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The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

1) How many hours of television do Canadians watch per week?


A) 7 hours
B) 15 hours
C) 21 hours
D) 28 hours
E) 35 hours

Answer: D
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 116

2) In which year did television first arrive in Canada?


A) 1965
B) 1862
C) 1943
D) 1952
E) 1971

Answer: D
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

3) In which year did Canadian television stations begin broadcasting in digital?


A) 1999
B) 2001
C) 2011
D) 2005
E) 1976

Answer: C
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

4) Linda and Robert Lichter and Stanley Rothman make a case that the creators of
television programs are
A) conformist.
B) creative geniuses.
C) social reformers.
D) radical agents of change.
E) benevolent humanitarians.

Answer: C
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

5) Which is the dominant mass medium for entertainment and news?


A) Magazines
B) The internet
C) Radio
D) Newspapers

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 1


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

E) Television

Answer: E
Diff: 1 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

6) According the Kaiser Family Foundation, what percentage of children age 4–6 use
screen media about two hours a day?
A) 61 percent
B) 83 percent
C) 76 percent
D) 90 percent
E) 55 percent

Answer: D
Diff: 3 Type: MC Page Ref: 118

7) Children in which kind of family are more likely to have a television in their bedroom?
A) Immigrant
B) Middle-income
C) Upper-income
D) Lone-parent
E) Lower-income

Answer: E
Diff: 3 Type: MC Page Ref: 118

8) In which city was the first Canadian television station?


A) Winnipeg
B) Vancouver
C) Windsor
D) Montreal
E) Toronto

Answer: D
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

9) Which Canadian program began on radio in the 1920s and continues to draw huge
audiences?
A) Sesame Street
B) The National
C) Canadian Idol
D) Wayne and Shuster
E) Hockey Night in Canada

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 2


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

10) By 1954, how many television sets had been purchased in Canada?
A) Five million
B) One million
C) Five hundred thousand
D) Twelve million
E) Sixty thousand

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

11) By 1958, which network stretched from Victoria to Halifax?


A) NBC
B) PBS
C) Global
D) CTV
E) CBC

Answer: E
Diff: 1 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

12) Currently, there are how many national television networks in Canada?
A) Two
B) Three
C) Five
D) Six
E) Twenty

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

13) How many Canadian national television networks are privately owned?
A) Five
B) Two
C) Four
D) Seven
E) Fifteen

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

14) What was created by an act of Parliament in 1936?


A) NFB
B) CBC
C) CTV
D) CRTC

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 3


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

E) CCFT

Answer: B
Diff: 3 Type: MC Page Ref: 120

15) Which was Canada’s first privately owned national television network?
A) Fox
B) Global
C) NFB
D) CBC
E) CTV

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 120

16) Who was the initiator of the CTV television network?


A) Spence Caldwell
B) John Bassett
C) Peter C. Newman
D) Ken Soble
E) Rick Mercer

Answer: A
Diff: 3 Type: MC Page Ref: 120

17) Canadians watch American programming what percentage of the time?


A) 47 percent
B) 52 percent
C) 65 percent
D) 76 percent
E) 88 percent

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 120

18) According to the CRTC, what percentage of Canadian content is required on


television?
A) 52 percent
B) 30 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 55 percent
E) 65 percent

Answer: D
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 121

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 4


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

19) In the United States, there are how many major television networks?
A) 2
B) 3
C) 4
D) 5
E) 8

Answer: C
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 121–122

20) In which year did the Public Broadcasting Service begin providing programs to
noncommercial stations?
A) 1952
B) 1967
C) 1976
D) 1959
E) 1987

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 122

21) Which was the first to transmit television programming by satellite?


A) CBC
B) CTV
C) CBS
D) Fox
E) HBO

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 123

22) Which term refers to audience control of time for viewing a chosen program?
A) Betamax
B) VOD
C) TiVo
D) Time-shifting
E) Audience metre

Answer: D
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 124

23) Which term is used to describe brief episodic stories for web delivery?
A) Webisodes
B) i-shows
C) Tube TV
D) e-shows

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 5


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

E) Net flix

Answer: A
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 125, 128

24) According to Statistics Canada, how much was television advertising worth in 2009?
A) $750 million
B) $10.7 billion
C) $500 million
D) $2.6 billion
E) $3.1 billion

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 126

25) Since 2008, how many minutes of advertising are Canadian TV stations allowed to
air per hour?
A) 10
B) 15
C) 12
D) 8
E) 18

