Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-18
|KANSAN'S STATION
| IN MEXICO WORRY
Air Authorities Try to Curb
BrinkIey, Deposed Medico-
BroadcaSter.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

Serious international complications
that involve the radio administrations
OF the three largest nations of North
America are developing from the fact
that DR.. John r. Brinkley, deposed
Kansas edico-broadcaster and candi-
date last year for the governorShip of
Kansas, has made good his threat to
build q powerful radio station in Mex
leo in order to reach his old American
audience.
American and Canadian government
agents have been watching with keen
| interest the erection Of the new rs, 000,-
watt station at Della Acuna, province of
Coahuila, Mexico, just across the Rio
Grande from Del Rio, Tex. The sta
ton has been testing on 735 kilocycles
with the call letters XER. With $4,000
| watts, 1t is destined to be the most
powerful station in the Western Hem
| isphere, the next most powerful being
the several 50,000-watters in this coun-
| try.
Though 1t is admitted that the sta
ton has been built with Brinkley cap
| ital, its erection has been authorized
| by the Mexican government and
licensed to Mexican corporation. This
despite the fact that an oficial Of the
Mexican embassy was informed, when
he made personal inquiries at the Fed
eral Radio Commission some months
ago. that DR.. Brinkley's radio license
had been revoked by the commission,
later sustained by the courts, for carry
ing medical advice regarded as mimi
cal to public health and contrary to
public interest.
DR.. Brinkley, defeated for Governor
of Kansas by narrow margin after
using his former radio station, at Mil
ford, Kans., as his campaign mouth
piece. later also had his physicians
| license revoked by the Kansas State
Board of Health.
Station Studios in United States.
tons arises out of Brinkley's an
nounced intention to establish studios
in various American cities and from
| them to pick up programs designed to
please the American ear and attract an
audience, to which he will resume CIV
ing medical advice. He has been quoted
as stating that he has completed ar
rangements for the necessary wire
hookups between the station and his
old home town of Milford, as well as
Wichita, Oklahoma City, San Antonio
and other Southwestern points.
Since the American radio law desig-
mates the site of the studio as the locus
of a station, 1t is probable that the
Radio Commission through the Depart
ment of Justice will prosecute an action
| against Brinkley If he uses such studios
| The commission now has this matter
under the Amusement of its legal di-
vision. but its members in the mean
| time have been outSpoken in their con-
viction that something should be done
about the Mexican station.
There is a question, however, as to
| whether the American law can apply to
station in Mexico, If that country has
no similar law and Is unwilling to rec
| ognize the American law. 1t is qu@-
tionable whether the Brinkley wire
| transmisSions, though plainly interstate
of the border. and Brinkley will prob
| ably go to the courts TO maintain that
they cannot.
Causes Air Interference.
The second complication arises out of
| the selection of a wave length for XER.
| Operating with such high power on 735
| kilocycleS, the station would be only 5
kilocycles away from the American
clear channel of TAO kilocycles and the
| Canadian clear channel of 100 kilo-
| cycles. on both of which are 5,000-watt
stations owned by important newspa-
| pers. The normal separation between
| CnannelS Is ~ KllOcycleS, operation with
! high power any closer being deemed BY
| the technicians source OF interference.
| The American station is WSB of the
Atlanta journal and the Canadian sta
ton is CKAC Of the Montreal la Presse.
| The Montreal newspaper Is understood
to be considerably concerned and to
have taken the matter up with Do
minion officials. The American station.
being so much nearer to the location of
xER, stands to suffer much more inter-
! ference
DR.. Brinkley is said to be planning to
resume his Medical Question Box" over
| the new station, giving advice to per-
sons who describe their ailments to him
by letter. According to his own testi-
mony before the Radio Commission. he
usually prescribed a medicine prepared
by him and described to the ailing one
by number. He had an ARRANGEMENT
with an association of druggists in Mid
die Western States. which he formed
whereby they distributed the medicine.
1t was this feature of his conduct of
| the station at Milford that evoked the
chief criticism of the commission and
the courts. At present DR.. Brinklev
has suit for $5000,000 pending against
the Kansas City Star. which conducted
the campaign which led to his removal
from the air and the revocation of his
/ license to practice medicine in Kansas.
|
Korff wartime 6vinp arc ond .