Hall High School - Hall Light Yearbook (Spring Valley, IL)

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RADIO (Salutatory by Janet Camerlo) Only a comparatively few years ago, radio, which is now considered one of the most important inventions of the ages, was regarded as an utter absurdity, as the brain child of a fanatic who was attempting the ridiculously impossible. About twenty-five years ago, in 1897 to be exact, Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian, then only twenty-two years of age, first began to dream of sending wireless messages—at least ten miles. A little later he aspired to span the English channel, and then he conceived the idea of sending messages across the Atlantic. At each stage in this development of the wireless, people assured him that he was simply wasting his talents and energies, but in each case he kept forging ahead. At last in 1902, he succeeded in creating a really successful apparatus. Two other men, Bellini and Tosi, both Frenchmen, then became interested in this invention of the youthful Marconi and began their years of struggle in developing the radio as w6 know it today. As late as 1903 is was nothing but a crude laboratory toy with little prospect of becoming truly practicable. Sensational publicity, moreover, had claimed for the wireless and radio, such startling poWers that much harm was done because the public was led to expect too much from them and when tests were made from time to time, people were exceedingly disappointed at the seemingly negligible results. But in spite of almost insurmountable difficulties, radio is coming unto its own. It is now acknowledged to represent the very highest technique in applied electricity, and is recognized everywhere as the science which in all probability will, and for that matter is, revolutionizing the thought of the universe. Today, in fact, radio has come to take an almost indispensable part in the activities of our busy world. Every town has its group of interested enthusiasts, and through these groups practically every citizen can keep in touch with the information daily broadcasted by great public utility concerns—market reports, weather predictions, lectures on matters of public interest, sermons, grand opera, light musical comedies, jazz music—even bed-time stories for the youngsters of the family have come to be within the reach of even the most isolated homestead. Pick up the Chicago Tribune, and you will find lengthy articles headed, “Special—By Radio”—practical use is here being made of an invention which only a few years ago was regarded as absurdly foolish. Again, consider the matter of ship to ship communication. Here the radio is alone in efficiently accomplishing its purpose. Properly equipped with radio, no ship need at any time be out of touch with the affairs of the world. And of course no one needs to be reminded of the TWENTY-SIX

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we now realize more keenly than before is our most vital need, not only for the foreigner, but for the American as well. There are thousands of American-born who need Americanization just as much as do the foreign-born. No law, no lip-service, no effort, however well in-tentioned, will amount to anything worth while in inculcating the true American spirit in our foreign-born citizens, until we ourselves feel and believe and practice in our own lives what we are teaching to others.” Americans, you who are willing to do more than lip-service for your country, let us consider seriously these faults which have been imputed to us by foreigners within our gates, foreigners of keenest insight such as Jacob Riis, Edward Steiner, and Edward Bok, men who have cared enough about our country to become one of us, men who have had sufficient affection for our country to scorn platitudinous praises, and have preferred rather to deplore the fact that we are falling far short of our potential possibilities. They have realized that we are failing the foreigner in many ways; they are trying to make us appreciate the fact that unless we can live up to the dream of the foreigner, our future American citizen, we shall lose much that is of incalcuable value. Fellow Americans, let us heed their pleas, let us burst the swollen bubble of our pride and realize that it is with humility we should say with Kipling in his great Recessional— “For frantic boast and foolish word— Thy mercy on thy people, Lord!” HALL HIGH ’Tis fine to see all other schools, And travel up and down, Throughout their shining corridors And class-rooms of renown; To admire their grounds, and students, Their athletes, straight and tall, But now I think I’ve seen enough— Let me travel back to Hall. 0 it’s Hall again, Hall again, Hall Township High for me; My heart turns back to good old Hall, And there I long to be. —Carl Blum. TWENTY-FIVE

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countless lives which have been saved through the S. 0. S. calls sent out by radio or wireless. In fact, such a common part of our everyday existence have become these uses of radio, that we are beginning to accept them as matters of course. It is only when we hear of some new and striking departure from the usual trend of affairs that we pause to think with startled wonder of its possibilities. Let us take for instance, an account which we find in a recent number of the Literary Digest. By means of the radio telephone, a human voice has actually been heard across the Atlantic—not as a message sent in telegraphic code, but as the actual voice of the speaker. Individual differences of tone were even detected. Think of it! Think of the possibility of calmly conversing with our friends across the Atlantic—across the 3,000 miles of ocean which lie between us. This feat seems scarcely less marvellous than the seemingly absurd conjecture that the time will come when we can communicate with the planet Maris, and yet the Atlantic has actually been spanned. Is it too visionary to hope that the other may also be accomplished? Truly this is a thought which may well make us gasp. Of course, we must realize that there are yet many difficulties to be conquered. For one thing, the matter of secrecy is an important item. No one cares to talk to a relative or a friend while hundreds are “listening in”—here we have the disagreeable features of a party line telephone conversation, intensified many times. This is a problem which must be solved in the future if radio is to accomplish the results we are expecting of it. Again, there is the matter of static. Radio must be rendered less dependent upon atmospheric conditions. All of us know how annoying are the cat fight howling and squalling noises which oft times on nights of impending electric storms interrupt the enjoyment of an erstwhile beautiful opera selection. Yet another problem—if radio is to fulfill its greatest possibilities, “listening in” sets must be made less expensive. At the present time, only those especially gifted who can assemble sets of their own, or those who can pay for expert service, are privileged to enjoy the benefits of radio. These problems presented by matters concerning secrecy, static and expense are only a few of the many which are yet to be solved. Perhaps it is the existence of these very problems which makes radio such a fascinating study. Acknowledging then, that radio as a science is only in its infancy, that it is far from perfect, let us refrain during these first years of its development, these years of apparent stagnation when no particular advancement seems to be made, from growing indifferent to the great possibilities which most certainly lie before it. Let us remember that our present telephone was not perfected over night—that our telegraph system has passed through years of experimentation—that all things worth while are the growth of years of study and development. If at times our hopes for the future seem TWENTY-SEVEN