The Syracuse Journal, Volume 19, Number 18, Syracuse, Kosciusko County, 2 September 1926 — Page 7

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■MWB vERY art has its critics, especially the I ’■f% I young arts. For thirty-seven years y I they have been slamming and prateI 1 ln« the movies, and for the last five years they have been living some of this attention to radio. WHh radio a large share of this attention has been given to the announcer. “The news cabled from Great Britain that radio announcers there are to be given a course in pronunciation is no doubt gratifying." began a recent editorial In the New York World. “But the course should go much further than pronunciation. “The announcer’s chief fault, indeed, is not his pronunciation at all, but his Intolerable tediousness; he la overly addicted to comment. It seems Impossible for him to make his announcement thus: ‘For the next number Mr. Relnald Werrmrath will sing Danny Deever, the poem by Rudyard Kipling, the music by Walter Dtmro»ch.' He must indulge in a pother of witless musing of his own, this way: *For the next number . . . Mr. Reinaid Werrenrath will sing for us . . . Danny Deever. . . . As we all know . . . this is the celebrated song . . , about the execution of a British Tommy . . . who had committed a murder . . . and was sentenced to be hung . . . te be hanged, rather. . , . The words by Rudyard Kipling, the well known English writer; the music by Dr. Walter Damrosch ... of the New Tort Symphony or* . chestia . . . whom you have heard many times . . .' as h’s concerts are frequently broadcast . . . I am sure we shall all enjoy the song a lot . . . as 11 is one of the bestknown songs we have . . . and Mr. Werrenrath is one of ow popular American baritones . . . and I am sure we are all glad to have him with us this evening . . . And now ... Mr. Werrenrath.’ "Analyzing thia, which Is rarely not an unfair •pecimen. one Is struck by two facts: “(a) That anything bearing the qualification •as we all know’ had just as well be left out. since what we all know needs no repeating; and **(b) That what the announcer Is sure of In saying how glad we are to have Mr. Werrenrath with us. and how well we are going to enjoy ourselves, is of no significance to any one. “If the broadcarttag stations would give their announcers a few lessons in brevity and bow to achieve it they would add to public enjoyment approximately 750 per cent" Radio announcing, of course, tea new profession. Broadcarttag on an organised baste was only five years old in July. 1P26, hardly an ample period in which to develop to the fullest any satisfactory code of procedure for announcers to an unseen audience. But much progress has been made, and eritietein and suggestion from those best qualified to know, namely, the llrtenere-ta, gradually te shaping a course for the announcer who would please the majority of Ids audience. The demand for competent announcers continues to grow, and last year New York tttversßy established a course In Its extra-mural division. Instructors In public speaking are ta charge together with directors in the National Radio Voice service. Possosslon of a good radio voice and the technique for Its proper use are taken for granted, but having the voice and knowing how to use it. the announcer is far from exhausting the catalogue of abilities be must display, declared a writer recently In the New York Herald-Tribune. Poise and presence of mind are absolute requisites for the announcer, be continued. When any one of a dosen possible mishaps occurs, he must

Seems Poor Fare for Growing Boys

In sharing the ordinary school dinner durtag Ms surprise visit to Christs hospital, the prince of Wale* fared better than he would have done there a century ago, Pierre VanPaaasen comments, tn the Atlanta Const! tutioo. Coleridge has left us a record of the dietary which ta his day was considered good enough for Bluecoat boys. Every morning aMt of dry bread and some bad small bear.

