Evening star., 1932-03-06

A ROUND an apparently insight
~ f1cant application for a Swat
~ experimental radio station, de-
4 4 signed to operate on wave
lengths 50 short that they are
measured In inches and use antennae
about the size Of small pin, has de-
veloped a complication in radio admin
istration that threatens the entire radio
system Of the International Telephone
& Telegraph Corporation, holding COM
pany of Postal Telegraph and counter
part in the international communica-
tions field of the domestic American
Telephone & Telegraph Co.
The tiny station, developed in the
Paris laboratories of I. T. & T, was
intended to experiment with fractional
meter radio channels to determine their
practic ability for autobiography,
broadcasting, television or other serv-
ices Trials carried out last Summer
in Europe revealed that with only one
half watt of power 1t could transmit
audible radio signals over 20 miles OF
the English Channel between Dover
and Calais.
Brought Apparatus Here.
So eager were I. T 81 T. officials to
pursue the experiments further IN this
especially in view Of the In
tense rivalry that seems to be develop
ing among research laboratories to
plumb the potentialities OF the ultra
short waves-that they brought M.
Clavier, French engineer, over to the
United States with the apparatus used
in the European tests to conduct the
experiments also at their Newark lab
oratories.
Expecting to secure the experimental
wave lengths as q matter OF routine,
they ran into snag at the Radio Com
mission, which not only has refused 10
grant this application but has asked
the Court Of Appeals here to rule on
the right Of the !. T. & T. and lts SUD-
sidiaries to hold any radio wave licenses
at all. The decision OF the court Is ex-
pected momentarily.
The whole situation, complex In the
extreme. grows out Of the commission
more or less sudden determination to
test the validity of section IL OF the
radio act. which directs 1t to refuse
license grants "to any company, cor
poration or association of which any
officer or director is an alien, or OF
which more than one-fifth OF the capl-
tai stock may be voted by aliens OF
their representatives" etc.
While I. T. & T. Is domnantly
American, four of its % directors are
citizens of foreign countries, namely
Conde de GuelI and Marques de Urqul-
10 of Spain, where I. T. g. T. holds I'M
portant telephone, telegraph ana raolo
concessions; Henry B. Orde OF Canada
where I. T. 81 T. has telegraph al
fliation with the Canadian PACING
and Frank Gill Of Great Britain, wee
president in charge Of European op-
erations.
Has $4,000 Stockholders.
This information has been filed with
the commission along with otner oaLd
about the corporate setup OF L. l. o. n =
and its subsidiaries. The l.. l. q !
itself, according to letter hleo WIN!
the commission by Charles Evaiis
Hughes, jr., it's counsel, has more ttial!
85 900 stockholders, Of whom more ttiaL
76 900, owning more than o'ooo,G9o " -,
its total of 6,642 sos shares, resloe u
the United States. The other stock-
holders are in various other countries
The swat wave application wa
first made last September In the name
OF the International Communlcatlors
Laboratories Of Newark, 100 per cen
subsidiary. Later, when the conlHln- y
sion's legal division held it up "untl
the commission may have an oppoftu-
nity to satisfy itself with respect 10 tne
legal eligibility of applicant, the appti,
cation was renewed in January III 4, 'iis =
name Of Lewis NJ. Clement, an 1: l: O
It engineer at Newark and an hineii'
The applicants asked for the frequen-
cies 100000 to 5000 900 kilocycles, oi
10 to SO centimeters which Is only oiie
tenth to one-third of a meter por'
ton of the radio spectrum 80 lai
moved from present operatlohs I1,. eala
only a handful Of experimenters Lias'
| ever been licensed to use 1t. Ihe posi-, POSI-,
bilities of these waves are prac; pDG;near,
unknown today, but many ensnessi,s
see in them more avenues OF raoe
communication in the future, mcluont
possibly localized broadcastlng AM
teleyision services. These are the So
called line sight" waves, wnlcE
must be projected from high points ano
which do not travel beyond the horAol
Delay Short Wave Grants.
Even Mr.. Clements application wa
| held up, the commission refusing u
grant any more short waves to COM
panies involved in the litigation grow.
! ing out OF the scramble for the a
channels recaptured after the uni
versal Wireless bankruptcy. Asking
the court here to clarity its man
date directing that these waves pt
allocated to Radio Corporation O.
America and Mackay Radio 81 Tele,
graph Co, the latter also an I. T. &
subsidiary, the commission also re-
quested that the court pass upon TN
| vi IF r o. ~
sidiaries to hold radio licenses In vleV
of section IL.
This Is the decision now anxiousl,
! a tied hu T 8r rr II Il iS- adNerSe