Evening star., 1927-03-13
THREE CONTINENTS
/. HEARD OVER RADIO
Programs From Australia,
Japan and U. S. Carried to
Slopes of Mauna Loa.
BY ROBERT 4. SMALL.

Special Dispatch to The star.
AT SEA, En- Route to San Fran
cisco, March Wireless biography
and radio broadcasting have brought
new era to the Pacific. Ether waves
today carry to the far corners of this
largest body Of water on ea13h Some
gecgraphers say that there are more
than 80 900 islands in the Pacific, yet
no one knows the exact number
Maps generally in use show but com
paratively few. Many remain uhdis
covered. There ARE islands on which
no man has ever landed.
Yet at comparatively small expense
1t is possible to bring all the Inhabited
islands into wireless intei communica
tion
1t Was a rare experience 10 SIT q
night or two ago in a modest little
plantation home on one OF the QUITE;
slopes OF majestic Mauna Loa which
he'd poured out fiery lava stream
but 10 short months before. and listen
in on radio receiving get. The spo.
was not SO vesS far from The little
Bay of Kealakekua, where Capt
James Cook landed in 1T1S on his voy
age of discovery. The owner OF the
receiving set insisted the conditions
were not good. He complained thal
the now dormant volcano often eXer
SiSth a hCl'tIi-TlIiS NilttA hi''ii spoA
reception.
Programs From Many Nations.
Nevertheless. it was possible within
q short space OF few hours To listen
to four different stations in Australia.
two stations In japan. stations in san
Francisco and Los Angeles, and to
hear, of course. All that was going on
in Honolulu. just "A matter oil goo miles
away. "Shut-ina'' on the mainland Of
the United States who grow excited
over getting half a dozen local sta
tions to come In good would learn
much to open their eyes in the Ha
waiian Islands. That midstation of
the Pacific iG strategically placed for
radio reception. and for broadcaSting
as 1t is i'm a military and naval sense.
The Australian stations which came
in the best were all located in sydney.
something like 4,a2O miles fl IN the
Island Of Hawaii. One of these was
station PFC, which operated on 442
meters. 1t was rather startling, to
say the least. to have the children 8
hour" start from this station at mid.
night, but that IL what happened, for
Australia is three hours and half
behind Hawaiian time.
Time Variations Difficulty.
Stations 2-BIl and 2.GB also come
in from Sydney. The only difficulty
in Hawaiian radio reception is in
making the widely varying times
come together San Francisco and
other Coast points are two and one
half hours ahead of Honolulu.
Musical programs were coming in
from Australia. 1t was different in
Japan. The call letters from Japan
were not perfect. but sover one OF the
stations a japanese professor was Civ
ing a lesson in English. over a sec
ond Japanese station some orator OF
the F'lowery Kingdom was "banZai-
ing" at a great rate, and evidently had
something important to say. Just
what it was, no one In our party
could say. Il was easy TO shift back
from him to the California coast and
to hear that wave of dancing jazz com
ing over the Pacific gave everybody a
little thrill of patriotic pride. -Ft
When you can stir patriotism on
some of this modern jazz 1t Is no
mean achievement.
DIR. Thomas a.. JaggHr. director OF
the American volcano observatory on
the brink of Kilauea, the living pit OF
fire, IL ambitious that great broad.
casting station shall some day be
erected at the very top of Mauna Lea,
Wnlcn, IN duulLlOIl 10 SeTNlilS DIS q SUIT
of mother TO all the other American
volcanoes. Is said to be the largest
single mountain In the world. II
rises from the sea to b height of
nearly $4,000 feet. Such q station,
DIR. Jaegar says, would sweep the en-.
tire Western world, and through 1t.
by means of remote control programs
of great interest and importance
could be broadcast.
Could BE Heard In Capital.
If such a station were built. even
folks I'm the Capital AT Washington
might learn something of the FAR
away territory across the Pacific
where American ideals and traditions
are being nourished and preserved
even more steadfastly than at many
places on the mainland.
There have been no eruptions at the
top crater Of Mauba Lea for
many, many years All Of the recent
flows. including the one of 1925, have
broken from the side of the noun
tain, far below the crest. The upper
reaches of the volcano are lava
waste, and cold winds sweep IL with a
blizzard fury. Not many stars" OF
the entertainment world would care
to make the trip. but they could he
connected from Hilo. less than so