Evening star., 1935-06-02

private ranks for test for this position
as many as "a men, and only 2. per-
haps, prove anywhere equal to the
/ job.
Oddly, the NATURAL voice Of the
dispatcher is least important among
his qualifications. AS you listen over
your radio you are invariably struck
with the low. even monotone of the
voice which comes from police radio
stations This is not due to long
hours of practice, nor is it the normal
voice of the dispatcher Rather, it
is due to the skill of the radio op-
orator. whose business it is to modu-
late by means of delicate controls
the tone of the voice announcing
His ear does not hear the voice as
it goes into the microphone before
the dispatcher, he hears it as it
comes from a loud speaker at his
head. He is able. therefore, to judge
best what tone controls to manipulate
in order to ''remold" that voice nearest
to ideal broadcast quality. 1t is true,
however, that in time the dispatcher
will, in observing the fluctuations Of
the needle on the dial before him,
unconsciously adapt his announcing
voice to a tone which least vibrates
this indicating arm and eventually
assume a voice quality for over-the-
air work which needs very little ad-
justing by the operator.
Incidentally, the That is ALL.
which completes every police call. has
been adopted because it is the briefest
way in which the scout car man may
be told that the message is finished.
Der or the station letters of their own
unit.
The writer had the privilege while
gathering data for this article to ride
in a private headquarters car during
the peak call hours from pm. until
midnight on Saturday. The officers
were anxious that he should expert
ence all the thrills which ordinarily
went with such ride. They were
chagrined when the radio turned in
what they termed very quiet eve
ming" 1t may amuse the reader to
know that, beginning few moments
after the car had begun its peregrina-
tions. we successfully answered calls
for a burglary, a stabbing. fainting
woman lying in street, alteration" :"
two fights, shooting fray, murder
investigation, "disorderly boys" two
men with guns, a hit-and-run driver.
an automobile accident, trouble" and
hold-up. among several other mi
nor things which the official driving
the car did not judge sufficiently ex-
citing to respond to.
The truth is, comparatively speak
ing it was "quiet evening"
A BREAKDOWN of 1884 WPDW
- statistics brings out many facts
of interest in connection with WASH
ingtons Police Radio Bureau. A grand
total of 69,057 calls, for example, were
broadcast These included lookouts
for persons and cars, stolen cars, "call
dispatcher, station or bureau" mes
sages for neighboring cities and
towns serviced by the Capital station.
In this latter group, listed as "other
messages" and numbering 1884 Of
the total, were 1889 calls for (like-
wise, radio-equipped) an emergency
ambulance. 3,673 for stolen cars and
381 false alarms-the latter, Fire De-
partment figures show, costing the
District in the neighborhood Of $40
each. Eight thousand and forty ar
rests were made as a result OF these
"other messages" calls alone.
A further breakdown Of the 1884
tables shows that scout and cruiser
cars answered q wide and curious Va.