Radio Burlesque for the Crippled

Radio Record, 26 June 1936, Page 17

Radio Burlesque for the Crippled

Auckland Students’ Bright Rag on. Behalf of Charity Was Well Received -Manufacturers Exercised About Suggestion of Cheap Sets From Government-Better Sales in South,

WELL-ORGANISED procession through the main streets of Auckland on Thursday last, staged by the students of Auckland University College to raise funds for the Crippled Children’s Fund, attracted large crowds and caused an almost complete traffic block in Queen Street between 12.30 and 2.30 p.m. Some fine tableaux, mounted on lorries lent for the occasion by city firms, were decidedly \ laughable. Among the topical events ' which were burlesqued, radio played a prominent part. Particularly clever was the set representing the forthcoming demise of the Broadcasting Board, tombstones, running shoes, and so on, figuring largely in the display. Another made thinly-veiled reference to personalities connected with the Friendly Road station, 1ZB, "Uncle Scram" was there, and "Aunt Hazy," too. Humorous reference was also made to Post Office activities along "jamming" lines. _Humorous speeches on current and topical events were broadcast on the slightest provocation, and at every stop made by the procession, through microphones and loudspeakers specially fitted on a public address van, lent | forthe occasion, plus the services of tw men, by the well-known radio firm of’ Johns, Limited. Students of both sexes collected money from the crowd in "half-handles," and even baths so large that it took half a dozen young men to carry them. The students enjoyed themselves to the full, and, as a result of their fine efforts, the funds of the Crippled Children’s organisation will benefit considerably. RESS reports regarding the possibilities of the Government’s deciding to manufacture radio sets, or arranging with manufacturers to build them cheaply for the public, is causing q much discussion in radio circles in Auckland, where several large factories are engaged in the manufacture of receivers. It seems to be generally agreed among Auckland manufacturers that the Government has not realised the difficulties involved. Competition has already resulted in sets of maximum performance and minimum | price being produced. In fact, it is said. that prices are at present too low to permit of durable and efficient receivers being produced. "Tf the Government is going to sell without profit, through the Post and Telegraph Department, charging losses to the Consolidated Fund, then it is going to affect all licensed dealers and their employees," said one big manufacturer. SALES of receiving sets in Dunedin are increasing, according to ‘reports. It is considered by some salesmen that broadcasts’ from Parliament have been to an extent responsible for

some of the additional] sales, as many purchasers have. said that they were buying for the purpose of listening to Parliament. One dealer reports substantial monthly increases since January in the numbers of his sales, the figures for last month being 195. Up-to-date models are selling freely, ang purchasers are trading in their old sets. .° "534" HAT’S ina name? "The Metamorphosis of Number 534" might be a further episode in the lives of a Jap. ... No, of Inspector Scott and Company of. Scotland Yard. It might be the final stage in the splitting of the atom. But it is nothing so dull. It is the title of a brand new feature from 2VA next week, Tuesday, June 30, at 9.5. The feature plans to reproduce in exact form the laying down of the keel of the good ship Queen Mary, will follow its growth -until its launching, its speed trials with turbines racing, the mighty farewell at Southampton late last month on her maiden voyage. Here ’ ag something unusual and entirely topical, and will show in condensed form what has taken years to plan. and build. Extended Series A SERIES of twenty-two very fine talks are to be given weekly from 3YA by highly-qualified speakers on each particular subject under the heading of «"The Threshold of Our Age" and ‘dealing with life and development -in the nineteenth century. The first,.on July. 1, will be delivered by Miss A, M.. F.»Candy, who will take as her subject "The Background of the 19th Century," followed-a week later by Dr. H.: N.: Parton, on-."The Age of’. Steam" and. on July 15 "The Age. of Hlectricity" -by the same speaker. To give listeners an-idea of the value of these talks, "The Threshold .of Our Age" series deals with raw materials, advent ofthe age. of speed, movement — of peoples and.ideas overseas, with special reference to New Zealand, the natural science; anthropology, ‘medi-. cine, economic life and thought, the changing town, and home, labour, education, ‘literature, drama, art and music. Menin Memory ME. PERCY NICHOLLS, of Christchurch, the composer of ‘‘Menin Gate Vision," which was first heard at last Anzac Day’s service, has had riany requests for copies. "Menin Gate Vision" will be heard from 3YA on New Zealand Composers’ Night, July 3, and will be played by the 3YA Orchestra. The Woolston Band are wlso-rendering this composition from sYA on July 20,

