davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1950-10-29
Te|evision-Rodio 7
Broodcosters Will Point With Pride
Toward Themselves This Week
By Horry Macarthur

time to tell you about couple of
early special-events broadcasts,
one Of which failed and the other
of which apparently was a great
success.
Wilson First President
To Attempt q Rodio ToIk
President Woodrow Wilson was
the first Chief Executive to turn
to radio to try to communicate
with the people. When he was
returning from the Paris Peace
Conference after World War 1 he
tried to deliver an important peace
message to America from the deck
of the S. S. George Washington.
Something happened to the trans
mitter. however, and his words
were heard only by his fellow pas
sengers and a few scattered deck
hands Not many more would
have heard him, of course, if the
broadcast had been a success. The
date was July 4, 1919. President
Wilson, in this. too, was ahead of
his time. Ship-to-shore broad
casts were successful in 1920 and
the first tWo-Way conversation of
this kind, between Deal. N. j., and
the S. S. America 400 miles at
sea, was established in 1922.
The first sportscaster did not
sit in a well-equipped booth with
an assistant to do his mathematics
while he broadcast the play-by-
play report of a baseball game. He
sat in the last row of the bleachers
for the first baseball broadcast,
watching the Pittsburgh Pirates
take on some National League foe.
AS the game progressed he scrib-
bled details in a loose-leaf note
book and dropped his reports down
the back wall, an inning at a
time. Waiting below was a strong
Winded, swift and fast-talking
courier, whose job was to trap the
floating reports and race to a
telephone to relay them to the
KDKA announcer, who put them
on the air.
TeIevision, as on ldeo,
Is Just as Old as Rodio
Television, as an idea at any
rate. is just as old as radio. Back
in 1920, when radio broadcasting
started, television's dreamers were
busy getting under way with lab
oratory research. which had been
halted by the First World War
By 1927 the research had pro-
gressed far enough that the Gov
ernment could license the first
television broadcasting station, or
the outskirts of Washington. In
1929 licenses were granted to 2.
TV stations.
1t was not until July, 1941, how
ever, that commercial telecasting
was authorized and the period
between had been marked by q
great deal of argument over
standards. This standards prob
lem for black -and-white televisior
was met by the Federal Commu-
nications Commission by appoint
ment in 1910 of a National Tele-
vision System Committee. con-
sisting of 168 TV specialists.
These experts, after 1000 man
hours of meetings and 25 demon
strations during some seven
(See MACARTHUR, Page C-1O.)
Evening star., 1950-10-29

time to tell you about couple of
early special-events broadcasts,
one Of which failed and the other
of which apparently was a great
success.
Evening star., 1950-10-29


tions from the
first movement
of Beethoven's
Emperor Con-
certo."
11:35, WTOP
- Invitation to
Learning: Wal
ter Cohen a n d
Lionel Trilling
discuss E. M.
F orS t e RS "a
Passage to In
dia."
1890, WMAL
p i a n O Play
house: Concert
Evening star., 1950-02-05
How Author Kahn Saw
Rep. Juvits' Profile

The response to E. J, Kahn's
profile of him in two recent New
Yorker issues has been most graft
flying, Representative Javits, Re-
publican, of New York is happy to
say. Having read of the unusual
requests he gets every day in the
mail, people from all over the
country have been writing in to
ask for favors. And one kind soul
sent in pair of booties for Mr.
Javits' new baby son, who was
born on January 2, just before the
issue went to press.
The research for the profile was
done last summer. The Repre-
sentative took the writer to his
bosom, and for two weeks, Mr..
Kahn shadowed him very closely,
notebook in hand. The young New
Yorker writer rummaged happily
through the files, read the mail
every morning, sat with the Repre-
sentative in his inner Office, both
here and in New York, and stayed
right on through telephone calls
and visits from constituents.
When Mr.. Javits went to the floor
of the House. Mr.. Kahn stayed
behind in his office to see just how
things were done. Mr.. Javits'
staff was much impressed by the
fine checking that the New Yorker
did. They even called to be sure
that Mr.. Kahn had got the titles
of the books on Mr.. Javits desk
right.
Evening star., 1950-02-05

inclined to look at his characters
from a certain dialectical position
usually called liberal. The most re-
pulsive ones all are headed in the
direction of anti-semitism and
some sort of fascism. Not one, it
need hardly be added, is left
winger. The love affair between
Keith and the WAC lieutenant is
drawn out to thinness. The most
effective part of the story is the
plight of a combat team left at the
front beyond exhaustion, reduced
to half its strength. fighting against
the Siegfried Line on the edge of
winter without warm clothing or
enough food, still waiting for re-
placements long promised.
Mr.. Calmer covered the Eu-
ropean theater for a broadcasting
SySten1
Evening star., 1950-02-05
New Books

