The Washington times., 1931-11-27

grown to be, represents research
involving about 80 years at most
and its commercial adaptation
embraces only an approximate
twelve year development. Since
that time, its advancement has
been astounding. It took aeons
Of time for man to learn to speak,
to write, to build shelters. Very
painfully he has crawled up the
pathway to civilization. His &C.
ceptance of radio. in sharp con.
trast, affords some conception Of
the extent to which it has fired his
imagination The temper Of the
present times is to take the mir.
acles of science for granted. Re
1uctance to accept anything not
understood, even two generations
back, is demonstrated by the fol.
lowing articles which appeared in
q prominent Boston newspaper,
sixty years ago:
"A man about 46 years of age.
giving the name of Joshua
COpperSmith, has been arrested
in New York for attempting to
ext0rt funds from ignorant and
superstitiOus people by exhibit
ing a device which he says will
convey the human voice any
distance over metallic wires so
that it will be heard by the lis
tener at the other end. He calls
the instrument Q telephone"
which he obviously intended to
initiate the world telegraph"
and win the confidence Of those
who know of the success of the
latter instrument without un.
derStanding the principles on
which it is based.
"WelI informed people know
that it is impossible to transmit
the human voice over wires as
may be done with dots and
daSheS and sig1 ais of the Morse
code, and that, were it possible
to do so, the thing would be Of
no practical value. The authOri.
ties who apprehended this crimi-
nal are to be congratulated, and
1t is hoped that his punishment
will be prompt and fitting, and
1t may serve as an example to
other constituencies Schemers
who enrich themselves at the
expense Of their fellow crea-
tureS."
Young as it Is, radio now plays
q profound part in the social and
commercial life of the nation. In
its. decade of existence it has
grown from infancy to approxi.
mate in wealth the. automobile
and motion picture industries, and
outrank them in the number of
people it affects. It's acceptance
has been quicker because first, it
piqued the curiosity of the public
mind, then it transmitted news
and music, creating a new edu.
catlonal and entertainment chan.
mel with a scope that is boundless.
In 1920, The first permanent
radio broadcaSting station, now
known as KDKA, was put into
The first program con.
sisted Of the returns of the Presi.
Dental election of Warren G.
Harding, and perhaps less than
100 people were equipped to
"listen in" :
There had been. of course for
sUme time previous, amateur op
orators who had constructed sets,
things" of adjustments and
t1nkerings, of finding of good
spots" on crystal detector, of
intricate tuning" by means of
long coils that slid one within the
other. The came the vacuum
tube, and its attendant patent
But various com.
panies concerned with developing
1t, got together. and a three-ele.
ment vacuum tube was legiti.
mately made and sold for general
use. Within a short time the
vast army Of amateur enthusiasts
were buying radiotrons, the trade
name for this device.
Radio since it's inception has
more complications in patent stu.
atlons than any other industry.
Its development, however, was
never arrested, and it's employ
nent { extended aerial navi
as equipment of sea-going
ships. even for distant control of
by radio.
Beginning in 1921 radio was
ready for the use of the masses
and took amazing strides. It's
Influence was felt in all parts of
the country. In September KDKA
went ION the air" with entertain.
ment programs. Within a year
there were 5O8 broadcasting com.
panies in the United States. On
January l, 1922, it is estimated
that there were approximately
10000 radio sets in use, and be-
fore the end of the year it is be-
lleved the total reached 1,5O0, 900.
The number Of manufacturers
mad jumped to about 1906. but
most Of them made parts to be
assembled at home. The public
spanked to it. there was a mad
rush to procure something, any.
thing. that would receive this
"voice of the air" The radio audi
ence had increased from the hun.
dred that listened to the Harding
election returns to a million,
Hundreds of sets sprang into be.
Ing over night. These were the
crystal sets. The latest circuits
procurable were used.
Then in 1922, the superhetero.