Otago League MONG the 60,000 licensees in the Otago district it is considered time to revive the Radio Listeners’ League, especially in view of the possibility of a great increase in:the number of listeners if the proposed Government sets are to be available for poorer people. In an open letter to Otago. listeners, the president of the league (Mr. W. J. Bardsley.) points out that the Hon. F. Jones had said that listeners would not have direct representation on the proposed. advisory council under the new regime. Mr.. Bardsley claims that. a representative "voice" at the proper moment is not. only desirable from a policy point of view, but it is also a reasonable privilege in return for the £25,000 spent on licenses in the district. He further appeals to listeners not to wait "until the eleventh

hour" before making a concerted effort to claim some say in broadcasting affairs, for by that time the opportunity muy have slipped by. or the annunl meeting of the league to be lield next week it is hoped that listeners Will again rally round the executive in &reater nuthbers than before. Top-notchers [HE Villa Maria Choir, the winners of ehoir werk at the Christehurch Competitions for the _ past tw6 seasons, were trained by the sistets at the Convent in Riceartoh. These girls were heard last Monday evening from 8YA during thé children’s hour, atd their rendering cf "The Blue Danube" wag something to be remembered. The choir is a wonder‘ful sight, for in their neat school uniforms, standing like one person in a graduated circle, is indicative of their wonderful training, both in voice culture and physical fitness. Music At ‘Work T the present time, there are many ‘Auckland factories who ‘have installed ‘in their prémises loud-speakers for radio programmes. ‘The first, a ten factory, has allowed its large staff. to work to music for more than three years now. and has found the experiment a huge suecess. The fitm coneerneéd states that the efficiency of the workers hag been improved as the result of this innovation. The fact that workers are happy’ with this -"

music, is obviously to the advantage of not only to the employers, but to the employees themsélves. Apart from anything else, the tonic value of music is also there. It is considered the surest form of preventing fatigue. They Listen. NO: there are no new announcers at 4YA. This positive statement is made to satisfy the number of listeners who inquired at a recent week-end whether new persondlities had been engaged for microphone work, as they heard two voices which they did not recognise on the one night. These new voices were simply the result of a staff arrangement on the night in question, but the fact that so many listeners noted the change and afterwards made inquiries regarding the reason for their presence on the air indicates that a good many more listen interestedly to 4YA than one might believe. It is quite common in Dunedin to me¢t listeners who avow that they "never lis: ten to 4YA," but who on future occasions are generally familiar with what the station has beén doing from day to day. Their repeated argument that they do not listen to the station is gradually being disproved. Brilliant Violinist QuitH. young, yet one of the Dominion’s foremost "violinists, Miss Mary Martin, formerly of Greymouth,has been given a number of engagements by the Broadcasting Board. Taught by Sister M. St. Anthony, at

the Greymouth Convent, Mary Martin quickly showed talent. Leaving New Zealand a gold and silver medallist, und an exhibitor at the Royal College of Music, London, she studied in Lon- _ don for five years. For three years While in London she was a member of Dr. Malcolm ‘Sargent’s famous orchestra, while she also played the violin at many concerts given by Sir Thomas Beecham’s Orchestra in the Albert Mall.’ It is two years since she returned from abroad. She is ab present

teaching the violin at Palmerston North, Miss Martin is’ to be ‘heard in two recitals from 1XYA early in September, Australia-Bound CONDITIONS in Sydney and Melbourne aré proving very atiractive-to a number of New Zealand radio men. Several cell known and highly qualified techniciing recently left Auckland for Australia, and according to locus information, several more service men are giving the matter of departure to Australia serious constderation. The present shortage of radio technicians in Anckland acill soon become more serious if the migration continues. Studio Debate. H® next debate arranged by 4Y¥A will not be a joint affair with Christchurch, bt will be entirely con= fined to the Dunedin station’s studio. This will be given on June. 80, when teams representing the Otago Law Students’ Debating Society and the Otago University Debating Union will take up their respective sides on the . qtiestion: "That Modern Industrialism has been Detrimentd] to Culture." The debating students will be Messrs. J. S. D. More, J. D. Neil and K. W. SteWart, and the nnion’s team will include Mr. J, H. Kemnitz, Miss ©, Hunter, and Mr. I. W. Woods. The judge will be Dr. J, R. Bilder, [t will be. interesting to discover what the argttments for and against will be, and the g {

TH Municipal Radio Brisbane Has Its Own 24-Hour Service. BBRISBANE City Council has its own wireless broadcasting station which, for some time, has been giving a 24-hours’ service to police cars and service ears of the Electricity and. Tramways Departmerit. The scope of the station has recently been extended to the Ambulance Brigade, and two cars ate being equipped with radid receivers, so that in the event of an accident happening, or of an urgent call being received, while they are traversing the city in connection with another case, they ean be diverted to the more urgent case, TREREELEPRES REET ERPEC ERLE ROR TEE,

