NBC Transmitter (Mar-Oct 1941)

10 NBC TRANSMITTER ON THE SHELF By FRANCES SPRAGUE CONTROLLING BROADCASTING IN WARTIME. By C. J. Friedrich. A tentative public policy. Pamphlet prepared by the Radiobroadcasting Research Project at the Littauer Center, Harvard University, 1940. THE EUROPEAN POSSESSIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA. By R. R. Platt et al. American Geographical Society. 1941. Strategic importance, industries, government, resources and other data. HANDBOOK OF BROADCASTING. By Waldo Abbot. McGraw-Hill Book Co. 1941. 2nd ed. Written especially for students, teachers, and speakers, but equally helpful to those interested in all phases of broadcasting. OUR CONTEMPORARY COMPOSERS. By j. T. Howard. Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 1941. Present-day American musicians and music. RADIO ENGINEERING HANDBOOK. Edited by Keith Henney. McGraw-Hill Book Co. 3rd ed. 1941. All phases of engineering practices brought up to date. REPORT ON CHAIN BROADCASTING. Federal Communications Commission. Government Printing Office. 1941. Official text. THIS IS LONDON. By E. R. Murrow. Simon & Schuster. 1941. Selections from his broadcasts early in the war. WAR ON THE SHORT WAVES. By H. N. Graves. Foreign Policy Association. Headline Book. 1941. CLEVELAND Bob Dailey INCIDENT AT CROSSE ISLE Announcer Tom Manning, Special Events Man jack Fern and Manager Vernon H. Pribble were covering the WTAM broadcast from the Naval Air Training Base at Crosse Isle, Michigan, during Naval Aviation Week. A young man broke out of drill line and rushed across the parade ground. It was Buzz Lloyd, former WTAM office boy, so excited at seeing someone from Cleveland that he forgot all about drilling. Lloyd almost had a two hour training penalty to work out, but Manager Pribble explained the situation to Lloyd’s commanding officer and Lloyd got off with only a reprimand. He’s a full-fledged flying cadet now at Lakehurst, New Jersey. DOUBLE DATE There is one anniversary in the life of Chester Zohn, WTAM’s night manager, that is faithfully celebrated year after year. More accurately, it is a double anniversary, for the date of his wedding is also that of his joining the WTAM staff here in Cleveland. just recently, it was his 15th wedding anniversary and the 1 1th celebration of his years at WTAM. POET LAUREATE OF THE CONTROL BOARD Bert Pruitt has found new paths of poetic glory. A national news syndicate is angling for Pruitt to Cracie Fields, England’s number one comedienne, appeared recently on WTAM’s “Women’s Club of the Air.’’ Here she is, shown in an informal pose with jane Weaver, right, conductor of the program, and Mildred Funnell, center. Miss Fields has the distinction of being the highest paid performer in the entertainment world. do a bit of verse daily for its newspaper clients. If the deal goes through, the series would start in the Fall. This broadcast engineer’s poetry now appears frequently in Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Indianapolis and Philadelphia newspapers and in several nationally circulated magazines. Pruitt has been at WTAM for 1 1 years, but he began writing verse only 16 months ago. At that time his poetry was mere relaxation from difficult mathematic problems encountered in an advanced engineering course. It is a lot more than relaxation now. Bert turns out from ten to twelve poems a week. Mostly Pruitt’s subjects are the common, everyday happenings and emotions. Occasionally, however, he borrows from his colorful background of six years spent with the United States Navy in far-away ports. The WTAM engineer is hardly a Keats or Shelley in appearance. Bert Pruitt is over six feet tall and tops the scales at 190 pounds. ITEMS The first WTAM staff member to be drafted is Claude Moye, known to thousands of Ohio listeners as “Pie Plate Pete”. . . . Announcers Wade Barnes and John Hicks both spending their vacations in New York State. . . . Announcer Tom Manning donning a painter’s cap to do a stroke-bystroke version of a house painting derby. . . . Katharine Holgan and Sally Ruple joining the staff as switchboard operators. ED. NOTE: And Bob Dailey of News and Press is the proud father of a seven pound baby girl. It’s the Dailey’s first. Congratulations, Bob.