a * WE2TR. be premired to explain what has happened and why. The fault may belong to some other person, but the announcer must shoulder the blame himself and make the Invisible audience 'like It There may develop, through unforeseen circumstances. a period of silence beyond the usual amount. He should be able to fill In the gap without stuttering or swallowing his words, and without speaking nonsense and repeating It. He must be possessed of a wide knowledge, so that wheu Jeritza is about to sing he may speak ta terms of grand opera, and wheu Paul Whiteman is about to lead his jazz band be te able to discuss syncopation ta terms of George Gershwin and the modern trend of popular music. When speakers come before the microphone, he should be able to relate the subject of their discourses to current events of the day as reported In the " newspapers. Yet. the announcer must not encroach upoa the time of the broadcaster nor divulge too much of the contents of his address. A well-known announcer told of an incident which market! his early efforts before the “mike,” He was to Introduce a senator, who was to speak on the settlement of International debts. The announced, at that time very new to his profession, was excited both over the fact of the senator speaking and the topic of his address. Desiring tn Impress the audience with the significance of the occasion, he said, after naming the speaker and subject, that both were important; really, very Important, and in feet—- “ The Make of nations is at fate.” The director of the station nudged the announcer, who realised he had been guilty of a Blip of the tongue and hastened to correct himself. “I meant, of course," said the flustered young announcer, “that the fate of stations Is at stake." This time he himself sensed hte error, and he floundered into a new correction—- “ That te. the state of nations tea fake.” Finally the senator kindly took It upon himself to extricate the announcer from hte difficulties and explained there was nothing more serious pending than that the fate of nations was at qtake. Although radio announcers and lecturers have Mne problems in common with the platform sj>eaker. such as audience psychology, those who take the air for their addresses must give special attention to voice training, It was found. The experience of the air college conducted by New York university was that the voice, hither than the subject, was potent in attracting the huge audience. While a platform speaker has hte audience at hte mercy, even if hte voice is unpleaslng. the radio lecturer’s audience, it was quickly learned, may leave him for a more pleasing spanker, without having any charge of Impoliteness brought against It. The university report read. In part: “Although the radio speaker te unable to see the effect of bls words, he soon learns that the tones, speed and variation of bls voice are of far greater Importance to him than to a platform speaker, and professors who wished to attract large numbers to their classrooms soon learned that they must abandon what has frequently been referred to as the classroom manner of speech." Students In that course were taught the technique of good radio delivery, the construction and rhetoric of the radio speech and the specialised -vocabulary necessary for the radio speaker. A feature of the laboratory equipment was a voicerecording outfit which sends back to the student hte voice as It sounds to hte radio audience. With all due respect to the university proses-

Every evening a large piece of bread, and cheese or butter, whichever we choose. For dinner, <m Sunday, boiled beef and broth; Monday, bread and butter and ndlk and water; Tuesday. roast mutton; Wednesday, bread and butter and udUt; Thursday, boiled beef and broth: Friday, boiled mutton and broth; Saturdays, bread and butter and peas porridge. Our food was portioned and. excepting on Wednes-

days. I never had a bellyful. Our appetites were damped, never satisfied and we had no vegetables.- In those days the authorities had never heard of vitamines; but If they had. It sounds as though they would have extracted them. “Whipping the Cat" In colonial days an apprentice who had completed his terra of service in learning the shoemaktag trade usual ly started out In business tn a manner that w»« known as "whiw’ng the