fact that one woman debater will be present will add a touch of novelty to the proceedings, as hitherto male speakers haye been the only contestants, . "Mid-victorious"? ITH what fiendish delight. has the younger generation provoked the ire of parents and grandparents by dubbing them "Mid-Victorian" or midvictorious, as Mrs. Malaprop would have said, when they failed to keep abreast with our twentieth century streamlined views. What of it if one’s landlady a protagonist of the old, old school, does rush in and with soured look out-countenance our obvious enjoyment of "The Crocodile Crawl" or our rhythmic gyrations to the 1986 version of Mendelssohn’s "Spring Song.’ And the motive? Just apprehension perhaps lest the good old Victorian music be superseded, ousted or routed by "this awful mechaae nical stuff." Our respective and some- : time respected landladies will have their big moment, however, on Tuesday, June 30, from Station 2YA at 8&0, when an hour of "Victorian melodies" is released in a B.B.C. recording. Joke’s On You. . FF24R ING the music from @ record forming a background to a recent talk given from 4Y A, listeners assumed that the old trouble had returned — 4Y0O’s programme was feeding in some strange manner to the other station’s transmitter. The next night they listened to a further talk, but. the musical programme in the background was not present, and they concluded that __. the operators had rectified the fault. -~{ However, in all their surmises the ‘listeners were wrong. The annoyance experienced some months ago when one station’s programme overlapped the other’s had not recurred;. in reality the music heard was played purposely to give a colourful ef- ‘ fect to the talk, so the joke was on the listeners, who did not realise that the background was intentional. . Time Changed H® weekly talks under "The Threshold of Our Age" series will be heard from 3YA at 7.30, and will be- . gin on Wednesday, July 1, continuig ing to November 25. The Addington stock market reports, which have always been broadcast at 7.45, will be heard at 7.20 instead. New Artists Arriving Y the Mariposa, which reaches Auckland on Saturday next, June 27, from Sydney, there will arrive a party of some of the best musical talent yet to be engaged by the New Zealand Broadcasting Board. These overseas artists include Florence Austral, . the famous soprano, and her equallyfamous husband, John Amadio, considered the world’s best flautist. Then there is Browning Mummery, operatic tenor of world-wide repute, Sydney’ de Vries, a leading baritone, and Carl Bartling, pianist and accompanist. The party will proceed to Wellington by \ the Limited express on the day of their \arrival, and will first broadcast from the studio of 2YA early the next week. These artists will not return

to Auckland: until July 1%, the date of their first broadcast in the Queen City. They will. all.appear in a big charity concert. to be arranged and presented by the Broadcasting Board in the Town Hall, Auckland, on July 23. An Artist PPORTUNITY knocks once at everyone’s door, and the gentle-. man knocked one day at the door of one-Miss Ethel Morrison, of Wellington; and, with courage high and faith in her ability to climb the heights to fame, she started on her career as an actress. There is no shadow of doubt as to whether she has succeeded or not, for to-day.she is recognised by leading theatrical producers as a very fine artist. ‘These facts were elucidated when this charming lady was introduced to listeners from the 1ZB microphone on Sunday evening last. Informally, she discussed plays, and players-famous people she had met, both on and off

the ‘stage, and. something of the work that. is. necessary behind: the -scenes before a.production: is ready. Asg°she discussed these. various.’.things, "Miss Morrison’s charming personality’. was evident to one and all over the air, Dunedin. Tenor WELL-KNOWN Dunedin tenor, Alfred Walmsley, now on a tour of the New Zealand rational stations, is to give the first of two recitals from 1YA on Wednesday, .July dd. My. Walmsley has: trayelled) extensively abroad, dnd was for some considerable time a member of the famous Carl Rosa Opera Company, Man and Wife LONG-AWAITED couple from Australia, Florence Austral, soprano, and John Amadio, flautist, man and wife, will arrive in Wellington next week, and the first of their recitals under the bamner of the New

Zealand Broadcasting Board is scheduled for Thursday evening, July 2, from 2¥4, Florence Austral has been a great favourite with Australiqn listeners and has appeared in many dramatic presentations lavishly produced for Australian ears, Her husband, no less famous, was resident many years ago in Wellington, and eomes over to New Zealand with a great reputation The accompanist on this tour will be Gar] Bartling, who will be remembered for brilliant performances with Madame Muriel Brunskill, perhaps the foremost contralto in England to-day, Down the Plug ERHAPS no other character in fiction can lay claim to the extraordinary popularity achieved by "Sapper's" Buillslog Drummond, the seheolboy's hero

cheetah bt EL iit lit tii tiiitiiilitiiitiis| and the right answer to the maiden’s prayer, A freely adapted version of "Sapper’s" famous noyel will be presented as a radio play from 2YA on Wednesday, July 1, by Victor 8. Lloyd and Company, The part of Bulldog Was originally played in London by the late Sir Gerald du Maurier. There are 27 players in the radio version and only two women with anything like important roles. The chief worry of the moment in presenting this play is said to be the difficulty of finding a suitable sound effect to represent the victim's body dissolving in the acid ang disappearing, in true "Alice-Was-Very-Slender" fashion, down the plug. Popular "B" ROM the many’ favourable letters received at 4Z0 Cromwell, it is evident that the Centra] Otago B station is popular with. listeners in that distriet. Although they receive a-nec essarily restricted service from the station, listeners appreciated it as a "locgl,",and during the hours of transmission it-is probably listenea to by