FICTION.
WALL OF GUNS. BY Jim o'Mara. E.P.
Rsl.,, RR1ltson Co. Western. $3.50.
THE YEAR OF THE sPANIARD. By
1885 S.. February Fb'ss' ). mover Oh
NON-FICTION.
BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. Vol. 1.
Edited by J. st. Loe Strachey. A. A.
ygnns79 Wgn CO. ap Plays II original texts. ss45.
THE LITTLE BOOK OF ROSES. BY Al
fred werner. % A. A. wyn Co. ST.. jan
THE Upton STORY. BY Alec Waugh.
D9u0ieasy ton ss rdhssss Bhiosrsphy of Thomas Lip
SALTWATER FISHING. By Robert A.
Dahne. Holt. "A fishing guide So
INTRoDUCTIoN TO PsYCHosoMATIC
nsIs MnsEDICINE, BY G, A. seguin, M. D. So.
PATTERNS OF PANIC. BY Joost A. M.
troubled world. So. February s. =
ffAeElsAL pfars OF ANP dTH#poEsETeAk as s.
Universities press p1'e' 81 FebTaars FIsans''Snai g.
THE LAST CHANCE. BY John Myers
stone. Aria. $3.50. February 10. .''
NEW LEASH ON LIFE. BY Richard
Grossman. Random House The life
and loves of Boxer. So. February 10.
THE CHALLENGE. BY Julius J. Adams
Wendell, Malliet 81 Co. Negro leader
ship In the q. s. S2.75
JOURNEY TO A HIGH MOUNTAIN. BY
James Wellard. Dodd, Mead. Miracle
story. SO. February 10.
NARROW GUAGE RAILWAYS in AMER
ICA. BY Howard Fleming. Grahame
THE RAMP2RTs WE GUARD. By r. NJ.
MacTyer. Macmillan. defense Of
Democracy. 50. February 1z.
Evening star., 1950-02-05
A Bright Future
Seems Assured
For Mr.. MucCown

THE SIEGE OF INNOCENCE
BY Eugene MacCown. doubleday
& Co.: S3.)
This scathing report on the
scandalous didos of the between
wars continental smart set is
couched in a style that is 18th
century IN its elegance. Mr.. Mac
Gown has all the grace of a Ches-
terf1eld in recording the assaults
made on the virtue of his hand
some young American artist hero,
who refuses to believe i'll of his
fellows despite spectacular signs
to the contrary. The initial ad-
vance is made by an aging Ameri-
can glamour girl who combines Sc
duction strategy with an extended
search for a provincial chateau
Young Bruce further learns that
life can be anything but what
1t seems, when in his Paris studio
he discovers that his servant, Nine
Jaloustre, the devoted wife OF
a cabby, is actually a man. But
this is almost suburban heights
| material compared with the gildeo
decadence he dewily contemplates
in Venice where his associates
are a worldly monsignor whose
habits are made by Paquin, a rich
assortment of homosexuals, a klep-
tomaniac baroness and beauti-
full, birth-marked Englishwoman
who pays young toughs to come to
her bed.
Mr.. MacCown's silken, stately
indictment is handed down in
prose that is unfaltering, almost
unnerving in it's inperturbable
finesse. He is over-addicted how
ever to three and four syllable
words that mean nothing to his
more pedestrian readers. And he
is, on several occasions, needlessly
and tastelessly explicit, including
some overripe details about post
graduate corruption in Venice. His
prude's progress has several mo-
ments of high comedy, and his
caste of characters makes the in
habitants of the early Evelyn
Waugh novels seem like All Club
members in good standing. 1t
would seem that Mr.. MacCown,
whose first novel this is, and who
spent IA. years in Paris between
the wars, has a bright future as
a satirist. 1t is worth noting that
he says that this book is in no
way autobiographical.-M. MEG.
Evening star., 1950-02-05