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 126

26) What is the core revenue stream for cable television systems?
A) Monthly fees
B) Local advertising
C) National advertising
D) Government funding
E) Private donations

Answer: A
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 127

27) When the storyline of Corner Gas includes mention of the Sears catalogue, this is an
example of
A) product placement
B) national marketing
C) direct marketing
D) commercial advertising
E) payola

Answer: A
Diff: 3 Type: MC Page Ref: 128

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 6


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

28) In which year did online viewing surpass traditional television viewing in Canada?
A) 2001
B) 2010
C) 2002
D) 2005
E) 2007

Answer: B
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

29) According to Moses Znaimer, which medium is the acknowledged king of


transmitting information and entertainment?
A) Radio
B) The internet
C) Magazines
D) Newspapers
E) Television

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

30) Which medium, introduced in the early 1950s, has reshaped the other media?
A) Podcasting
B) Magazines
C) Radio
D) Television
E) The internet

Answer: D
Diff: 1 Type: MC Page Ref: 117

31) The original television industry was composed of


A) local stations.
B) large networks.
C) small networks.
D) public corporations.
E) international stations.

Answer: A
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

32) In which year was the first television broadcast received in Canada?
A) 1947
B) 1952
C) 1963

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 7


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

D) 1936
E) 1976

Answer: A
Diff: 3 Type: MC Page Ref: 119

33) In Quebec, what percentage of television viewing is Canadian?


A) 77 percent
B) 52 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 66 percent
E) 89 percent

Answer: D
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 120

34) Which American network owned the early-morning and late-night television
audience for years?
A) ABC
B) Fox
C) PBS
D) CBS
E) NBC

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 121

35) Which American television network attracted an audience interested in sports with
shows such as Wide World of Sports and Monday Night Football?
A) NBC
B) PBS
C) Fox
D) CBS
E) ABC

Answer: E
Diff: 2 Type: MC Page Ref: 122

36) Scholars and broadcasters agree that television has some degree of influence on
society.
A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 116

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 8


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

36) Television creates only long-term effects.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 116

38) CTV was Canada’s first public television network.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 117

39) Canadian television stations began broadcasting in digital in 2001.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 117

40) According to Moses Znaimer, television reflects values and ideals.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 117

41) The advent of television has had little effect on other mass media.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 1 Type: TF Page Ref: 117

42) Television is now the dominant mass medium for entertainment and news.
A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 117

43) Evening television newscasts encouraged the development of afternoon editions of


newspapers.
A) True
B) False

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 9


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 117

44) Television took advertisers from the mass-circulation magazines.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 118

45) Sixty-one percent of babies watch screen media in a typical day.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 118

46) Kids in upper-class homes are more likely to have a TV in their bedrooms.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 118

47) According to Joseph Blatt, it is impossible to produce quality programming for


children in a commercial environment.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 118

48) Radio demassified with the arrival of television.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

49) Television transformed the mass media.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 1 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 10


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

50) The first Canadian television station was in Windsor.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

51) The first television broadcast signal received in Canada came from the United States.
A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

52) Television officially arrived in Canada in 1932 with the formation of the CBC.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

53) In 1961, Global television became the first Canadian private broadcaster.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

54) Canada’s first television network was publicly owned.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

55) At present, there are five major Canadian national television networks.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 119

56) The CBC television network began as a radio network in 1936.


A) True
B) False

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 11


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 120

57) Canadians still watch Canadian programming the majority of the time.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 120

58) Viewers in Quebec are more likely to watch American programming.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 120

59) Canadian television stations need to schedule 40 percent Canadian content overall,
with at least 35 percent scheduled during prime time.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 121

60) The CRTC encourages the broadcast of Canadian dramas by offering drama credits.
A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 121

61) According to Michael McCabe, the goal for Canadian networks is to maximize
profits.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 121

62) In the United States and Canada, television is a two-tiered system featuring both local
and national programming.
A) True
B) False

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 12


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 121

63) CBC is the only noncommercial television broadcaster in Canada.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 122

64) By the early 1950s, television networks and their local affiliates reached every
community in the United States and Canada.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 123

65) Cable TV arrived in Canada before the first Canadian television station.
A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 123

66) HBO was the first cable programming via satellite.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 123

67) There are two satellite TV companies in Canada.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 124

68) Because of dwindling audiences, television networks have had to reduce their
advertising rates.
A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 126

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 13


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

69) Most commercial time is purchased during the TV season.


