Evening star., 1922-10-01

III toIi VI n NJf.N
HOOPER,.
Emitted STATES Navy. Head Of the
Radi" Division in the Bureau of
Engineering. Navy Department.
,"p!right Au rights rescrved)
Undertaken as an agency for war
-he four million dollar Lafayette
radio station in France has become
factor of Importance in our industria
life.
It's potentiaIities at this time and
In the distant future. for stimulating
eur huge and ever growing steel ana
radio industries cannot be estimated
1t should profoundly affect the pres
tt-0 "f our entire Industrial fabric
ard thus greatly aid in extending our
trade throughout the world.
1t has already Influenced the award
ing of contracts to the Radio torpo-
iHt:on Of America for the erection
"'d equippins of Supcr-hiEh power
r.,,iIo stations in Poland and sweden
aEgregatiug a sum in excess of the
Total cost of the Lafayette station.
Opens Direct Lines.
The opening up Of direct and nm
bupedcd channels ot "ommun lea tions
i"lwecn the United states and these
ryrn countries Will of itself prov" OF
iuralruIabl, benefit to our national
iut"restS and our foreign trade.
That contracts for other foreign
radio stations will be awarded to
American firms. with the consequent
upeniug up Of other Unimpcd"d direct
channels of communications. seem"
reasonably certain from tn" fact that
rhr contract was secured for the sta
III i,, "a nj
with the most powerful radio inter
eSts III Germany. England and France
This fact is of the utmost imror-
lance, because these. with the United
States, constitute" the four leading
countries in radio today. /; fur
dishes urmiStakable proof of the
rapid advances We have made in the
d. v"lopment Of the radio art. 1t gives
recognition to our capabilities in IN
Gustrial radio and the skill of our
radio engineers. 1t denotes. in short.
our pre- -erniuence in radio throughout
III" world
Many Visit station.
The construction of the Lafayette
""'tio station during the war created
T'rE great interest among officials OF
all allied nations. II was to comprise
- far thc most powerful radio sta
ri"U in tlt" world and it. therefore.
constituted Il project OF great magni-
fUdr both from the mechanical and
rtdj" engineering points Of view.
Army. navy and civilian officials OF
practically all allied nations visited
~" station while under construction
hy tn, Navy during the war. Without
Guubt officials of neutral countries
and even those of the central powers
lave visited the station since peace
has heen declared.
Subsequent to the signing of the
,,..,, I'll,
government visited the United States
and endeavored to prevail upon our
government to erect u Similar station
- Warsaw
obviously our government could not
"uGa@. III such an enterprise under
normal conditions. and the Navy there
r"rc referred the Polish representa-
tiVeS to the various responsible
american radio industrial concerns.
witt the result that the Radio Cor
lr"ration of America entered into a
contract with the Polish government
:" build and equip the station.
Polish station Nearly Ready.
This station is now nearing COM
ldotion. and direct service between
Poland and the United States will be
-naugurated in the near future.
The Lafayette station was origin
ally intended to function during the
var as much as an agency of mercy
as an agency for war. Its function
was to maintain contact between the
France in the event of the cutting
cf the Transatlantic cables by sub
.NarincS.
Had this occurred the Lafayette
station would have developed into
1hc one reliable agency through
which communications with the
''nited States would have passed. not
only for military purposes, but for
relieving the anxiety OF mothers,
wives and sweethearts whose men,
folk were overseas.
100 Miles From Pyrenees.
The question of military protection
s"cether with it's suitability for radio
of view, wholly determined the
selection of the station site. Hence
It was located nearly one hundred
9nlles from the nearest mountain
range. the Pyrenees. on low Level
ground. sixteen miles inland from the
seacoast at the port of Bordeaux.
Strangely enough, more desira ble
location could hardly have been
selected had the station originally
been intended as permanent exhibit
tor purely advertising purposes in
Jeace times.
The station is situated at Crotx
Il Ilins. a small village on the main
line of the Midi railway. one of the
principal trunk lines of Europe. This
line extends from Paris through
CroiX d'IIins to Madrid. Spain. The
5iue passes through Orleans made
famous by Joan of Arc. through Tours,
Gown the valley of the Loire in the
wonderful chateau district of France,
through Poitiers, Angouleme, and the
famous resort of Biarritz.
On Main Artery.
II is one of the main arteries of
travel through the most interesting
parts of France which are frequented
by tourists from all parts of the
world.
In this general region then. and
directly on the line of the Midi rail-
way, stands the monster Lafayette
yahio station. The eight graceful and
imposing fabricated steel towers.
each $50 feet in height. arc visible for
.nany miles in all directio7.. They
extend up many HUNDREDS, of feet
Runve the tree tops and excite the
sdmiration of the hundreds of thous-
Euds of travellers who pass this way
s.arly long before the station is
Ieached from any direction. They
serve TO eXemplify the magnitude
pnd fineness of our wonderful steel
Industry and the skill of our work
men.
Tribute to Steel Men.
These are the Navy's standard type
Of three-legged seIf-supporting steel
radio towers and are typically Ameri-