Tragedy or Joke?


The three boys discussed vacation plans along the line suggested by Hal
for half an hour, and then Cub said:

"We can't get any further on this subject to-night. It's nearly 8
o'clock; Let's go in the radio room and listen to some opera music
for a while."

He led the way into an adjoining apartment, a veritable radio laboratory.
Two years before, as a wireless amateur, Cub had built for himself in
this room an elaborate sending and receiving set, and he proved to be one
of the first, boy though he was, to appreciate the outlook for the
radiophone, even before "the craze" had gripped the country. He soon had
his father almost as much interested in the subject as himself, so that
the question of financing his latest radio ambition was no serious
obstacle. An early result of this active interest on his part was the
addition of a receiving amplification with which he could listen in to
messages from major-power stations in the remotest parts of the country.
Indeed, under favorable conditions, he had picked up messages from as far
distant points as Edinburgh, Scotland, and Australia.

Cub sat down at the table and tuned to 360 meters. The other boys seated
themselves comfortably and waited with a kind of luxurious contentment
for the beginning of the program, which came in a few minutes. They "sat
through" the entire Westinghouse program and then Cub began to "tune up
and down" to find out what else was going on in the air. The room for
several minutes was resonant with a succession of squeaks, squawks,