A) True
B) False

Answer: False
Diff: 3 Type: TF Page Ref: 126

70) The television viewing audience is becoming empowered.


A) True
B) False

Answer: True
Diff: 2 Type: TF Page Ref: 127

71) The Lichters and Rothman identify television’s creative community as largely secular
and politically __________________.

Answer: liberal
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 117

72) In 2011, Canadian television stations began broadcasting in __________________.

Answer: digital
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 117

73) The first feature film in colour was __________________.

Answer: The Black Pirate


Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 117

74) __________________ demassified with the arrival of television.

Answer: Radio
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 119

75) The original television industry was composed of __________________.

Answer: local stations


Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 119

76) Television officially arrived in Canada in __________________.

Answer: 1952
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 119

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 14


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

77) At present, there are __________________ national television networks in Canada.

Answer: three
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 119

78) __________________ is Canada’s public television broadcaster.

Answer: CBC
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 120

79) Most Canadians get their news and information from __________________.

Answer: television
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 117

80) Canadians watch American programming __________________ percent of the time.

Answer: 52
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 120

81) Canadian TV stations need to schedule __________________ percent Canadian


content overall.

Answer: 55
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref:121

82) HBO had the first television programming via __________________.

Answer: satellite
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref:123

83) __________________ allows audience control of time for viewing a chosen program.

Answer: Time-shifting
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 124

84) Since 2008, the CRTC has allowed __________________ minutes of television
advertising per hour.

Answer: 15
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 126

85) Cable TV systems have a core revenue stream from __________________.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 15


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

Answer: subscribers
Diff: 2 Type: FIB Page-Ref: 127

86) Please match the items in the column with no repeats.


I. Spence Caldwell
II. Izzy Asper
III. David Sarnoff
IV. Rupert Murdoch
V. Roone Arledge

A. CTV
B. CanWest Global
C. NBC
D. Fox
E. ABC

Answer I-A, II-B, III-C, IV-D, V-E


Diff: 2 Type: Matching Page-Ref: 120–122

87) Please match the items in the column with no repeats.


I. CATV
II. DBS viewers
III. TiVo device
IV. VOD watch programs when they choose
V. CBFT

A. Cable systems
B. Satellite transmission direct to Canadian TV channel
C. Digital recording and playback
D. Mechanisms that allow viewers to
E. First

Answer I-A, II-B, III-C, IV-D, V-E


Diff: 2 Type: Matching Page-Ref: 119–124

88) Without Canadian TV, we'd be "North Dakota with more interesting currency." So
says Canadian TV star and producer Steve Smith. Comment on Smith's ideas about
the role of Canadian TV within our culture. Do we need Canadian TV to remain
"Canadian”?

Diff: 3 Type: ES Page Ref: 120–121

89) How have other media responded to the introduction of television? What is similar
about the responses, and what is distinct for each medium?

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 16


The Media of Mass Communication, 6Ce – Vivian, Maurin Chapter 8

Diff: 3 Type: ES Page Ref: 117–119

90) How have television delivery systems changed since the original over-air system?
What have been the effects of each change?

Diff: 3 Type: ES Page Ref: 123–126

91) What are some of the economic issues faced by television networks? Will they be
able to keep the traditional 30-second commercial? What are some alternative forms
of advertising?

Diff: 3 Type: ES Page Ref: 126–128

92) What social and technological factors are influencing television? How are the
traditional networks responding to these changes?

Diff: 3 Type: ES Page Ref: 127–129

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Canada Inc. 17


Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tom Swift and
his talking pictures
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the
United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where
you are located before using this eBook.

Title: Tom Swift and his talking pictures


or, The greatest invention on record

Author: Victor Appleton

Release date: January 1, 2024 [eBook #72578]

Language: English

Original publication: New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap, 1928

Credits: Delphine Lettau, Greg Weeks, Cindy Beyer, Mary Meehan &
the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at
http://www.pgdpcanada.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SWIFT


AND HIS TALKING PICTURES ***
TOM SWIFT AND HIS TALKING
PICTURES
OR
The Greatest Invention on Record

BY VICTOR APPLETON

AUTHOR OF
“TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORCYCLE,”
“TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS,”
“TOM SWIFT CIRCLING THE GLOBE,”
“THE DON STURDY SERIES,”
ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS
Made in the United States of America
Copyright, 1928, by
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Inc.

