The Washington times., 1924-01-16
MAY
Be TOWN
CR|ER
Loud Speaker System Would
Enable Announcements to
Reach Entire City.

The town crier, the forebear of
our present police system, is
likely to have a successor in the
municipal radio announcer.
Experiments made recently
have shown that it is possible by
means of huge horns and vacuum
tubes to amplify the voice SO
that it will be heard over radius
of from three to five miles and
every word clearly understood.
Possible Uses.
A possibility for municipal loud
speaker would be equip some large
building in the center of town with
several nonvibrating horns pointing
downward to disperse announce
ments toward the. streets. Large
cities would have to have several of
them placed two or three miles apart.
The purpose of these horns would
be to announce news of civic or ma
tional importance so that the whole
city could Immediately hear every
word. Thus a presidential speech, a
talk by the mayor of the city or any
other. important news could be in
stantly transmitted to the entire
populace.
Net for Criminals.
For police work such device
would be Of tremendous importance.
A robbery or murder could i'm
mediately be broadcast by police
headquarters so that every citizen
could be on the lookout for the
criminal, and would have a descrip-
ton of him. instantaneous publicity
of crime Is of utmost Importance.
Who would steal If he knew that
within a few minutes every one i'll
town would have description of him
and would be on the lookout for him?
Paul ReVere's ride has furnished
our history with a most thrilling
scene, but such a medieval method
Of spreading news cannot be
imagined now. With our present
broadcasting methods, the whole
country can know important news
in less time than it took Revere to
ride mile.
More and more it is evident that
the broadcasting station is able to do
Things In the way of publicity that
other agencies cannot do as we'll or
at all. No other agency can speak
with a single voice to 10000, 900
people.
National in Scope.
1t Is a transmitter of national
events, and its scope bids fair to
De at least as wide as the nation,
through the erection of stations in
positions that will cover the whole
country The possible scope of
radio publicity may even become
worldwide.
Its highest service will be in a
comprehensive, educational pro-
gram, in the popularizing of the
best music and dramatic art and in
the broadcasting Of religious serv-
ices. Its average daily audiences
have been estimated at eight mil.
lions, and this audience is growing
every day, for there is no physical
Limitation to its numbers.
RADIO, in its service of informa-
ton, is not intended to supplant
the press, but rather to supplement
it with a speed of transmission
that is equal to that of light, with
an intimacy of human speech that
must needs be absent from the
printed page and with a complete.
ness of distribution that is pecu-
liar to itself.
If publicity-in the broad sense
Of giving general distribution to
knowledge-be essential to ma
tional progress and personal cul-
ture, the art of radio must be re-
garded as the finest and farthest
advance that publicity has yet at
tanned. 1t invites the world to a
free participation in the benefits
with which science has crowned
/ this new and wonderful achieve
ment of electricity.