The Washington times., 1928-10-23

static banged into broadcast pro-
grams now and then last evening
and made tuning some of them
impossible. Good volume and
clear reception were noted from
the Mid West during the later
hours. Fading was annoying In all
sections.
The tumult and the shouting that
poets rave about and politicians
hear as their tribute with button
busting pride-is becoming one OF
the things radio listeners view with
about the same complacence they
do static-because it interferes with
the main purpose of the broadcast.
as it did last evening when New
York gave Candidate Herbert
Hoover such a tumultuous and
long drawn out greeting. 1t is one
thing to be helping to create. the
noise as part of an enthusiastic,
excited and exhilarated crowd. But
to sit some miles away waiting for
the din to subside, as millions OF
us did last night, is something
else again.
Broadcasting is being done these
DAYS on a schedule as rigid as
train dispatching. Any deviation
therefron means throwing the whole
evening program out of gear. The
result last night was that those
radiotics who wanted to hear Mr..
Hoover and General Dawes, and also
the General Motors and grand opera
programs. were kept at their re-
ceiving sets until long after mid
night.
However - those who stuck
through the static cheers and heard
all of what Mr.. Hoover and Gen.
eral Dawes had to say heard about
as straight forward a statement of
principles as either the candidates
or his supporters have presented
during the campaign.
The General Motors program that
followed the political outbursts-
and came TO receivers half an hour
late because of them-was just a
fair assortment of orchestra ana
vocal exercises. Lewis James,
tenor, did the best he could with
the meager opportunities provided
him as featured artist.
presentation of Cesare Sodero and
his henchmen, the. orchestra was
the big star of the performance
as it usually is in q Sodero Wag-
merriam production. For some Pc
culiar reason the Sodero singers
present Wagner as though they
were scared stiff. They almost lose
their voices, and do completely lose
their power of vocal expression in
the awe they seem to feel-very
much like actors and actresses do
when they perform Shakespeare.
The result last night was a most
stilted performance, vocally, that
did not compare with other Sodero
presentations this season. Even the
orchestra was slow and deliberate.
The maestro has not yet been able
to place the vocal and orchestral
sections of his productions properly
before the microphone, it seems,
and we'd advise him to rehearse
them with earphones on his own
ears so that he receives only the
music as it goes on the air. We
believe it would help him to correct
a condition that makes it impos-
sible to hear the vocalists half the
time they are singing.
Otherwise last evening was an
evening devoted largely to talk
Senator Willard e Tydings of
Maryland starting it with an ex-
cellent and thought-compelling set
of reasons why Governor Smith
should be elected President. Bishop
Hugh Burleson Of the Episcopal
diocese OF South Dakota. added an
excellent sketch of Indian life in
America anon gthe Sioux. George
Beuchler, of WRC, provided half of
a very good baritone song between
programs and some evening we
hone he'll finish it,