New Britain herald., 1925-09-29
CNRA--Sfojrtm-oo
Through tie Static

| Through tie Static
 Last night was one of the best sc far this season as far as conditions were concerned, Static took a night off and stations came through clear lY, although fading was noticeab ble on large number of them. After 1 1 o'clock the volume increased con- siderably and those broadcasters which were still on the air pounded In extremely loud.
 One advantage Of the return 10 standard time, as far as radio fans are concerned, Is the fact that it is possible to receive western and southern stations much earlier in the evening. WOk, Chicago, and WGBU, Fulford, Florida came in before ' o'clock the former with great vol tune, although WGBu was rather faint, increasing in strength as the night wore on. An organ recital of old familiar tunes comprised the early evening offering from the Chi cago hroadca ster, while Fulford was offering a program Of dance music l by Blue Steele's orchestra.
 In spite of the fact that Monday night Is silent night in Chicago, we were able to bring in several of the 'outlaw" stations which have refused to shut down on that evening be- cause their transmitters are not To- cated in the Windy City, but in towns outside of that municipality. Hence, WOK, WTAS. WJJD and | WCEE were on the air as usual. The fact that a large percentage of Chi cago fans have boycotted these sta | lions seems to make no difference to | the broadcasters and they continue to present their programs on Mon day evenings.
 WOK surpassed any other station for reception early in the evening. It is located on 217 meters and many sets can not get down that far. Last night the signal was strong and all parts of the program except the dance numbers were extremely clear When Gus Edwards orchestra went on the air the music was distorted consider One interesting feature of the broadcast was program of old English and old Italian folk songs.
 We heard three of the mum bers, I'd Like to Die" offered as a so- prano solo, and "The British Greh- adiers' and "The Three Ravens, :" dating from 1884 and f61l, respec- lively, sung as baritone solos. The announcer traced the history of folk songs, saying that they have come down through the ages, changed considerably in the course of time, but expressing the spirit of the peo- pie among whom they originated.
 WRNY's generator hummed con- siderably and the station also faded to a great extent. We didn't listen to much of the offering from that | broadcaster, for those reasons.
 WTAS at Elgin offered it's custom- ary evening program of songs and music, irterspersed with remarks by 1 the announcer, which are an even- ing's entertainment in themselves. It was too bad that the station faded, since the announcer seemed to be in unusually good form and Fred Hamm's orchestra was also putting out some snappy numbers, WTAS is one of the more popular stations with people in this vicinity because of the spirit of jollity which seems to prevail out there. Everything is fun, although now and then the announc- CT will recite some pathetic poem or sing some highly sentimental song. It has been noticed, however, that in spite of the levity out there. WTAS Is one of the first stations to con- duct relief campaigns to to broadcast messages when anyone is in trouble. q -
 Christopher Columbo," sung by a baritone, assisted by the Boss Own orchestra, proved to be one Of the popular numbers at the Elgin sta ton. The number Is composed of about 371 verses, all of which were sung. Then somebody recited James Whitcomb Riley's familiar poem That Old Sweetheart of Mine," with all the pathos that goes with it, after which the orchestra swung into "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" After hearing those numbers we found it difficult to bring the station in easily, so we left-regretfully
 Band selections from the Trenton State fair came in spasmodically from WOAX, Trenton. SpasmodiCal- ly, because the music was being played in connection with a pag- cant out there and 1t was no uncom- mon thing for the band to stop right