■ratET STBACTfSE I OTHTTAL

sors. and believing that they perform excellent work, we must nevertheless hazard the opinion that the best radio announcers, like the poets are born, not made. This remark Is Intended in no way to detract from the value of the courses and training, but the student must bring something to his courses If he wants to bring awa? with him more than just four university credits. There 1s an Instinct about correct radio an nounctag which is a theatrical quality, enabling the speaker to sense the reactions of his audience just as clearly as the actor knows whether the pit te restless or held tensely in the grip of his words. To state the case more clearly .the radlc announcer must not only be as Effective as the artists broadcasting over the station, but in his field he must be an artist himself. Nothing will antagonize an audience more quickly than the slipshod announcer who mum bles his words, speaks too fast or drones his sentences, and who falls to enter into the spirit of the occasion. With an announcer of this type the station might as welDclose up shop, for the sophisticated radio fan will have nothing to de •with it. There was a reception in progress at a Fifth avenue hotel at which the guest of honor was a world-famous musician. There were several hundred guests, among them the principal composers concert artists and conductors in the city. One of these guests, not a musician, took the announcer by surprise and pushed him away from the microphone. Taking the stand there hl nisei I he said: “Ladies and gentlemen of the radio au dlence. among the celebrities here te the actor, Mr. B. He Is in the play in which Mr. W. la starred. Now Mr. W. In reality is not much good. The real star of the play, although he is not getting the credit, is Mr. B. Don't forget that when you go to see the play.” Mr. 8.. who tea gentleman as well as a first rate artist, was visibly and extremely embarrassed by this unsought advertising, which obviously might have proved a boomerang. The anuouncet had. however, regained his post and. naming the guest who had just spoken, explained ta indulgent tones that the speaker had been slightly under the weather, whether from cocktaMs or not he could not say. The announcer continued further by remarking that Mr. W. was deservedly the star of the play, which did not diminish the value of Mr. B.’s acting, and be briefly restored peace ta a good natured sentence or two. Mr. B. regained hls equanimity, the intruder was effectively taught hte lesson, and the broadcasting program continued uninterrupted for the balance of the eve , nlng. . This announcer would be worth hte weight ta gold. Os the several hundred persona In the hotel ballroom only the three or four right by the microphone knew at the time what had transpired, but the Incident must have been noted by some hundreds of thousands of listeners-ln, who heard the words more distinctly than those at the other end of the dance floor. There te at least one situation ta which the ; greatest announcer ta the world would find him- i self up a tree. That would be a case in which , George Bernard Shaw appeared before the micro- ! phone. Just what to expect from this modern : Voltaire no one could know, and l|ke as not some j such thing would occur as was cabled to the { New York Herald-Tribune recently by Us London • correspondent. Hte report read: “Universal and critical condemnation —a new experience for George Bernard ■ Shaw ta resent yeara—greeted the first perform- ' ance of a Shaw play over the radio tart night, I when a melodramatic skit. The Fatal Gasoline,* was broadcast “The skit, which has for a dlmax the death of the hero through swallowing a plaster which swells inside, was greeted as the world’s worst | play, made worse by radio. Shaw wrote it thirty years ago for a garden party, and hls offering It to broadcasters was probably another Shavian hoax.” It will not be surprising if Mr. Shaw announce* unexpectedly the writing of a play, ta entirely new dramatie dress, calculated primarily for broadcasting over the radio. —' I ————•

cat," which meant journeying from town to town, living with a family while making a year's supply of shoes for each member of the family and then leaving to fill other engagements previously made. Need of Change A French professor states that -living beings. In order to remain young, have need of change." He might have added that they need quite . a lot of change to remain comfortably on this earth at all.

Yankee Beggars Raise Standards

< : Native Wit Makes Mooching • Science as Other Countries Bar It. I New York. —“Alms, alms, for the love of Allah!” has resounded ■ throughout Palestine since Mohammed first went to Mecca; but if tlie authorities In Jerusalem have anything to do with it. it will no longer din in the ears of the tourist. For Jerusalem has turned thumbs down on begging and the picturesque and nondescript loafers who heretofore importuned the faithful and the unfaithful alike must seek other fields where their sollcitaI tions have not aroused the authorities against them. | Spain has also notified the beggars that, starting immediately, they are to become useful citizens. A round-up is now in progress and those of the aristocracy of alms who are too proud to work will be sent to the work houses. The rest will be given opportunities to learn trades, and the minors will be taught to read and write. Hamburg, so the authorities say. has solved its problem. When a “stemmer," “moocher” or “panhandler" ao coets the stranger on the street, he is handed a ticket which permits him to have his case investigated by a welfare society. If he Is found worthy, ’he is taken care of. If the society de- ■ cides against he is advised to hustle for a job or leave town. In Hull. England, the city corporation has taken somewhat novel steps to eliminate blind beggars from the streets. ‘ It has decided to pension them. Those who now enjoy a pension will have it Increased to 25 shillings a week, while those who have no allowance whatsoever will find themselves on the city’s pay roll for a like amount. The city estimates that this scheme will cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 a year. Age-Old Problem. Begging is coeval with history, and every nation and people has had this age-old : problem to solve. When cbrn and wine were plentiful In the land, the gates of Rome were lined with the Indigent and shiftless, who called on all the gods to witness their singular and collective ailments and misfortune* as they asked the stranger approaching the City of the Seven Hills for a few spare coppers. ° When famine swept through the provinces, recruits flocked to the thinning army at the gates and swelled Its ranks. Their argument was that If there be plenty in the land, those who have should give from their abundance to those who have not; and if there be famine, those who have should give all the more to those who have not. Rome, drawing on the richness of the conquered territories, opened its coffers and handed out doles to the city’s bums, and more bums flocked to the city. Jerusalem, in the days of the kings ■ and the prophets, had its,lepers and its loafers stretched out in the sun at the walls of the city. There they begged and blessed and cursed the opulent traders coming in from Egypt. Syria and other points. In successive breaths, according as they gave or j did not give. Begging thrived in the Middle agea. There was an aristocracy of loafers whose fathers before them for generations had been loafers. They raised large families in rags and squalor to the glory of beggardom. and the mendicants went begging down through the ages in sunshine and

