2YA CHIEF RETIRES

Taranaki Daily News, 26 September 1940, Page 12

2YA CHIEF RETIRES

By Telegraph—Press Association.

SUCCESS IN JOURNALISM

Wellington, Sept. 25. After a notable career in provincial journalism and in radio broadcasting, Mr. John Ball, station manager of 2YA since its foundation, has n'ow retired. At a farewell gathering of the station staff, Mr. Ball was presented with a fountain pen. The Director of the National Broadcasting Service, Professor Shelley, spoke highly of Mr. Ball's work for the 2YA station and for radio in New Zealand. At the age of seven John Ball was brought to New Zealand by his parents in the sailing ship Hurunui, on an eventful voyage during which the vessel collided with, and sank, another ship with the loss of all hands, and later in the Bay of Biscay had her own second mate swept overboard in a squall. His parents settled in the Rangitikei, and he was sent to school at Wanganui. There he grew up, being apprenticed as a boy to the Wanganui Chronicle as a printer's devil. Later he became a compositor, then a reporter, and ultimately editor, a position he retained for 20 years. For some years he was chairman of the paper's board of As a journalist, Mr. Ball was intimately connected with the development of the district. He initiated and carried out a scheme whereby £68,000 was raised in ten days at Wanganui and the two adjacent coiinties for the benefit of returned soldiers and their dependants. He was largely responsible for the memorial tower on Durie Hill, one of the most notable monument in the Dominion When the Wanganui Woollen Mills were opened, his share in their establishment was publicly acknowledged by the. chairman of the company. On his departure ■ from the city, he was paid a wonderful tribute by its leading citizens. At the invitation of Mr. A. R. Harris, of the Radio Broadcasting Co., Mr. Ball joined the 2YA station at its inception as editor, announcer and liaison officer. He took part in the opening of the station, and was subsequentl* intimately assoeiated with the development of radio in New Zealand. For more than ten years he was station manager, holding and being confirmed toi that office when the Broadcasting Board assumed control of the station in 1932. He was presented with an illuminated address in recognition of his services by the directors of the old company. ... Mr." Ball participated in some historic broadcasts, among them that froin Trentham on-the fateful evening when thousands of people waited to vain for the arrival from across the Tasman of the flyers Lieutenant J. R. Moncrieff and Captain G. Hood. * Another notable broadcast was that which linked Admiral Byrd in the Antarctic with, his relatives at New York by means of a six-station hook-up, via 4YA, 2YA, Sydney and New York. Though to-day such a service would.be little more than a routine matter, it was then the first time such a technical feat had been achieved, and it aroused world-wide toterest.