lhe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
109 
What  Radiophone  Means  to  a  Farmer 
VARIED  MESSAGES. — I  live  on  a  farm  308 
miles  west  of  Chicago,  and  about  the  same 
distance  from  St.  Eouis,  Kansas  City,  St.  Paul  and 
Minneapolis.  About  two  months  ago  I  installed  a 
radio  set  costing  $75.  when  installed.  We  get  the 
correct  time  at  10:55  a.  m.,  at  11  the  weather  report 
and  market  report,  giving  Chicago  prices  of  wheat, 
corn  and  oats,  with  the  number  of  cars  of  each  re¬ 
ceived  at  Chicago,  St.  lands,  Kansas  City  and  Omaha 
for  the  day ;  then  the  prices  of  hogs,  cattle  and  sheep, 
with  the  numbers  received  for  that  day  at  each  of  the 
above  four  markets.  On  some  days  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  sends  out  what  they  call 
agriograms.  These  are  short  lists  of  advice  or  infor¬ 
mation  on  almost  any  subject,  ranging  from  a  recipe 
for  Christmas  pudding  to  telling  us  that  the  Govern¬ 
ment  now  has  crop  and  market  reporters  in  every 
country  in  the  world,  and  that  a  crop  report  from 
Berlin.  Germany,  was  received  at  Washington,  then 
relayed  from  there,  and  in  live  minutes  from  the 
time  it  started  from  Berlin  it  was  being  picked  up  by 
us  out  here  in  Iowa.  Is  not  that  wonderful?  As  I 
write  these  lines  I  have  the  receivers  adjusted  to 
my  ears,  another  is  operating,  and  I  am  listening  to 
a  splendid  musical  con¬ 
cert  at  Kansas  City.  On 
Sunday  evenings  we  get 
church  services  from 
many  broadcasting  sta¬ 
tions.  Many  denomina¬ 
tions  are  sending  out 
sermons,  so  one  has 
quite  a  range  to  select 
from.  Football  games 
are  broadcast,  play  by 
play,  and  in  the  eve¬ 
ning  all  the  leading 
games  in  the  country 
are  announced.  Descrip¬ 
tions  of  stolen  automo¬ 
biles,  police  reports,  per¬ 
sons  lost  or  missing, 
just  any  kind  of  news  is 
likely  to  come  in. 
NEWSPAPERS  AND 
RADIO.  —  What  effect 
will  this  have  on  daily  ‘ 
newspapers?  I  do  not 
know,  but  I  believe  all 
the  valuable  news  in 
most  dailies  could  be 
condensed  so  it  could  be 
broadcast  in  from  15  to 
30  minutes.  Many  of 
the  broadcasting  sta¬ 
tions  are  owned  by 
newspapers  or  other  pri¬ 
vate  interests,  and  used 
largely  for  their  own 
advertising,  but  all  of 
them  are  doing  good  work  by  sending  out  valuable 
knowledge.  Their  programs  of  music  and  speeches 
are  of  a  high  order,  things  that  many  of  us  would 
never  hear,  even  if  we  lived  in  the  city. 
INTERESTING  FEATURES.— One  evening  r 
heard  a  speech  at  Minneapolis  by  Gen.  Pershing.  A 
few  minutes  later  I  tuned  in  on  Detroit,  Midi.,  and 
heard  a  speech  on  financial  conditions,  present  and 
future,  by  Roger  W.  Babson,  the  statistician,  lie 
gave  a  motto  for  1923 :  “Bite  off  more  than  you  can 
chewr,  and  then  chew  it;  bite  off  more  than  you  can 
do  and  then  do  it.”  Every  word  of  his  talk  came 
here  clear  and  plain.  One  evening  I  tuned  in  on 
Minneapolis  and  heard  a  strong  voice  call,  “This  is 
Minneapolis  radio  broadcasting  station  WLAG,  the 
call  of  the  North.”  Then  he  announced  that  Miss 
Hanson,  Miss  Nelson  or  Miss  Johnson  would  sing, 
and  gave  the  name  of  the  number.  The  next  minute 
I  was  listening  to  the  pure  sweet  voice  of  a  Swedish 
nightingale  from  the  North,  and,  believe  me,  she 
could  sing.  While  such  programs  last  I  care  not  who 
built  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  how  large  were  the 
blocks  of  stone  use  in  their  construction,  w’here  these 
blocks  were  quarried  out,  or  how  they  were  moved 
to  their  present  resting  place.  The  greatest  wonder 
of  the  world  to  me  is  that  this  splendid  music  can 
travel  through  space  for  hundreds  of  miles  and  come 
right  here  into  my  room.  If  we  who  are  able  to 
enjoy  the  great  out  of  doors  can  appreciate  this, 
what  must  it  mean  to  those  who  are  confined  to  their 
homes,  and  to  many  in  hospitals  and  other  institu¬ 
tions?  On  December  2.  between  S  and  9  p.  in..  Cen¬ 
tral  Standard  time,  imagine  my  surprise  when  a 
voice  announced,  “This  is  Station  WEAS,  New  York 
City.  Mr.  Fish,  a  longshoreman,  will  sing.”  Mr. 