: —1 Boys Leam Loyalty at Y. M. C. A. Summer Camps ir i ‘ """ " J* w At all the summer ramp* of the Y. M. C. A. every boy learns loyalty to hls country. This photograph, made at Camp Duncan, Volo, Rl., shows the ceremony ta which the boys salute the flag and pledge allegiance “to our country for which It stands, one nation, with liberty and justice for alt”

OCEAN VAST “FISHIN’ HOLE” FOR NEW YORK’S MILLIONS

Hundreds of Large, Speedy Craft Cater to Angling Urge of City's Nimrods. •New Tort—New Tort like every small town, has its “filin’ bole." Here it is the Atlantic ocean, and good fishing may be enjoyed In a score of charted locations. There always has been fishing, but until recently the nimrods had to organise small groups, charter an old boat and get their enjoyment in the face of discomfort and. sometimes, rtengar Now, going fishtag is as simple as taking the ferry. Large, speedy craft cater to this one trade, and regardless of the time at day the fisherman likes to drop bls rod in the water, he can bo acicommodated. The larger boats carry several score of men and on Sundays usually are

> storm, in summer’s heat and winter’s cold, at palace door and prison gate. Paris, the home of social graces, had its hordes of unwashed unfortunates. London had its quota of loafers.. Berlin had its army of bums and Petrograd had its percentage of paupers. Scarce in Colonial Days. Just when the advance guard of this ancient army established itself in America is uncertain. During Colonial times begging was practically unheard of. Even after the Revolutionary war there is little or no mention of mendicancy. There were abolitionists and whiskey rebels, but no bums, as such. In 1923 It was estimated that there were 12.000 beggars in New York city. In 1926 this number, it has been said, was reduced to 4.000. This latter number, however, seems to be a snap estimate, or else there are times when the entire corps is working one particular section at the same h<jur. Many of these are crippled: but a fair proportion of them are able, although not willing, to get out on the argumentative end of a pick or shovel. The American beggar has raised the art of mooching to the science of “stemming’’ and he Is constantly improving on his practice in the most effective way of separating a few coins from the pockets of the sypathetic. The novice starts in on the less frequented streets. There he approaches each and every person that comes within his range. As he becomes more proficient in his work, he sizes up his prospects, rejecting this one. classing that one as doubtful and putting the label “sucker, good for five cents up” on still another. He Avoids the Police. As he becomes more capable in wringing coins from reluctant pocketbooks, he moves up toward the more frequented districts. During his apprenticeship he learns to smell a “bull” a block away. This is the distinguishing mark of a good professional and a cheap panhandler. The good professional will go out day after day. or rather night after night, and collect from five to ten dollars in two or three hours stemming without coming into contact with the blunt-toed shoes of the detective bureau. The cheap panhandler. on the other hand, will frequently find himself answering embarrassing questions asked by a desk lieutenant through his sheer Inability to weed out the “dicks” that wander up and down the streets. One of the favorite approaches used by the professional beggar who Is just below the top of his class is to prey on the sympathies of the populace with a hard-luck story. Some of these are masterpieces that would bring their authors a fat check from a number of the cheaper magazines if the raconteurs could but find time to write them down. If there is a flood in Ohio, the beggar is one of the unfortunate victims who has had his chattels, wife and children washed down the river. He assiduously studies the stories of the disasters as they appear in the newspapers until he has his locale oriented. Then he improvises details and adds tears until the listener hears the roar of the waters, the howls of the wind and the shrieks of the victims as they are borne through the night If there Is a fire, his life savings have been burned up. His home has been wiped out His fanHiy has been loet in the ruins. He escaped because he was working and came home only to find that all was lost The money