ae the majority of set-owners in the district. They will, therefore, be pleased to know that plans for the reconstruction of the transmitter are being con sidered by the owner-operator, whose idea is to bring 4ZC into line with modern stations and to give a wider cov: erage, It has been proved that receiv. ing conditions in Central at night are such that the national stations come in best in the following order: Auckland. Wellington, Ghristchureh and Dunedin, Dnring the daytime the stations are better received in the reverse order, These facts suggest another retson why 4ZC is popular. "Economist’s" Tdentity INCH a cultured voice known by the disguise of ‘Mconomist" has been heard from 1Z3 Auckland,. the station

i, an — " al director has received many "requests, both by telephone and also personally, asking him to divulge the identity of this speaker, This he had to decline to do, However, it may be said that he is a well-known Auckland professional man and an expert on monetary "mnatters. His last talk was highly interesting, and was devoted to the exchange problem. : Nelson Figures ; | HH "volee" of 2ZR is Mr Lb, C, Bates, a well-known radio figure from the south, who has been in Nelson for three years, Mr, Bates posseses a fine radio voice. A visitor to Nelson who has been also heard from 2ZR is Mr. Ian Mackay, who was secretary of 2ZR for a number of years, Mr, Mackay has worked hard for 2ZR. 2ZR Talks: LAST year 2ZR paid particular attention to lectures of an educative nature and this still is receiving attention. Two lectures heard during the past week were deliyered by Mr, A, R. Kingsford, an authority on aviation matters, who already hag two books to his credit. The other speaker was Lieut.-Col, Brereton, wha spoke on World Affairs, The colonel is also author of "Through Three Campaigns" and ig well fitted to deal with his subs Sons y ject, These two speakers are heara at * ‘9 pm, on Tuesday and Thursday ro-* spectively,

Z2YA Falls In Line Series of Adult Talks QTATION 2YA will be failing in _ line with the other Nationa! stations this week in their series of talks specially planned for adults, during the winter months, Next Monday, June 29, the series will be introduced with a discussion by Pra fessor RF, L. W, Wood as to "The Last English King." The identity of the last English King will be left to the listener to guess. A week later, July 6, Professor Wood wiil _ give a talk (rather than a diseussion) ‘Does. Histary Repeat Itself?"

JOTTINGS ABOUT TALKS Some Interesting National Speakers

=-_- [NF ORMATION far adults delivered in more than ordinarily interesting form is now being broadcast in. the series which started from IYA on Thursday of last week. These talks are ta be given weekly at 7.30 p.m. Professor R. M. Algie started the Auckland ball rolling with a ten-minute commentary on topical affairs befare plunging into the fifteen-minute prepared talk. Dunedin epened the series on Tuesday, June 9, with the first of a series of mental science talks by Professar R, Lawson. On June 29, 2YA’s series will start, this station's schedules forecasting a couple of historical] discussions followed by two talks on the trends of modern fiction. After that it is proposed to give a series of talks fram 2YA connect: ed with the opening of the National Museum and Art Gallery. A talk en the general purposes of these inatitutiens will be followed by talks on various aspects of their activities, such ag biological, art and Maori sections ef the collections. While she is visiting the South Island on tour of the national sta tions for contralto recitals, Misa Bina Addy will deliver twe talks, One will concern women in India, {A RR y Bi a SR 0 28 a 6

and the other will deal with Angle Indian relations. Mrs. de Vries; wife of Sydney de Vries, baritene, will add a spot af ‘ustre to the family name with a tall on Holland, while her hushand is touring the Nationals in July. Who will NOT be listening when Quentin Pepe, in a serjes of three talks from 2YA shortly, tells us "How to Make a Million"? These three talks will be studies of the methods of great American firian-ciers--the more honest ones, European adventures he encountered will be related in Cecil Lusty’s series of fyur talks from IYA, He is a young journalist who left for the other side of the world in 1931 and returned early this year. On Monday this week at 7.40 p.m, Clarence Badger, famous Hollywood ‘preducer (made. "No, No. Nanette" and "Swim, Girl, Swim" among ethers), gaye a talk from 2YA en film producing in the bie studios. He was passing through Wellington on the Makura to make. the new Zane Grey special picture for Columbia in Australia. Vieter Jory, to be the star of the above film, will be heard from. 1YA on July 6 while passing through Auckland in the Niagara. {| 4 1 Rw 9 py 3 ee se lei ete ili eatin NY