Fish  sang  a  couple  of  numbers,  then  the  announcer 
presented  Miss  Mary  Burns,  who  sang  “Wind  in  the 
South”  and  “Oh,  Though  the  Silver  Moon  Were 
Mine.”  Miss  Burns  is  a  splendid  singer;  her  voice 
came  in  here  clear  and  sweet,  and  the  notes  of  the 
accompanying  piano  were  very  plain.  The  announcer 
talked  in  a  very  natural  tone  of  voice,  making  no 
effort  to  talk  loud.  Weather  conditions  must  have 
been  very  favorable.  The  most  distant  station  heard 
over  this  instrument  is  Nome,  Alaska,  which  is  ap¬ 
proximately  2,000  miles.  When  weather  and  other 
conditions  are  favorable,  sounds  from  stations  300  t<» 
800  miles  distant  are  just  as  loud  and  plain  as  if  the 
speaker  were  here  in  the  room.  At  a  distance  of  G9 
miles  l  have  heard  a  man  draw  in  breath  between 
m 
words.  To  those  who  have  not  listened  over  a  radio 
this  may  seem  a  most  unreasonable  statement,  yet  it 
is  absolutely  true.  Many  messages  coming  hundreds 
of  miles  are  clearer,  louder  and  plainer  than  those 
coming  only  two  or  three  miles  over  a  wire.  There 
V on* tuner  Approaches  the  Source  of  Supply.  Fiy. 
is  certainly  no  home  in  America  today  that  is  out  of 
reach  of  some  of  these  radio  waves.  Just  think  of 
the  splendid  entertainments  that,  are  passing  over 
your  house  every  night,  and  they  are  yours  for  the 
taking. 
RADIO  TROUBLES. — Now,  we  cannot  catch 
everything  that  passes  by;  sometimes  there  is  too 
much  electricity  in  the  air.  This  causes  a  cracking, 
frying  sound,  with  much  whistling.  I  think  these 
are  termed  statics.  I  call  them  cat  fights,  as  they 
are  the  best  imitation  I  have  heard.  When  these 
are  too  bad  or  when  an  electrical  storm  is  approach¬ 
ing,  it  is  best  to  turn  off  the  switch,  letting  the  cur¬ 
rents  go  into  the  ground.  Not  all  storms  -will  inter¬ 
fere  with  the  radio.  Sometimes  two  stations  are 
transmitting  on  the  same  wave  length;  this  amounts 
to  the  same  as  two  communications  at  one  time  over 
a  single  wire.  Some  trouble  comes  from  two  or  more 
stations  transmitting  at  the  same  time  on  nearly  the 
same  wave  length.  At  any  rate,  they  are  so  near 
together  that  they  are  hard  to  separate.  This 
amounts  to  the  same  as  cross  talk  from  telephone 
wires.  This  causes  the  volume  of  sound  to  be  cut 
down  and  blur,  so  neither  communication  can  be 
brought  up  strong  and  the  sound  purified.  It  is  a 
great  aggravation  when  one  is  getting  i  splendid 
'speech  for  some  other  station  to  start  something  that 
spoils  it  all,  and  you  cannot  speak  up  and  call  them 
down.  The  first  time  I  heard  my  name  called  over 
the  air  from  a  long  distance  it  gave  me  a  strange 
and  uncanny  feeling,  both  in  my  head  and  stomach. 
