IN BRIEF

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 74, 24 September 1936, Page 26

IN BRIEF

NOTES FROM FAR AND NEAR

Lessons in French. Arrangements have been made lor a series of six broadcast lessons on French pronunciation for the benefit of secondary pupils of the Education Department's Correspondence School. Following are dates and times of the broadcasts:—2YA and IYA, 11.15 a.m. on Monday, September 28, October 5 and 12, and Wednesday, September 30, October 7 and 14. Symphony Orchestra Broadcast. The following programme- will be broadcast by the Wellington Symphony Orchestra when it gives its next concert in the Town Hall on October 20:— Overture, "Merry Wives of Windsor (Nicolai); Concerto in D Minor for 2 Violins (Miss Ava Symons and Mr. Leon de Mauny); Tschaikowsky's "Symphony No. 5 in E Minor"; Hungarian March (Berlioz). The first portion of the programme will be conducted by Mr. Frank Crowther. Mrs. Wilfred Andrews (contralto) will be the associate artist for the occasion. Radio Inspectors. In these days of the all-wave radio, when the, listener ranges the world for his entertainment, the question of interference with reception of radio signals is of great interest to a wide circle of readers. They will be reassured to know that this problem is being watched constantly by 21 radio inspectors of the Post Office* and also receives expert attention from the Department's engineering -staff. In addition, there are at a number of post offices throughout the Dominion officers of the Telegraph branch, etc., who attend to interference complaints as occasion requires. The full-time inspectors are stationed at Auckland, Whangarei, Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Wellington, Masterton, Nelson, Palmerston North, Wanganui, New Plymouth, Napier, Gisborne, Christchurch, Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, and there are part-time inspectors at Blenheim and Greymouth. These officers have some extremely interesting experiences as demonstrated from their regular reports to headquarters. What is the most common source of trouble experienced by the radio listeners? Electric-power lines are so prominent a feature of the New Zealand landscape that there is a very natural tendency on the part of listeners to regard the reticulation system as the source of most of their troubles. The listener is right occasionally, and if there is a fault of this nature it is quickly remedied, for the electric supply authorities of the Dominion cooperate with the Postal Department in a most prompt and effective way to eliminate this cause of radio interference. However, there are many localities in which it is almost impossible to secure perfect reception. A house is sometimes found to be electrically shielded, and radio signals extremely weak at that point, although a few yards further along the same street reception will be perfect from the nearest broadcasting station. School Broadcasts. Organised by Mr. E. N. Le Petit, M.A., Dip. Ed., of the Education Department's Correspondence School, the series of weekly educational broadcasts to schools continues to supply a fund "of general knowledge which pupils of all ages will appreciate in later years. The talks are controlled by an educational advisory committee, of which Dr. J. W. Mcllwraith, M.A., LL.B., LittD., Chief Inspector of Primary Schools, is chairman. The Wellington Education Board views the broadcasts with complete approval, and at its last meeting passed a motion by Mr. A. C. Blake congratulating Mr. Le Petit on the success so far attained.