 419 Seventh street. Post Comdr. C. W. Brown- ing will be present for the first time since his return from the national con- vention. He served as a member of the Resolutions Committee and will dis- cuss the work accomplished. Plans for a fund-raising campalgn, under the leadership of Comdr. Brown- ing and Comrade Raymond A, Burke, president of the drum corps, will be announced shortly. It is hoped that sufficient funds can be raised to aid the department in sending the drum corps to the next national convention, which will bd held in Portland, Oreg. Adjt. A. J. Kearney has been dis- tributing the 1932 membership cards. Comrade E. C. Minter, chairman of the Membership Committee, has had sev- eral application blanks mailed to each member of the post and has adopted for the membership campaign the slogan “Every Member Get a Member.” At the regular meeting of the Costello Post, Held in the board room of the District Biulding last Tuesday, the fol- lowing were accepted to membership: Ernest E. Davey, William H. Wiles, Ray- mond G. Speight, Marshall G. Gangnon, Herman D. Downey, H. Samuel Hines, Lloyd H. Dopp, George C. Kaheley, Jo- | seph Paul King and Frederick Hess. Comrade Photls, delegate to the na- tional convention, gave a brief report. Comrade I. D. Brent of Traynor Post, No. 15, of Flint, Mich., was & guest. Comdr. Cipriani announced the fol- lowing appointments: Frederick A. ‘Thuee, finance officer; Jacob N. Halper, judge advocate; Gerald Sheily, member- ship officer; Albert P. Tatspaugh, adjutant, and Lloyd H. Dopp, assistant adjutant. A few vacancles exist in the drum o, The Sorpe Wil meet Morgoy gk . The will meet Monday night at the National Guard Armory, stu*th ;t.rm. and Pennsylvania avenue, at pm, Clyde B. Btovall, former department finance officer of the American Legion and now chairman of the World War Scholarship Committee, was elected commander of Kenneth H. Nash Post at a meeting Thursday night at the Hamilton Hotel. Other officers elected were Israel R. Zaon'z, senior vice commander; Wi liam D. Mulkey, junjor vice commander : ‘Thomas J. Dickson, chaplain; Ellis R. King, judge advocate; Lewis A. Snider, quartermaster, and Willlam 8. Towner, sergeant at arms, ‘The Kenneth H. Nash Unit, No. 8, of the American Legion Auxiliary held its October meeting Wetnesday at the Hotel Hamilton. Owing to the fact that the installation of officers chosen at the last meeting had not been held, the past officers conducted the meeting. Mrs. Bertha Yoder Werthner, past president, presided. Mrs. William D. Mulkey, president- elect, announced her committee chair- men, and discussed her plans for the coming Jar. Miss Mildred Nash gave a short talk on finances and also spoke in regard to the work of the Member- ship Committee and its plans to in- crease the membership. Mrs, Joseph Mims, past president of Victory Unit and president of the Presidents’ Federation, spoke on the Detroit convention, particularly in re- gard to the securing of the charter by the auxiliaries of the District. Fawcett, past president of the Henry C. Spengler Unit, and Mrs. Turley, for- merly of Phoenix, Ariz., also spoke. Past Comdr. Madden of the Nash Post invited the auxiliary to join the post, in a card party next month for the benefit of the Nash Post. The place of the installation will be announced at a future date. An Ex- ecutive Committee meeting will be held next Wednesday at the home of Mrs: Werthner at 1101 Euclid street. In the presence of one of the largest gatherings for some time past, former of Colorado, in chief of Veterans and national commander e United Spanish War & member of the Ameri- can Legion, last Tuesday night un- veiled & life-sized bust of George Wash- ington at a meeting of George Wash- ington Post, No. 1, the American Leglon, at the post club house, 1441 Rhode Island avenue. In his unveiling address he paid tribute to the first President of the United States and emphasized the rela- tionship which existed between Gen. Washington and the veterans he com- manded in the Revolutionary Army. Benjamin S. Fisher, past department commander of the Department of Ore- gon, gave a short address on the De- troit convention, and stressing the vot- | on the bonus and eighteenth amendment, which, in his opinion, clearly demonstrated that the delegates felt that their action in these two in- | stances was what was thought to be for the best interest of the country. Both Messrs. Means and Fisher present- ed transfers for membership in George Washington Post, the former from the Departnient of Colorado and the latter from the Department of Oregon. Maj. Henry G. Pratt, superintendent | of the Metropolitan Police and a char- ter member of the post, made a short address, The invocation at the opening | of the exercises, following the saluting |of the colors, was pronounced by Rev. | Howard E. Snyder, chaplain of the post. | Post Comdr. John Thomas Taylor, presided. Maj. Gen. Mark L. Hershey and Maj. Happy Coope, who have been ill at Walter Reed Hospital, and Rev. Howard E. Snyder, post chaplain, who | has been for several months in Naval | Hospital, were -welcomed by Comdr. | Taylor. A telegram was read by Comdr. Tay- lor from Gen. John J. Pershing, another charter member of the post, expressing thanks for the congratulatigns sent him | on the occasion of his recent birthday. Many of the charter members of the | post ‘were present throughout the eve- -\ ning. Among the past commanders of the post present were John Lewis Smith, also a past department commander: Howard S. Fisk, Lew S. Mohler, Percy B. McCoy, Wallace Streater, Charles O. Shaw, J. J. Murphy, Gilbert T. | Rude, Bernard C. McGee and William E. Porter. The advisory council of the U. S. S. Jacob Jones Post, No 2, met at the home of Comdr. Helen L. Sprague last Thursday evening. ‘The October meeting of the t will be held tomorrow evening in the small ball room of the Willard Hotel. After | & short business meeting installation . ‘This ceremony will be followed | by an entertainment and gdancing, . ' Under the leadership of Comdr. Sprague the post’s Americanism pro- gram was rated highest in the District of Columbia Department, making the John Lewis Smith trophy a permanent possession of the post. Comrade B whose Work with the orchestra of deaf children is well known, announced that 12 new members have been added to the orchestra and they are now starting on the new school term. Comrade Ethel Jane Rule, who is in charge of the Braille for the American Red Cross, requested comrades atfend the classes which meet at the Red Cross Chapter House, 1730 E street northwest, the first and third Tuesdays of each month, The blind scholarship awarded last year by this post, through the American Foundation for the Blind, has been. re- newed this year and has been presented to & young student who otherwise would not have been able to contizue her education. . AIR ASTROLOGERS UNDER COMMISSION FIRE Two Stations Criticized for Pro- grams May Lose Permits, Following through with its threaf drastic action against stations engn"'eol! |in “quackery,” of any nature, the Fed- eral Radio ‘Commission has cited two tations, on opposite sides of the coun- |try, for alleged sponsorship of im- proper astrological programs. One “Zoro” of station KTAB, San Francisco, and one Dr. Richards of |station WCBA, Allentown, Pa., are the |astrologers against whom complaints have been leveled. The commission has cited the stations for possible can- |cellation of their licenses because of these broadcasts. The stations must |stand hearing on renewals of their licenses in the near future, | Action was taken on recommendation of Col. Thad H. Brown, general coun- sel of the commission. He alleged that |the programs of “Zoro" were question- |able ‘as to public interest. The he said, seems to be for Zoro “to re- quest over the air that the public send in three questions, together with 81, |which pays for a star map and the answers to the three questions.” . ‘The last Japanese census gave Japan grand total population of over 87,- United States Senator Rice W. Means of officers for the coming year will take ' 000,000. MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A MILLION OWNERS HAVE LEARNED TO DEPEND ON THIS GREAT ENGINE The powerful six-cylinder engine which is responsible for Olds- mobile’s spirited performance is representative of the most advanced type of engirfkering. It offers important features— such down-draft carburetion, crankshaft balancer, and carburetor- silencer—which contribute to greater power, smoothness, and silence. Yet wi h all its outstanding performance abiliti minute mechanical advancements—the engine in today’s Oldsmobile is entical in fundamental design with that splendid power plant which has won the confidence and praise of more than a quarter of a million Oldsmobile owners during the past three years. For that reason, you can be assured when you enjoy Oldsmobile’s brilliant speed, thrilling acce! eration and luxurious smoothness that this excellent all-round performance will be a lasting advantage of Oldsmobile ownership. POHANKA SERVICE 1126 20th St. N.W. Two-Door SEDAN ‘845 Bumpers and Spare Tire Extra f. o. b. Lansing L. C. PATE DEcatur 0206 SIMMONS MOTOR CO. 1515 14th St. N.W. POtomac 0052 Colorado N.W. WOODSON MOTOR (O. Silver Spring, Md. Silver Spring 255 MOTOR CO. * WISCONSIN MOTOR CO. 1063 Wisconsin Ave. N.W. ‘WEst 1373 Brandywine 1 OLDS MOTOR WORKS, WASHINGTON ZONE OFFICE North 2310 J. B. MONROE Waldorf, Md. 0-F-4