Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1921-11-12
Arn,istice Day Address
Heard Across Continent
Loud Speaking Device OF Bell Tel
ephone System Carries Presi-
dents, Voice To Distant
Parts.

the Unknown Soldier ON Armisticc
Day his words were heard by the
largest audience the human voice ha.
ever reached. His voice was carried
across the coltii.ent to New York ard
San Francisco, where meetings co1i-
posed of American Legion membc4
and friends heard him plainly
and distic5ly through the medium
of Loud Speakers. In addition, a
loud speaking system was installed
III the Arlington National Cemetery
and if half a million people had gath
cred on the broad slopes of that beau
tiful place they could have heard with
perfect clearncss every word of the
Presidents address every note of the
si"gers, and every syllable of the sol.
clnA committent services when they
laid this unknown Hero" within his
tomb.
NO feat of communication has ever
cqualled this. Never before has the
transmission of sound been used in
thls way. Although the President de-
liz ering his Inaugural Address on
March saw before him vast audi
ence of 100000 or more; and although
he knew that everyone in that audi
ence heard his voice by means OF
Loud Speakers; although he was
conscious that the spoken word had
a greater power than ever before be-
cause he spoke to the greatest audi
ence ever gathered, upon Armistice
Day, the President spoke to men and
women gathered TO hear him in cities
that span the continent.
IN addition to the Presidents voice,
all Of the solemn ceremonies, the
tugles "taps", the hymns, the words
of the foreign ministers as they be-
slowed honors upon this soldier and
the solemn burial phrases was carried
surely and distinctively to the waiting
legionnaires across the continent.
For several weeks past organizers
Of The American Legion and the engi-
neerc Of the Bell System have been
working together to bring about these
meetings and the transmission of
these Arlington ceremonies. Every
ting that the engineers have done
has been predicted by the fact that
Armistice Day was the most solemn
minute in the history of America. For
that reason the American Legion, vet
Grams, who nave a vital part in the
day. events, were asked to cooper
ate. Although numerous opportuni-
ties were offered by which the Presi-
dents speech could be directed to
miscellaneous channels those in
charge adopted firm policy of
sticking to the original plan and thus
insuring success from the standpoint
not only from the engineers and tech
nical men but from the standpoint of
The solcmnity of the occasion.
The opportunity for so many people
t, hear the words of the ceremony
was the gift of the Bell Telephone
system to the people of the nation. It.
is not a commercial enterprise in any
way.
The engineers and experts in
charge have been working on the
loud speaking system at Arlington
and across the continent and in the
three cities for more than a month.
On Armistice Day telephone engi-
neers all the way across the country
were on guard for twenty-four hours
watching every bit of delicate equip
mcnt. For hundreds of miles the ia
nous transcontinental telephone line
was patrolled by crews Of linemen to
guard against possible breaks md ac-
cident To reach the crowds in the
three cities the Presidents voice pass
cd over thousands of miles of wire
through great mass Of the most
delicate yet powerful instruments and
apparatus. Much space was taken up
by the hugh machinery fer this great
feat of transmission and yet none of
the mechanical and electrical part
was seen, or intcrferred with the
classic beauty of the amphithcatre.
Complete crews of experts and engi-
neers operating the loud speaking
system from Arlington all the way to
San Francisco were out Of sight so
that there was nothing visible.
One of the miraculous effects of
tn cloud Speaker" is III the perfect
control of the power, whereby the
voice can be made to ca:1y for mile
OF more but at no point is the audi
ei-ce aware of any mechanical effect.
Gre can stand in front of the speaker,
1, IN around and walk for half q, mile
while the speech is going on, BIT
will not be able to detect when he
passes from the zone of actual voice
into the area served by the cloud