and hears ana what ne THINKS
are recorded in the present tense.
1t Is like stepping into the per-
sonalty of each, looking through
his eyes and sharing his judg-
ments and emotions.
The method enables the author
to describe phases of the military
machine and the fighting with ex-
traordinary clarity. At the same
time it is not an easy way of
writing fairly long book. The
very vividness of the plan tends to
defeat it in the end. Drama seen
from too many facets eventually
loses it's impact. There can be
no transitional descriptions ex-
cept what the characters under
scrutiny see or conjure up from
the past.
Even so, despite stylistic monot-
ony and inevitable repetition of
situation and viewpoint, "The
Strange Land" is q remarkable
achievement. Mr.. Calmer has
drawn some of the sharpest
portrayals to come out of the war.
Some of his impressions of COM
bat can be matched only in that
little masterpiece that came out
last year, Van Van Praag's DAY
Without End"
Mr.. Calmer's best-developed
characters are Maj. Gen. Clyde
Mallon, callous and rhetorical
soldier. whose ambition over
shadowed all consideration for his
men, and John C.. Wexell, an iso-
lationist columnist who came over
to take a look at the war and find
things to criticize. The wistful
kid replacement, Pvt. Ralph Hill,
Is clearly seen. The intrepid
lieutenant, Keith, and Maj. Har-
rod, men of superior intellect and
fine impulses, were more difficult
to draw, but are brought out
persuasively. The others are more
ahadowy.
It Is true that Mr.. Calmer is
Evening star., 1950-02-05

never be put in command of an
other ship.
Says Comdr. Lederer, who char
acteristically shutters only when
he is not excited, Il said to
myself. Lederer, you've got to
learn another profession I had
always wanted to write. I know
that it takes a man eight years to
become a doctor. But doctor
only sustains life, and a good
writer creates 1t. So I allowed
myself 10 years. I've had five now,
and I'll need another. FIVE to be-
come really fluent"
But Lederer Is Pleased.
Meanwhile, the news about "All
the Ships at Sea" is causing con-
sternation in some high Pentagon
circles who feel that the Navy has
troubles enough. One high-rank-
ing officer spluttered, after view
ing the galleys: "Lederer shows
all his loyalty for the enlisted men
and the junior offlcers-none for
the senior officers. It's not a
damned bit better than Mr.. Rob-
erts,' and I dislike it twice, as
much"
Comdr. Lederer is charmed.
His friend, Mr.. Wilkinson, got a
tip about writing from Gertrude
Stein when that lady visited Cam
bridge during his stay there. She
advised him to go into advertising
rather than newspaper work for
apprenticeship. AS it happened
that's just what he did. He was
with a New York firm for while,
then went to Boston as adver-
tising manager of Little, Brown
After his war service, he and his
wife decided to settle here while
he tried writing as full-time job
Some day he wants to do a
serious novel about Washington,
and is waiting for the day when
his editor will give him the green
light. In the meantime, he's en-
joying the life here and taking
notes on local personalities.
Evening star., 1950-02-05
Another Gwen Bristow Novel Keeps Her
Rolling Along in Best-SeIIerdom
JUBILEE TRAIL


BY Gwen Bristow. (CrotoeH;: So.
Miss Bristow has chosen a
period much written of lately, the
1840s. for this long romance.
The story starts in New York
with the marriage Of the heroine.
Garnet Cameron, a sheltered girl
with well-to-do parents. to Oliver
Hale, a trader on the Santa Fe
Trail. After a brief honeymoon
in New Orleans, they took boats
up the Mississippi and the Mis-
souri, to Independence. There
they loaded divers wagons with
goods and joined a caravan
headed for Santa Fe. They were
going through to California.
where r Oliver and his brother
owned an immense ranch. 1t was
1845, a year before the Mexican
War broke out. New Mexico and
California still were Mexican ter
ritory.
1t is giving away very little of
a tangled plot to disclose that
Oliver. for all his engaging quail
tiles. turned out to be under the
Evening star., 1950-02-05

