Evening star., 1951-12-12
| On the Air:
10. Murconi's
Day Was Just
Like Today
BY Harry Macarthur

transatlantic wireless messag,
was received at st. Johns, New.
foundland.
The natural question was, wha
was the impact of this momen
touS event on the world? TIL,
answer was that the world OBJ
viously didn't know it was ther
well on the way to Milton Berl,
in millions of living rooms. II
many respects. though, those were
not the good old days.
December IL. 1901 was a Thurs.
day. The weather was good, but
a cold wave was in the making ir
the west and heading for the east
A police action" was under way
to tame the Philippine insurrec.
tionists. The British were suffer.
ing the pangs Of empire in the
Boer territory Of South Africa.
(. On the local scene, the Zoo wa
getting some new animals agar
in December. 1901. Most note
worthy of the newcomers was tn.
Australian dingo, "a very larg,
and able-bodied variety of wolf,
according to the report in TIL,
Star. President Theodore Roose.
velt was reviewing a parade tha
day. too. the annual one Of thu
District police and firemen.
! Those Of the former who coulc
be spared were out tracing dowr
the man who had brutally beater
a Mrs. Dennis in her room. TIL,
police were confident but without
a clue.
Down on Capitol Hill the House
Judiciary Committee had author.
lied the appointment of specia
subcommittee ito consider bill.
offered to punish attacks on the
President and Vice President anc
to deal with anarchy and anar-
lchists." The butter people wer.
enlisting congressional aid in /.
bitter fight against the makers
Iof oleomargarine.
Somebody had just come u,
with new diet which permittet
1.-THE overweight to ''eat. drink ant
be merry" and still lose foul
pounds a week. A new method O
measurement developed at tn,
Naval Observatory had resulted il
the discovery that all the planet
were much smaller and dense,
than everybody had been thinking
The Pennsylvania Railroad wa
proposing an awe-inspiripg steI
forward-the construction Of tun.
Inels for its trains under the Nortl
and East Rivers in New York.
In the sports and entertainment
worlds. the good old days don't
seem to have been as much Of ar
improvement on now as some
might tell you.
There was a fine winter fight
going on in baseball. It reached a
point in mid-December when
sports writers were filled with
lpessimism.
mot since the National League
has been in existence" wrote one
has it faced a crisis like the pres
ent, and it is the belief of man,
that the organization will be dis.
rupted and wiped of the ball mar
before night. -"
In New York q six-day bicycle
race was drawing to a close a.
Marconi was hearing that historic
signal sent along the radio waves
A writer with a dim view had 9
word. or several words, for that
Two of them were miserable
spectacle"
The theater. even in 1901, seems
to have been playing the longes
death scene any one healthy evel
played, the one that's still coins
on.
This an experienced Broad
way producer was quoted in The
Star, "is the worst theatrical sea-
son known in 80 years."
X + y II
There wasn't a word about Mar.
coni's triumph .over the space
with the electron, though, on thai
Thursday or later In the week
There weren't any press agent!
yet around radios log cabin ir
the backwoods of science.
X + + II
Programs and People - 9TH,
Paul Whiteman Revue" CWMAL-
TV-Sunday, Z p.m) has been re-
newed by the sponsor and viii
continue at the old stand.
The latest word on 'Dragnet" i
that the television version of thu
program will start, not in tn
Sunday niche where it is beini
advertised, but on Thursday
january 3, at 9 pm. on NBC-Tv
(WNBW). James Melton's "Fes
tival" will be cut ON that date an,
thereafter to a half hour, at 9:3I
pm. Sound OF Time," which
the "Dragnet" sponsor has beel
running on Sundays at z will
Fred Allen. Bob Hope and Jerr,
Lester will be dropped after Jan
luary 6, according to this lates
word from NBC. :. Melvin Doug
las may join the movie actors VIII
have found television a rewardin,
field, in a series of half -hou
programs on film. The lates
count by the Washington Tele
vision Circulation Committee re
ports 312,100 TV sets in tn
Metropolitan area.