TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 31, 17 February 1928, Page 6

TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW

An Art of Broadcasting? . Ts tuere an art of broadzasting-or | can if do no more then borrow its form, like its material, from arts already in existence, music, drama, and. the rest? This question has during the past five years been much under discussion. The sceptics, who still regard broadcasting as either a toy or a scientific freak, will tell you that it is no true art-only an inferior interpretation of the other arts. Do not listen to them. They are of the tribe -of highbrow who believe that nothing which has a wide and popular appeal can ever be, in any sense, artistic. The fact is that broadcasting, having achieved comparative technical perfection, is gradually feeling its way towards an art form of its own. The development of this will be no overnight growth. Art does not come to birth that way. During tfie course of the next few years broadcasting will be giving to us something which no other art-the drama,» painting, the kinema-can give. ‘The first fruit of this patient development is the new form of drama which young writers like Cecil Lewis, with a faith in the potentialities of the broadcast play, are giving us.-(From the "Radio Times.’’) > see, een ee, 4 eee, eee fe ees f

a Our Candid Friend. This fs a true copy of a letter received from a New Zealand listener :- Your programme reminds me of a 8rd tate Rearding House, dishing up morn ing alter moruing, day in, day ont, Lamb, Ram, Sausages, or Mutton. For a change they would hash them np and call it Dry Hash, The only -difference being you mix them together in couples and cet, only to make the flavour worse, then there is the tryo-yes, they are trying, that’s all one can say, I am sick of hearing them, one gets tired of rice for breakfast, dinner and tea all the year round. I am so sorry Miss ‘[--~- was indisposed, however I had also suffered enough with her only effort, I developed a fearful spasm, however I got rid of it with a good strong Brandy only to get it again when her partner sang solo. thank my lucky stars they did not sing together. I really believe I would haye had to laid up for a time. What a wonderfull recitation of -- to say it was rotton is to flatter it, Your soprano singers, not one ont of 20 are worth a tin of fish. I would dispose of them like I would a scraped Ham Bone, Miss -- well she can sing, but we do not get much of her, not th& I care much for sopranos however I like to give credit when due. Miss -- may be alright, but --- in my opinion is superior over the wire, then there is -- and lots of others, whose songs are of Moses’ time, all of Love, Love, and Love makes me sick, gives us something with some life in it, here a few songs they might sing. In the Sweet Bye & Bye, Down amongst the Dead men, The Dying Duck, Its a Sad Sad World, Mother’s Dead Baby, and such like they are so elevating and would brighten the workers of the City Council and say Workshop workers in their evening’s, do not on any account fail to have these sung in Italian as they all understand the Dago language. However Mr. Announcer you (poor fellow) have to listen to it all, Oh! Oh! how I do envey you, thank goodness I can put down the Phones, if your programe does not improve I may be hard on it next time I attemp to criticise. -. Yours & cet, Crystal User. P.S. My misfortune that I cannot buy a better set so that I could tune it on to a live wire.

| For Dog Lovers. Alexandre Dumas, the famous author, claimed some extraordinary qualities for his dog Pritchard. He said, ‘‘Priteh. ard is the only dog in whom I have found originality and unexpectedness, the qualities that one fiuds in a man of genius."? Allowing for the natural exaggeration of a lover of dogs, it is true that any dog possesses the qualities that one finds in a man of genius, Which submits the question, Can dogs think and reason? My own opinion is that they can, since some of the things they do undoubtedly pass beyond mere instinctive reaction. Probably most of us will refuse to go all the way with Alexandre Dumas, remembering his Gallic exuberance of phrase, but most cf us agree with another thing the same famous author said about dogs. . "I think God is equally coneerned with man, and with all the other animals to which he has given life,’ he wrote. "But perhaps God has a special leaning towards dogs, for of all the animals it is the one to whom he has given an instinct that comes nearest to the intelligence of man.’’-Pastor W. D, More, 4YA. An Explanation. A speaker at a recent meeting of the U.S.A. Institute of Radio Ingineers partly explained a mystery that has troubled many men since Adam. He was discussing loudspeakers, He told how the distribution of harmonics differentiates the yarious musical instruments, and bow the richness of a tone, at its original source or in its reproduction, increased in proportion to the number of harmonics. Then he made this statement: The fundamental frequency of a man’s voice is of the order of 125 cycles per-second, and of a woman’s yoice 250 cycles. In order to reproduce a man’s voice in its full richness, the reproducing device must handle frequencies only as high as 5000. A woman’s voice has more harmonics, so that it world be necessary, in order to reproduce her voice with equal richness, to handle frequencies up to 7000, That is one reason why it is so hard to understand a woman! A Radio "Shadow." An American destroyer diyision reports that there is a radio ‘shadow’ along the notth side of Haiti, which makes it impossible for ships cruising along the north side of the island ta communicate with vessels on the south side during the times when the high mountains of Central Haiti intervene.

Bang Went Someone's Overcoat. The returned Aberdonian was recount. ing the glories of London. "I went into one of their tea shops,’’ he said, ‘‘and for saxpence I got a cup of tea, a scone, and butter, and a new -over-r-r-cout,’"’ True Wisdom, A bachelor is a man who looks before he leaps, and having looked, does not leap at all, Tiver since Iive was produced by depriving Adam of a rib woman has hindered man from putting on side,-Mr, Douglas Woodruif,