Evening star., 1936-08-23

seems to be returning from the soda
fountain and conservatory OF music |
to the backwoods. Just the other day
WIS sent a pair of scouts down into
North Carolina to see what they could
dig up in the way of native Jug blow
ers and fiddle scrapers, although a
few minutes backstage during Ma
tional Barn Dance" performance gives
the idea that the supply of hill-billy
artists is limitless.
A MOTHER war here or in any other
a country will witness the wholesale
Communicating of all radio stations
within grasp of the fighting forces.
Spain's civil war furnishes an ex-
ample-and it illustrates, too, how
the broadcaSting wave lengths when
thrown open to military propaganda
can confuse and bewilder the pop
ulace.
The Spanish Rebels had hardly
begun their drive against the gov
ernment before they had seized the
Seville radio station, the 5,000-watt
EAJ5, broadcasting there from series
of pronouncements and claims to
victory that must have made every
one within its listening area think
it was all over but the shouting.
But the Loyalist forces, in control
of Madrids two big broadcasting sta
tions and its one powerful interna-
tional short wave station, had their
own versions of the fighting to an
nounce. More than that, since Radio
Espana in Madrid (the 3,000-watt
EAJ2) was on the same wave length
as Seville, the Loyalists began send
ing out a carrier wave on maximum
power designed to wipe out anything
that might be broadcast from Seville.
CPAIN'S battle of the wave lengths
was in progress no less than its
actual fighting as these lines were
being written, with the Loyalists ap-
parently in control of the more ef-
fective radio outlets. In Madrid, for
example, Radio Espanas 5000 watts
does not compare with the $4,000
watts of EAJ7 and the latter station
was being used mainly by the Loyalists
for their broadcastS. In addition,
the Loyalists controlled the 7,500-watt
EAJ at Barcelona, and the 10000
watt Transradio Espanola CEAQ, op-
Grating on 10000 kilocycles)
latter one of the best heard interna-
tional short wave stations In the
spectrum.
Altogether, Spain has about IS radio
stations, but, except for the afore-
mentioned stations and the 3,000-watt
EAJ8 at San Sebastian, also controlled
at this writing by the Loyalists, they
are of such relatively low powers that
they can be heard only over short
ranges. Though most Of these sta
tions were privately owned, they were
almost instantly taken over by the
belligerent forces and their techni-
clans and announcers at once i'm
pressed into military service.
p EPORTS are scant from the radio
~ front. but European listeners
within tuning range of the various
stations report that the tide of verbal
battle always seems to be going ac-
cording to the station tuned in.
Everything on the air is propaganda
pure and simple, occasionally inter-
larded with music, but entertainment
was never given supersedence over
military pronunciamentos and news.
Even the worldwide EAQ is domi-
mated by military news broadcast for
all the world to hear not only in
Spanish, but in English, French and
German.
Such news by its very nature IS
unreliable, and the American net
works were slow in attempting to pick
up first-hand reports from the battle
scene. Columbia Broadcasting Sys-
tenn, however, from the little town
of Hendaye across the border in
France sent out first word from Span
ish refugees fleeing their war-torn
country via French telephone connec-
tions and the French trans Atlantic
wireless early in August, with the
commentator, H. v. Kaltenborn. on
hand as quickly as he could get there
to broadcast his observations and
reports.