coming in from to 8 every
morning, to struggle over a light
ly f1ctionized account of his great
love for, and long war with, the
Navy, "All the Ships at. Sea, !"
which will be published on Feb
ruary %. Then after Mr.. Wilkin-
son had packed up and departed,
Comdr. Lederer would return
from his labors as chief of the
book and magazine section of the
Department of Defense, and re-
address himself to the still
smoking typewriter, continuing
far into the night.
Luncheon Debates.
Between times the two friends
arranged for luncheon debates
over the articles about naval mat
ters which they both contribute
to magazines, Mr.. Wilkinson, a
wartime commander, served as
liaison officer to the British Ad-
miralty. Comdr. Lederer has
been an affectionate thorn in the
Navy's side since he joined up in
his teens so that he could go to
Annapolis and become a writer.
He has just expanded to book
length a Saturday Evening Post
story about the submarine Cochino
which appeared in the January
IA issue of the Saturday Evening
Post.
Mr.. Wilkinson is a great admirer
of F. Scott Fitzgerald, both for
pace and style, and enjoys being
compared with John Buchan.
Comdr. Lederer grins from ear
to ear when you compare him with
"Mr. Roberts" Mr.. Wilkinson,
who spent a year at Cambridge
after graduation from Harvard,
is much addicted to British under
statement. Comdr. Lederer, who
used to be a boxer, leans more
to colorful, American overstate-
ment.
But they get along fine and
respect each other and each others
work.
Haywood Broun's Secretary.
Comdr. Lederer got the writ
ing bug when he was in his
teens and secretary to Haywood
Broun. Told by all the authors
around him that he must be edu-
Gated before he could write, he
joined the Navy hoping to get into
Annapolis, which does not require
a high school diploma. He made
it. by unorthodox means.
The commanding officer of the
first ship he served on after being
commissioned wrote of him:
Ensign Lederer has a pleasing
personality and initiative, but
his impetuosity tends to warp his
good judgment" Lederer still
thinks that's fair enough.
After war service in the Medit-
erranean and North Atlantic, dur
ing which he continued his chosen
sideline of brass batting and also
won the Purple Heart, Comdr.
Lederer became skipper of a cruis-
er which collided with a sub
marine. He was court-martialed
and though the charges were de-
clared illegal he knows he would
Evening star., 1950-02-05

which was fatal for a number
of hapless Soviet soldiers - but
that they are slow to fire.
Gen. Howley envisages the pos
sibility that Russia may be doing
Just that in it's cold war against
the West-drawing the gun to
get what it wants, without the
intention to use it when the show
down comes.
The book has stirred up lot
of controversy and particularly
adverse comment. but it is highly
readable and the generals hyper
bole is not too dangerous for any
one WHO takes the trouble to fol-
low thesnews.
Evening star., 1950-02-05

+ domination of his older brother
William. William wanted Oliver
to marry some native heireSs. SO
they could double their lands, and
hence William hated the bride.
Adventure. tragedy and a great
deal more awaited Garnet.
Virtuous Barmaid.
The author could not resist at
least one Indian fight on the trail
from Santa Fe to California.
Later Garnet, product of an ex-
elusive ladies seminary" and of
an upper-crust home where no
woman ever did or heard anything
not genteel by the standards of
that day. found herself suddenly
destitute, though not entirely
friendless, in strange country.
We are asked to believe that she
went to work as a barmaid in the
brawling village of Los Angeles
and adapted herself admirably to
the life without ever ceasing to
be little lady. Meanwhile char
acters she would not have
imagined back home have sur
rounded her. Most of them are
familiar to novel readers, if not
to her. There is the girl of con-
venient virtue who is warm
hearted and generous. There is
the man who hides a bitter boy
hood under a cold exterior, but
actually is as full of sentiment
as a box of keepsakes. Another
nurses frustrated career under
a thick layer sof whisky, but is
ready to give his right arm for a
friend any time. There is, for
variety,sa gigantic Russian who
turns out to be practically saint
Miss Bristow has brought in
enough history to emphasize the
period. She has filled in her story
with sentiment, romance and
melodrama in careful proportions.
1t is twice as long as it need have
been. All these elements seem to
meet the specifications of popu-
lar historical novel. They suit the
Literary Guild, which is distribut-
ing Jubilee Trail" to its several
hundred thousand members. No
doubt. like so many others, it will
be a successful product all the
way to the inevitable film version.
Historical novels are sure-fire-
providing. of course, they are not
written too close to life.
| X " X
NON SCHEDULED FLIGHT
BY R. L. Duffus. (MdcmiIlan !.
$780,
While this novel follows a IA
miliar pattern. group of persons
thrown together arbitrarily-the
Grand Hotel" design - Mr..
Duffus, a skilled hand, has turned
out an ingenious story. His group
boards at New Orleans a special
plane bound for Guatemala City.
Over a Guatemalan jungle there
is trouble. What happens brings,
in a strange way, release for each
OF several passengers baffled with
life. The release is more complex
than death alone. Mr.. Duffus has
carried out well the difficult task
OF drawing 16 characters in brief
space. The narrative is swift and
! dramatic.
Evening star., 1950-02-05
Chess
BY Donald H. Muqridqe

