Omaha daily bee., 1921-11-05
Voice of Frisco
Man Sent Across
3,OOOMiles Space
Mechanism Which Will Carry
Speech Of Harding Across
Continent on Armistice
Day Tested Out.

Washington. Nov I-fhe call oil
a bugle. the chime OF bells aud the
voice OF man were swept 5000 miles
across the continent from San Fran.
cisco today. TO be hurled out over
a wide stretch OF ground about Ar.
ling,on National cemetery with every
note. every vibration OF the bells and
every spoken syllable as distinct as
though sounded 100 feet away. Yet
the sounds originated ~ San Fran.
cisco. the speaker stood on the rooi
OF the Civic auditorium there and the
music came from phonograph rec
ords played In the building Oh which
he stood.
II was the dress rehearsal OF the
mechanism by which President
Harding's voice, as he speaks the
nations homage on Armistiee day
over the casket OF Americas un-
known dead from France. will be
carried 10 an audience waiting before
the ampliiiers in New York and to
another gathering In San Francisco.
Telephone wires by the thousands
Of miles. linemen by the hundreds.
telegraph operators by the score
were needed for the test, as they
will be needed on Armistice day.
High officers OF the army and the
officials OF the American Telephone
& Telegraph company. which is max
ing this contribution 10 the memory
Of the dead soldier. had no doubts
OF tina, success after the first sen.
tcnce spoken at San Francisco was
clearly audible TO them at half mile
distance from the ampliiiers at Ar
lington. ..s
Device Works Perfectly.
Similarly. there was long read
ing OF speeches from the stage OF
the amphitheater here to be carried
out over the wires TO San Francis
co. The voice OF the reader went on
and on and the few who witnessed
the test first listened to this from
every point about the great marble
structure to a distance OF more than
mile. Every syllable penetrated
clearly TO every nook and hollow.
Then the voice announced that the
nest words would be spoken in San
Francisco. The faint wbir OF the
mechanism rose to higher hum and
a new. decper-toncd voice announced
that chimes played on phonograph
record in San Francisco would come
next. As clearly as il it were not a
dozen feet away, the click OF the
phonograph mechanism CAME as the
needle dropped on the .whirring rec
ord, 5000 miles away; the familiar
scrape, began, then the
bells doomed out. waking echoes in
the cemetery, pealing oSsr the thou
sands of graves. '7 |
The deep voice took up the task
again with the announcement:
"Spokcn froni the roof ofsst,c Civic
in San Francisco" 1t
read out the words of President
Harding's inaugural address, then
the buglc call records and
the clear note OF trumpet ~ stir
ring army calls swept over the field,
more distinctly heard than the notes
Of the bugle at Fort Mycr, across
the road. where the garrison was at
retreat parade.
Small Army of Men.
To accomplish this latest marvel
Of communication, the telephone
employed nearly 10000
miles OF circuit and double that
length OF wire; it had linemen sta
tioned every 10 miles, SOB picked
men to keep it all going; it had more
Than 80 telegraph operators on Morse
circuits paralleling the talking lines
TO see that all moved smoothly. !,
And in today's test, the telephone
experts proved that given enough
equipment, they could carry ,all OF
the armistice day proceedings, tine
presidents words, the strains OF the
marine band, the roar of the gun
salvo that will mark this unknown
soldiers burial, and the notes Of
Taps" sounded above the grave, to
every person in the Unitctd States.