McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1922-06-02
VIZ A SHIN C IT NT
w LETTER ~
By Lindsay S. Perkins
Editor Independent:


1t mas been some time since you
have heard from me, because |
had SO many things to do here,
with the opening of spring, but
| guess nobody cared much, for
your readers must have been busy
too. according to the copious and
interesting local correspondence
in your columns. Before | go
further, it is proper to pay a
tribute TO the very excellent let
ter of Terry Abernaty describing
his trip through McNairy and
what the people are doing that
he met. 1t was a model of con-
else and useful narration, and
there should be more of it. Such
letters help the county.
Radio is the latest rage here.
A neighbor of mine has recently
installed an instrument and he
invited me over the other night
to hear it. There was horn
standing upright among some
boxes and wires on a table near
the wall. and copper wire led
from the instrument out to a tall
hickory tree in the back yard.
That was as far as the wire went,
but here came the waves of eth
err" through the air. bringing
music and speech into the house
through the wire, and it was like
listening to a big phonograph
right in the room. The apparatus
cost about$200.
Promptly at $50 in the evening
there was cracking sound and
a series of whistling notes in the
horn and then a mans basso voice
said, loudly and distinctly: This
lis N. 0. S., the United States
Naval Aero Station at Anacostia,
I'D. c." and then he announced
that there would be a concert by
the United States Marine Band,
which is certainly the finest of
Its kind in this country. Then
we could hear the big instru-
ments tuning up. and as the play
ling began, each instrument could
be distinguished, such as the bass
viol, cornet, saxophone, trombone,
etc. Each piece was called out
by the man, giving the name OF
1.-THE music and the composer, and
lit was a concert of the finest des-
cription. The music was being
served to us through about ten
miles of air space, but earlier in
1.-THE evening there had beer
"broadcasting" as they call it,
from Pittsburgh, Penna., anG
from Newark, N. j., hundreds Of
miles away. Then there were
marketreports from Chicago sand
wiched in among the music. The
receiving instrumentin my friends
house had to be tuned SO as tt
catch these various broadcastings
/ otherwise it would have been al
balled up" by all trying to com'
i in at once.
i Any person can get a receiv
4 ing set and catch these concert
and reports, etc., but the govern
ment has taken control of the
sending out stations, Of whicl
there are only thirty-one at pres
|. ent in this country. On Sunda.
morning my neighbor gets
! sermon from Newark, N. j., ant
can hear the hymns that are sung
; as well as every word the preach
er says, coming through the air
over hill, field and forest an,
; stream, hundreds of miles, tn
very instant it is delivered il
Newark. When a sending station
lis established atMemphis orNash
r vile, any one in Selmer or else
: where in the State who has a re
ceiving instrument can hear ser
e mons, songs, etc., that are sen
: out. If every man in the countr
!. had such an instrument, all woul
. receive them. Here, the tunin
: is in meters, such as 800 meter
: for Washington, 1850 meters fo
: Chicago. etc. After awhile, whe
). there are more sending stations
n it will be necessary to arrang
k more exact selective devices,
prevent confusion.
: No one knows what all this wi
i lead to. Soon these wireless radi
messages will be crossing tn
q ocean regularly. Now they ar