Carl A. Hesse will take on all
Icomers at simultaneous play, at
the Washington Chess Divan, 2445
Fifteenth street NV, Wednesday,
February 8, at pm. The exhibi-
ton will be limited to 20 boards:
there will be no charge, and nom
members are invited to play or
observe.
In the District League, the Fed
eral Chess Club defeated George
town University. 80. winning on
the first eight boards. A match
between George Washington and
the Government Printing Office
went to the University. 5I2-412.
because the 10th typographer was
missing. League standings, with
some seventh-round matches still
unplayed: Divan, 60; Federal, 7l2-
Y; Bald Eagle, Sell "; Naval
Communications, So; George
Washington, 31a-21a; Maryland
u. 2-2; Governmnt Printing
Office, 3-4; Paragon, "a Libary
of Congress, 2-5; Naval Gun Fac
tory, 11a-412: Army Map Service,
0-6; Georgetown, OF.
With only one more round to go.
Eastern continued to hold lead
in the Interhigh Chess Associa-
tion's winter tourney The scores:
Eastern, 25-3; Roosevelt. 21l2-6l2;
Fairfax. 17-12; Coolidge, 1872
t1412; Tech, 121a-15l2 Wilson.
1918; Deal, 712-22l2; and West
.ern, 3-21. Richard Kraft Of
Roosevelt, with 40, had the best
individual score among the team
leaders.
Sponsoring Weaver w. Adams
appearance at Friendship House.
the Army Map Service and Naval
Gun Factory clubs tried to crowd
too much into one evening. The
performers two games with run
ming commentary, against B. o.
Weaver and Arthur Whitaker,
had to be broken off unfinished.
The first was conceded to Adams,
while the second was called
draw. A small simultaneous dis
play followed, in which, with only
eight opponents, the expert made
a clean sweep. A. C. de Bethizy.
r M. Haisfield, D. Howard, F.
Miller. P, J. Mulligan, G. E. Reeve,
S. Schwartz and B. o. Weaver
were the victims.
The Divan's class B tourney ap-
proaches completion. but there
have been a number of postponed
games. The best scores: E. j.
Hover, 6-1; K. A. Baer, 5-1; G.
ORourke. So; F. De Graw,
I5la-22; H. Wobus, 6-3. Rapid
Transit broke out again at the
Divan on February /: the winners
in a mixed field of II: Hans Ber-
liner, 10-1; Mark Kurtz and D.
H. Mugridge, go; C. A. Hesse.
I8-3.
The following game from the
Paragon match has an
ending with points of interest.
Blacks pawn majority after the
exchange of queens looks most in
secure, but ne is able to maintain
it because of superior mobility.
White; F.M1LLER. Black: DHMUGR1DGE.
Evening star., 1950-02-05
Prize-Winning Novel
Is Family Study
THE MESH

ne HGOI1
BY 'Lucie Marchal. (Appleton-
Century -Crotts; $3J
1.-THE Mesh" is an intimate
searching probe of a warped fam
lily in Brussels. The widowed
mother has completely dominated
her son and her daughter, both
of mature years, neither married.
It is the son, however, on whom
Nine. Francois has lavished hel
autocratic affection, and she has
reduced him to such dependence
that he cannot make the simplest
decision without her. When the
son, in a desperate gesture of in
dependence, marries> and brings
his wife home, the expected hap
pens, but not in the way antici-
pated. Mime. Francois is too dia-
bolically clever to start in on her
daughter-in-law at once. The
mother goes away for several
months, knowing her son cannot
go on without her. In time, he
sends for her. When she re-
turns, she is ready to persecute
the timid wife. even her small dog.
Now the older woman is conf
dent; she cannot lose. The story
is told by Nine. Francois daugh-
ter Madeleine, no more normal
than her brother. Madeleine finds
compensation in the end in a new
relationship as sinister as any
that binds the small family.
The matriarchal pattern is IA
miliar, and yet Lucie Marchal has
traced 1t with rare understanding
The writing, spare and concise,
moves swiftly with a power that
never falters and ends in memo
rable climax. 1t is the sort of
family study at which European
novelists seem to excel. Lucille
Marchal, born in Brussels, writes
in French, and the translation by
Virgilia Peterson is admirable.
1.-THE Mesh" surely deserves the
prize 1t was awarded by Les Let
tres Franchises. &C. 3. j.
Evening star., 1950-02-05

Gen. Howley, former American
commandant in Berlin, was the
stormy petrol of the occupation
there and this book is his own
record - highly dramatized and
with a heavy overlay of the How
ley PERSONAL---VERY. four years of
his struggle with the Russians,
whom. he makes clear very early
in the book, he heartily dislikes.
In the midst of many conclu-
sions, a large number of which
might appear to be on a pretty
shaky foundation, he has arrived
at one which is of particular in
terest. 1t is that the Russians
are awfully quick to draw a gun