Evening star., 1932-02-14
BATTLE Of ETHER
RAGESAT SHANGHAI.
Speed With Which World
Gets News Hinges Upon
Its Result.
by MARTIN CODEL.
There's another kind Of warfare rag


There's another kind Of warfare rag
ing around Shanghai these days. va
riety of battle that the news-hungry
public of the world hears little or moth
ing about. Yet upon 1t depends the
speed and dispatch with which the
world and its statesmen are kept ap-
prised of current developments over
there.
1t is a battle of the ether channels.
With Chinese land stations and Amer
ican, Japanese, British, French and
other warship radio stations going full
blast sending reports Of the develop
ments to their respective home govern
ments by code, interference on the far.
reaching short waves Is rampant,
But the interference, thanks to the
courtesy OF the ether" that is being
more or less scrupulously observed by
radiomen everywhere. has not yet
broken lines OF communication. Added
to the maintained efficiency Of the Ca
hes to Shanghai, radio contacts have
been sustained practically unbroksn
since hostilities began there a few
weeks ago.
Matter Of Minutes.
Though Shanghai Is on the other
side Of the world, 1t Is only a matter OF
minutes by radio and cable between
Washington and the scene of the
Sino-Japanese embroelio. Naval radio,
centralized at NAA, Arlington, has been
bearing the bulk of the eommunica-
tinns load between American Govern
ment officials and our military and Dip
lomatic representatives at Shanghai,
exchanges of messages, except for occa-
sianal midafternoon fading on the radio
circuits, have been exceedingly speedy
and efficient, according to Capt g. G.
Hooper, director of naval communica-
tions.
From Washington all radio messages
are relayed to San Francisco, thence to
Manila and thence to the feet at
Shanghai or elsewhere in Chinese
waters. The complete operation, which
involves both hand sending and auto
matte relays, scarcely ever takes over
20 minutes. Commercial radio and
cable traffic Is even speedier, being
nearly all automatic relays The only
direct Iadio circuit to Shanghai Is the
one maintained by r. C. A. between
San Francisco and the station at
Shanghai that it owns and operates
jointly with the Chinese government.
Reports that the r. c. Chinese
station has been bombed by Japanese
aviators have been denied by officials
of the former company, as have the re-
ports that cable lines have been broken.
The !. T. d T. has a cable circuit to
Shanghai, which has continued In
operation without interruption despite
slight land line break that occurred
last week and neeessitated an extra re-
lay, which, being automatic, did not
occasion any delay All commercial
radio and cable circuits, of course, have
also been loaded to capacity.
Amateurs Called ON.
Unconflrmed reports have been re-
ceiVed here that the Japanese govern
ment has ordered its amateurs TO cease
communicating with American anna
teurs-a likely measure of war but one
about which the American Radio Relay
League, headquarters organizations of
the hams" at Hartford, has heard
nothing official.
Unless the military sees an unex-
pected need, it is not likely that inter-
ference due to simultaneous efforts to
Use the same wave lengths will be any
more serious than heretofore. 1t would
De a simple matter for almost any in
terested country to interrupt radio
communication from the war zone at
Will by deliberately setting up interfer-
ing signals ON the international wave
lengths. None has seen the necessity
OF doing this SO far, and such interfer-
ence as has occurred is traeeable only
to the heavy burden Of traihc the
ether waves are carrying.