I  have  heard  at  least  half  a  dozen  languages  over 
the  radio;  a  universal  language  is  now  needed  worse 
than  ever.  Another  thing;  I  find  it  impossible  to 
write  fast  enough  to  take  down  important  messages. 
1  believe  shorthand  should  be  started  in  the  public 
schools  at  once.  In  the  years  to  come  every  person 
will  have  use  for  it.  I  formerly  retired  at  1*  p.  m., 
but  if  this  radio  continues  to  work  as  it  has  my  bed¬ 
time'  this  Winter  will  be  somewhere  from  10  to  11 
p.  m..  and  I  see  the  fuel  and  light  bills  climbing  up 
in  proportion.  harrow  rock  hill. 
Iowa. 
That  Canadian  Electric  Service 
N  page  1518  of  Tin-:  R.  N.-Y.  is  a  question  which 
appears  to  be  addressed  to  me:  “Can  you  give 
any  good  reason  why  a  Canadian  farmer  should 
have  cheaper  or  more  convenient  electric  power  and 
light  service  than  the  farmer  on  this  side  of  an 
imaginary  line  which  runs  through  lake  and  river?” 
In  one  word,  the  answer  is  dividends. 
Consider  the  object  of  the  electric  power  business 
in  Ontario  and  compare  it  with  the  object  in  New 
York,  or  for  that  mat¬ 
ter.  in  any  State  of  the 
Union.  It  is  service  in 
one  case  and  dividends 
in  the  other.  At  this 
time  the  power  of  divi¬ 
dends  is  immeasurable. 
It  controls  the  press. 
How  many  papers  in 
New  York  would  print 
the  article  on  “Cheap 
Power  for  O ntario 
Farmers”  or  your  edi¬ 
torial  question?  It  con¬ 
trols  legislation.  If  you 
do  not  think  so,  try  to 
get  a  State  bond  issue 
to  develop  water  power 
by  the  State. 
Luckily  for  Ontario, 
the  desperate  efforts  of 
private  power  companies 
were  unable  to  control 
legislation,  so  that  now 
the  attraction  of  gravity 
in  falling  water  works 
primarily  for  the  people 
.instead  of  for  a  few 
stockholders  in  this 
great  enterprise,  and 
takes  their  dividends  in 
service  and  low  rates. 
I  suppose  that  in  New 
York  you  have  a  Public 
Utilities  Commission  to 
regulate  to  some  extent 
the  business  of  such  utilities.  No  doubt  they  do  so 
in  their  fashion,  but  in  Ontario  rates  are  auto¬ 
matically  lowered  when  they  more  than  pay  their 
expenses.  This  scheme  is  as  much  better  than  a 
public  utilities  commission  as  a  gravity  aqueduct  is 
better  than  a  pump.  In  fact,  allowing  that  you  can 
apply  morals  to  hydraulic,  there  is  a  great  similarity. 
As  I  understand  it,  the  low  rates  in  Ontario  pay 
expenses,  interest  at  4  per  cent,  depreciation  anc£ 
sinking  fund  to  pay  the  bonds  in  30  years  with  no 
tax  on  any  except  the  consumers.  The  proportion 
of  debts  to  assets  is  continually  growing  less,  and 
with  the  elimination  in  time  of  debts  and  interest 
charges,  the  rates  should  be  very  low.  of  course 
private  companies  have  no  object  in  reducing  liabili¬ 
ties,  but  rather  the  opposite.  According  to  the  re¬ 
ports  of  the  commission,  the  rates  with  private 
ownership  averaged  idne  cents  per  kilowatt  hour 
for  the  province.  They  are  now  reduced  to  an  aver¬ 
age  of  less  than  three  cents  per  kilowatt  hour. 
Maine.  h.  r.  wiiippi.e. 
Tin:  War  Finance  Corporation  has  approved  a  loan 
of  $1,000,000  to  a  Virginia  Peanut  Growers’  Exchange. 
Yet  when  the  average  man  wants  to  refer  to  some  small 
and  insignificant  thing,  he  calls  it  a  “peanut.” 
The  scientists  now  state  that  the  germ  of  infantile 
paralysis  is  caused  and  nursed  by  the  flea  and  the  raf . 
Thus  the  disease  is  kept  alive  by  the  rat  and  conveyed 
to  the  victim  by  the  flea.  An  additional  reason  why 
rats  should  be  fought  and  killed  like  evil  spirits. 
