The Washington times., 1925-05-01
WOMEN TO PRESENT OWN MUSIC
ROmping Around
the
Radio Dial
Rv T,iSfaner.In
BY Listener-In

You can talk of thrills in radio
That come from notes of jazz.
Or thrills that flame when one OF fame
Speaks forth the best he has;
But one big moment beats them all,
Beyond all chapce of guess; -
It's when some ship on dang grous trip
Sends out an s o 3.
That is not original with us, but
we think it expresses an average
fans feeling on the subject pretty
we'll.
There is really nothing that
catches the imagination like hear
ing an announcer cut into pro-
gram and announce that his station
is going off the air because an
SOS is in the air. The fact that
the fan doesn't know whether the
ship is in real distress or not pre-.
vents the thrill from being morbid.
WRC had to interrupt an unS
usually beautiful program when the
sos came in last night, but. we will
be able to hear many of the same
composers and artists this evening,
when WCAP broadcasts a similar
program.
We happened to be at the studio
when the SOS came in, and watched
the fun from that angle for the
first time.
Although the announcement was
made that WRC was going off the
air because of an SOS, the studio
staff was kept busy answering calls
from listeners who evidently did
not hear the announcement and
wondered why they were not broad
casting.
The calls brought many funny
questions, mostly from women, who
didn't understand what it was all
about. After it was explained that
WRC was not broadcasting because
of an sos, several would-be listen.
ers asked, What is an SOS?" and
after that question had been an
swered, the inevitable question was
What ship is it?"
The WRC staff had to explain
then that they didn't know because
it was against the law for the op-
orator in the control room to even
tell the others in the station what
he heard in code.
The prize Of the evening came
over the wire in a pretty feminine
voice after WRc employ had said
that there was an sos in the air,
and the girl replied:
"Oh, yes; heard some taps dur
ing that last musical number and
L thought that must be an Sos"
Another feminine listener was
much put out because she had to
miss few minutes of entertain
ment, just because a ship was sink
ing. "Oh,' she said indignantly, "I
don't see why you have to stop for
that"
Nearly all of the callers wanted
to know how long the station was
going to be off the air and Of course
the reply was that WRC couldn't.
tell about that, it depended upon
how long the SOS calls were in
the air and they didn't know how
long it would be before they got
the signal that the air was clear.
The composers program had to
be delayed because Frederic Will
liam Vile ran overtime in his talk
on Child Welfare. When the
musical program finally came on,
Secretary of State Kellogg, who
was presiding, said 1--WE have been
waiting for some man to stop
talking over the radio. These men
certainly do love to talk over the,
radio"
Mr.. Vile didn't hear the Secre-
tary's remark because he had just
left the studio when 1t came over
the wire, but undoubtedly he has
heard of it by this time.
The Mayflower music was re-
broadcast in New York by WIZ
last night This is the second
local dance orchestra which has
been considered good enough for
the ears of blase New Workers..