The Washington times., 1928-02-08
IDA NJ. TARBEL.L
PROVES REAL

No habeas corpus was necessary
to bring broadcast programs into
receiving sets from all sections
last night. All kinds OF music and
drama were easily induced TO APP
pear before the tribunal Of public
demonstration, and more than
willing to testify to the greatness
Of their authors or denlOnstra.
tors. There was the usual crowd
ing and interference and q bit Of
fading here and there, with some
noise now and then.
In the by and large way most OF
us take our loud speaker products
these progressive days there were
several rather distinctive outpour-
ings last evening not the least Of
which was the transformation of
Ida M. Tarbell from a name TO q
voice and personality during the
Eveready proceedings.
One Of the many thrilling things
radio does for Us living room in
mates, the orbit Of whose lives sell
dom goes beyond the home and the
shop and the office-with perhaps a
trip into the country now and then
of Sunday when the car Is in
good shapes to magically trans.
late what has only been a headline
in newspapers or a printed name OF
authority, into a live, speaking hui
man being. Two generations OF
seekers for information about this,
that and the other thing through
the medium Of books and magazines
and the like. have regarded the name
OF Ida NJ. TarbelI as the visible trade
mark of truth on number OF COM
troversial things and accepted what
was printed under or over It, uncon-
ditionaIly as authoritative and oracu-
lar. Last night tens OF thousands
of us heard Ida NJ. Tarbell as a
human being, with vioce like the
rest of us, a curiosity to hear her
own words from the lips of another,
like the rest Of us, and capacity
for missing things she. wanted to
hear, like the rest Of US.
MISS TARBELL
GREETS AUDIENCE
In few short sentences Of greet
ing to the listeners, and expression
Of regret at never before having
been able to hear Edgar White Bur-
riI read her story HE Knew Lin
coln," Miss Tarbell did all this last
evening. She became q woman we
now know is something more than
far off being-an author.
For this we thank the Eveready
people even more than we thank
! them for the unusually fine pro-
gram of negro spirituals the mixed
quartet sang. the very melodious ar.
rangement Of the same for the
orchestra by Nat Shilkret and the
dramatic reading of the Tarbell
story by Mr.. Burrill, which never
grows old or trite or wearisome,
though we've heard it every year
| these five years.
Another interesting output of the
| loud speaker late in the evening
was the voice of Dorothy Neville
which kept many of us from going
to bed at the usual time when IL
came during the WMAL Movie Club
proceedings. Rachmaninoffs TN
the Silence of the Night" has al.
1 ways seemed to us to be one OF
| the ultimate things in the poetry
of music and Miss Neville inter
preted it for US just that way. .
+ Otherwise there was much to in
terest on the wave lengths from
many places. The United States
Navy Band provided very good
music under the direction Of Second
Leader Charles Wise during the
afternoon-Lieut. Charles Benter be-
ing out of the city. The Voters
Service program, with Charles G
Ross and Carrie Chapman Gait as
speakers, gave interesting informa'
ton about momentous things.
1 An excellent basso sang the good
old "Armourer's Song" for us dur
ing the, concert of the Soldering
Singers as we like to hear 1t and
Cotton and Morpheus were even
more laugh provoking as laundry
men than they would have been as
bricklacyers. as they were adver
fised to appear during the air weav