ON THE AIR

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19135, 2 October 1936, Page 11

ON THE AIR

KllllllllliilllllllllllltlllllMllilMlllllllllllllllllllllllMllllliililt Television Inventor's Fight For Success LONDON, Auk. -o. HOW ilUiealth and tho Joss of a job led to the invention of television was told to-day by Sir.- John L. Baird. " t was always interested in the possibilities of television." he said. '•When I was a small boy 1 used to think that if you could speak to people along- a wire there was no reason why you could not see them. "When I was .18 I used to make selenium cells in the kitchen at my parents' home. They used to say that £ was wasting my time. .1 then went to Glasgow University, and still thought about television, occasionally pottering about with it. "I studied engineering and got a job, later going- into a business -ot my own. This lasted until .1023, when I became ill, had to give up, and go to recuperate at Hastings. Thing's looked black as I had no money, and had to live on my little capital.

"1 could not get a job, so I decided that the only thing was to persevere with television. Every day for three years I worked hard trying to master this new science. I worked well into the night, and sometimes did not go to bed at all. I was so hard up that onco I had to sell my apparatus for £2 to pay the rent.

"The machine J. was working on c,ost me about 7s Cd. It was made of a circle of cardboard cut from a hatbox, 1(5 bull's-eye lenses and a

selenium cell with a cardboard disc perforated and mounted on a spindle to act as a receiver. It is now in the science museum at South Kensington. Begins to Despair. t "Practically the first time I experimented 1 succeeded in getting shadows from across the room. I used a ventriloquist's dummy. After a time I gave exhibitions of shadowtelevision, but was accused of faking. "I was beginning to feel that I had made a mistake and was seriously considering dropping the invention as I only had a few pounds left, in the world". But suddenly in October, 1025, I made a small adjustment to my apparatus and the shadow turned into a. clear picture. "I ran downstairs and got, the first person I could find, a boy, t,o come in front of tho transmitter. He was afraid to do so at first because of the strong lights. However, I persuaded him, and he was the first person ever to bo seen by television. After that it was a ease of perfecting the instrument.

“Even then I met with great opposition from people t.o whom I tried to show it. I was once described as a madman, and searched to see if I had a razor on me. If I had not been ill I should certainly never have invented television.”-

Mr. Baird, who is 4S, was born just outside Glasgow. His father, a clergyman, wanted him to enter the Church.

Nearly 8,000,000 Radio Licenses are Issued In Britain LONDON, July 10. lOW soon will Britain roach satuvn--1 tion point in the number ot ! licenses' issued to radio listeners. This question is seriously exercising the minds of the governors of the British Broadcasting Corporation, in view of demands for intnic financial commitments, including the advent of television, the,development of the Empire's service, uie provision of newtransmitters, and tne extension of Broadcasting House. The number of licenses issued by the 8.8. C. has grown from 5,536,300 in 1933 to 7,043,64:i in 1930. Already the annual revenue from licenses exceeds £3,750,000. Evidence laid 'before the Ullswatcr Committee, whose report was issued recently, suggested that, in a few years £4,500,000 is likely to be attained. 'Phis would menu a total of 9,000,000 listeners, or 1,350,000 -more than at nresent.