Evening star., 1924-04-27

Radio supervisors and inspectors
Hear many queer tales as to strange
su.ssaGes, sounds and calls emanating
from somewhere within the boundless
realms of radio land. Some COM
plants are weird, a few pathetic and
Still others almost convince one that
there are ETHEREAL boogies. Radio is
of itself more or less of a marvel
and a mystery, with the rapid ad-
1ation and scope. and it is small
wonder that certain susceptible fans
and even operators long in the game
hear or Imagine they hear curious
:nd unaccountable messages verging
on the supernatural.
There is the story of one oldtimer
y no declared that he no longer
needed headphones, his ears having
become so tuned to the notes of code
stations that he could pick up mes
ages from almost anywhere.
Some of these compiainants, per-
laps, improperly classified as bugs
and nuts" Of the ether, insist that
they are haunted by "Hertzian
Spooks," which IN certain cases
:eem to approach from the spiritual
angle and assume radio control
II their victims. They not only
exercise an undue influence but
create actual fear in the hearts and
minds of those prosecuted. Certain
students of the problem refuse to
believe that il is all imaglnatlon
:tttributing the influence to something
supernatural or, at least, power not
Set understood.
OF many cases reported to the De-
partment OF Commerce, there IS none
operator Blank" on which there Is
Il thick file of papers.
Nearly four years ago a Sea-EolnS
radio operator of twenty years eXpe-
T!Cnce reported to the supervisor OF a
coastal district that he was the OBJ
Jet of radio prosecutions in the form
of radio telephone messages which
E.cre transmitted to him continually
H. virtue of wired wireless when he
was ashore. Three unprincipled,
Young operators. he asserted, kept a
surveillance over his every move
reading his thoughts and at times
'neutraliZing" his brain action. These
three prosecutors relieved each other
hut kept up their vocal messages day
and night, no, matter where he was
Their sinister influence, he felt sure
WAS affecting his young daughter
when she was near him and practlc-
ally broke up his home. lie appealed
30 scientists. doctors, RADIO experts,
the government and police without
benefit, as the source of the radio
manations could not be traced. They
seemed to come from Il coastal point
Even while on an automobile trir
across the continent and into Canada
the phantom radiophone or photo
phone messages pursued him. The
messages were transmitted on vari-
Gus frequencieS and We're impossible
To ignore. Operator Blank believed
n eyoung men had invented an ultra
modern transmitting set OF which no
on" knew the circuit. He said the
noys told him it was q wired wire
less pSychomcter" erecting the trans
mission Of speech by u "thera peutiC
UScillaIor." and received by "tripleX
rhdrtonlininS attunement. He
"ouidut get away from the messages,
:ud he was certain that tAe boys
Kept Il log Of his thoughts
Later On, " hen ht was i.gaiE at sea
the messages pursued him evidently
through the medium O. radio. In the
Ntiantir and Pacific The effect was
the same and the operator came to
hciievc that the urinary phonetic
erect kept his head aching continual
~: som- times IL driven from
'.is radi" ShaCh. He was ceHtain his
{ "ath could be caused by these boys if
t2ey desired. He again took up the
matter Of locating the station with
authorities in New York. San Fran
cisco and Washington, hut no one was
able TO ala him nor locate the un-
known station. Unofficial and un-
signed messages continued to follow
him. causing Interference with his
rrgu!a- traffic. his sleep and his men
~ STABILITY. IDNrs LEGATIONS showed
Iint to Ia III good physical and mental
state. tsHl although pronounced sound
II his mind anu body a..d only about
ortl two lcs4rs old. ne was literally
driven from ,hc -; s-EG his profess
Following up SOM of his sugges-
Il ~. .;.,1.
tuaiiStS have been affected in ii Simi-
,ar Nay. and from New York came in
formation that complaints nf this
character were incrcaSinG-iu fact.
h'crHiTE quite cp.tIGcu. Department
~ Commerce radio officials say that
curing the full Of the moon com
plants OF weird and unnatural radio
Messages in the ether come in with d
department and its field staff have
not haen able 10 solve the mystery OF
Operator Blanks persecution nor the
source Of his phone messages he re-
ported
other curious eases reported to tha
department include the western
"rmrr. who. whenever plowtng in a
ia near an insan. asylum. declared
t"l he was Influenced and perSe-
ul-d by voices which seemed to come
'r"u Il queer box on the sill of a
= ndow in the institution. He came
-u Washington in an effort to rid
FL returned the box was no longer
Visible. and ii is understood he was
bothered no further. though it was
t'.Nrr wholly explained. From Phila-
dclphia came a story Of 4 woman who
7,as constantly hearing radio voices,
especially when riding on a train. al
-bpugh it was long befor" trains We're
equipped with receiving sets. Another
Woman out west recently wrote that
waves from Il certain radio station
sass through her house and her per-
son. causing Il most unpleasant Eff
fr"t; she said she could never sleep
until the station closed for the night.
During the world war complaints
Gf his type and others attributed to
German spies, codes, etc. came to the
i. departments supervisors in great
',uIubers some of them obviously
from people with unSound minds, who
ought to become radio SleuthS ana
desired special transmitting licenses
aud stations Such desires, however.
rrrr" almost always in the interest of
offending the government and dlner-
ed from the case of Radio Operator
EIank and a few others whose radio
troubles have never been solved.
Daylight Signals Cross Continent
amateur radio signals have Been
transmitted across the continent IN
daylight Ernest Hobbs. operator OF
station 2ADM in Schenectady, y: l.,
-uessages on amateur wave lengths
from stations 6XAD, owned and OPP
.rated by Lawrence Mott OF Catalina
ISLAND, soon after sunrise.
The two amateurs had been con-
varsing with each other by radio tel
c-raph as they had been accustomed
~ do a short time before day break
ana ii was not until the times OF
,uurise at both stations had been
ked up that Hobbs realized the