Evening star., 1927-03-25
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Templeton Jones, Esq. recently
showed US a letter which he pro
posed to send to the newly organized
Federal Radio Commission, and 1t:
good sense 80 impressed us that VIZ
prevailed upon him to permit it:
publication here.
Jones is a rabid radio fan" a:
we'll as gentleman of much learning
experience and discretion. His idea,
on radio, therefore, probably will ap
peal to other radioists. and may strike
| fire with the commission. Withou
further prediction we present the
! epistle,
WASHINGTON, u. c.
| Federal Radio Commission,
| Gentlemen:
| In the belief that your time will be
| largely taken up, and properly so
with the consideration of such prob
| lens as wave lengths, and so on.
beg to present a phase OF radio which
| may be overlooked in the radio shuttle
| propose nothing less than the
| whole brilliant future of the art and
| science, the one no less importa nj
than the other.
Radio, in my opinion, has simply
| outgrown itself. and as yet has not
awakened to the situation.
Features that were eagerly wei
coined when broadcasting was in its
experimental stages are today re-
garded as boresome by thousands of
the so-called listeners.in.
Methods of presentation of pro
grams, which went over big" at first
lately have failed miserably to i'm
press the unseen audience" to use
the favorite phrase.
The stations, in other words, have
done their work of education too well
for their own good
X 4 X X
Yet. | may add, not for their ulti.
mate good. If the situation is fully
realized, and intelligence used TO cope
with it, radio may go on, as | hope
and expect to see it go on, to heights
as yet undreamed Of save by a few
in the industry and a few on the out
side.
Radio broadcasting has been one
of the most successful examples OF
"blundering through" in the world S
history. In the early days of pop.
ular broadcasting, stations went on
the air with ambitions and high
hopes, but not much idea Of just what
they were going to do or how they
were going to put it over
They simply felt their way along
tlli ouSlt tiiV 6lil do IL HCits IlC iiIS
problem they handled was that OF
the announcer. Young men were sud.
denly impressed into service TO tell
the unseen audience just who was
on the air, and what was being done
there. the names of composers, titles
of melodies, and so on.
So human nature works. Mankind
cannot jump Immediately into the
perfected state of anything. Today,
looking at the latest models of our
automobiles, the first cars of 20 years
ago look not only absurd, but totally
unnecessary,
How is It," the motorist asks him.
self, that they could not have put
some of these lines, some of this
grace, this power, in the early
models?"
The reason was that mankind must
feel it's way gropingly, although it
prefers to fool itself by calling the
process progress.
Indeed, II Is only within the past
five or six years that the closed type
of car has superseded the open models
and yet the stagecoach was closed
a hundred years ago,
Today practically every one sees
that the closed car, except for GER
tain sport and other usages, is the
| better automobile, yet for two dec
| AIDES we all rode around proudly In