crowded to the full limit of rating. The boats as a rule are In charge of veteran fishermen, who gauge the tide, wind and weather, and can pick unfailingly the place where they are biting. Baas, fresh fluke and blackttah are among the leading catches. The boats, however, would bring a smile to the face of a veteran off the Grand banks. There Is little roughing It Instead, the tired sportsman may sink Into a heavily upholstered chair. The larger boats even have lounging rooms and dining rooms. Neither is it necessary to worry about tackle, for along that section of the docks from which the boats depart are shops selling not only the proverbial “hook, line and sinker” but all other equipment It is not even necessary to dig for worms, If that bait Is used, for there are any number of shops dealing ta grubs and angleworms.

he took out of the bank, in crisp new hundred-doUanr bills, to buy a little home was turned to ashes. Broken* hearted, penniless and without a friend In the world, he faces the blealt future to build up from the ashes a new life, etc. It is heartrending, even though It is not true, and only th< ultra-hardened can listen through U all without digging down to relieve this unfortunate victim. Earthquakes Help Some. Earthquakes, wrecks at sea, rail* road accidents, every disaster tbal visits the land, creates its hundred! of victims who were from several hundred to several thousand milee away from the catastrophe at tb< time it happened. As long «s ths story holds a good position in th« newspapers, the vicarious victim la* ments in the ears of the hard-working citizenry. When the story passe! from a half-column to a half-stick; the beggar begins to cast about for some other disaster on which to fas ten himself. If it happens to be a time when current events are particularly free from holocausts and calamities, he will go back to his old familiar snivel of “Mister, could you spare me a few cents for a cup of coffee? I ain’t any beggar; but I’m broke, hungry and I can’t get a job.” ? Some of the more enterprising, in lieu of a better plea, will mention that thhy “have just been turned loose from a hospital and haven’t been able to find a job that they are physically fit to take. Such a one played West Twelfth street, near the Seventh avenue subway station steps, for the better part of a month. He approached one prospect four times in one week and became so well acquainted with him that he remarked on the pleaaantness or unpleasantness of tha weather whenever he sa’w the prospect coming up the subway stairs. One of the favorite methods of approach for the professional beggar is the young man walking with the young girl. The moocher sizes them up at a distance. If they seem to be enjoying each other’s society, he feels another twenty-five-cent piece jingling among the nickels and dimes in his pocket. If. on the other hand, they appear to be bored with‘each other, he realizes that his possibilities have been reduced to a dime and that his probabilities are not worth more than five cents. ' Elderly persons, both male and female, are also made to order for the experienced stemmer. The middleaged enjoy a rather high immunity. The beggar knows that these as a rule are hard “to make” and that less than one out twenty will “come through,” so he devotes his time and energy to the old and to the young, especially when the young are in love. Seek Spanish History in Nebraska Fields Monroe, Neb; —New light is expected to be thrown on early history of the West through excavations being made in the corn fields along LookingGlass creek north of here by E. E. Blackman, curator of the Nebraska State Historical society. The curator expects to discover relics and evidence which will establish the site of the massacre by Indians in 1720 of a Spanish caravan under the command of Colonel Vilassur. The massacre, long a matter of dispute among historians of the West, marked the halt of Spanish conquests to the North during the Eighteenth century. Recently discovered documents, located in Spain and France by A. B. Thomas of the University of California, and the discovery of bits of chain armor and ancient coins resulted in the present search for evidence to establish the exact location of the ma»1 sacre.

There is one item of the old pond, however, that cannot be duplicated. That is the tree on the mossy bank where one can stick the pole in the ground and dose off while the fish play around with the bait “Skeeters” With 4-Inch Wings Found Petrified Washington.—The days when mosquitoes were mosquitoes and prehistoric man probably fought them with clubs were envisioned in an announcement that Prof. Charles Gilmoiy of the Smithsonian institution had found the imprint of a four-tach bug wing In a rock layer ta Grand canyon. While Professor Gilmore estimated the print to be 26,000,000 years old, other scientists believed it was made some 300.00fi.088* years ago. Quito Impartial New York.—The police at Coney to land are quite impartial. If girls ta bathing cannot wear one-piece suits, those in cabarets must be eureful aa to wearing tan than that.