Tom Swift and His Talking Pictures


TOM SWIFT WAS THROWN OVERBOARD.

BOOKS FOR BOYS


By VICTOR APPLETON
12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.

THE TOM SWIFT SERIES


TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORCYCLE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTORBOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE
TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS
TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE
TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER
TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON
TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL
TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH
TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS
TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS
TOM SWIFT CIRCLING THE GLOBE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS TALKING PICTURES
THE DON STURDY SERIES
DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY
DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS
DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD
DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE
DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES
DON STURDY IN THE PORT OF LOST SHIPS
DON STURDY AMONG THE GORILLAS
DON STURDY CAPTURED BY HEAD HUNTERS

Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York.


CONTENTS
I. BLASTING FIRE
II. NED DISAPPEARS
III. SUSPICIONS
IV. A STRANGE MESSAGE
V. ON A MYSTERIOUS TRAIL
VI. TOO LATE
VII. A WILD CHASE
VIII. TWO CAPTIVES
IX. ON THE ISLAND
X. THE ESCAPE
XI. RESCUED
XII. GREENBAUM THREATENS
XIII. MR. DAMON DANCES
XIV. KOKU IS DRUGGED
XV. A SINISTER WARNING
XVI. A STARTLING DISCOVERY
XVII. USELESS PLEADINGS
XVIII. AN ANONYMOUS ADVERTISEMENT
XIX. THE MEETING
XX. MASKED MEN
XXI. A TEMPTING OFFER
XXII. FLASHING LIGHTS
XXIII. TOM ACCEPTS
XXIV. A FINAL TEST
XXV. A BRIGHT FUTURE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS TALKING
PICTURES
CHAPTER I
BLASTING FIRE
Entering Tom Swift’s private laboratory from a room farther
down the hall, Ned Newton, who seemed somewhat out of breath,
glanced at the young inventor and asked:
“Do you seem to be getting anywhere with it, Tom?”
For a moment there was no reply. Tom, who had been leaning
over a complicated apparatus of wires, switches, and radio bulbs
that glowed dimly, was slowly turning a dial. Ned repeated his
question, adding:
“What seems to be the trouble?”
“Trouble?” queried Tom, looking at Ned with eyes, however, that
did not see him.
“There must be some trouble,” insisted Ned, “or you’d have been
capering around here on one leg when I came in after doing my stuff
back there,” and he nodded toward the room farther down the hall.
“How about it?”
Tom Swift glanced away from the apparatus, which very much
resembled a radio receiving set, to a yard-square burnished sheet of
metal hanging in front of him and connected to the other mechanism
by several wires. This burnished sheet appeared to be made of a
mirror of some metal with a square of heavy plate glass covering it.
“Can’t you answer?” inquired Ned, with a chuckle. “Boy, I
certainly did some acting back there all by myself! And I’d like to
know whether I got it through to you. Did I? Bet I did that song and
dance for the fiftieth time just now. Come on—wake up—did it come
through? What’s the matter, anyhow?”
“I—I’m thinking,” said Tom slowly.
“Don’t need an interpreter to tell me that!” and again Ned
chuckled. “I can see it with half an eye. But was it a success?”
“Yes, and no,” replied Tom, turning a switch which seemed to cut
off some electrical current, for at once a faint hum that had been
audible in the laboratory ceased. “Yes, and no. It came through all
right; that is, part of it did, but the rest——”
Tom ceased speaking and bent over his apparatus. He adjusted
some set screws, turned a couple of dials, and changed three of the
radio tubes which, now that the power was cut off, no longer glowed
with light beneath the quicksilver coatings on the thin glass.
“Do you want me to go back there and do it over?” asked Ned.
“I’m willing, if you say so,” and he started for the room he had just left
—a room wherein, under the focused rays of a battery of powerful
lights and close to a box containing a strange assortment of tubes
and transmitters, Ned had done his “stunt,” which consisted of
singing and dancing about on a small stage. He performed alone—
there was no audience but the distant one of Tom Swift in his
laboratory several hundred feet away.
“Wait a minute, Ned!” Tom Swift called sharply, when his chum,
who was also the financial manager of the Swift Construction
Company, was about to leave the room. “I guess we might as well
call it a day’s work and quit.”
“A night’s work, you mean!” retorted Ned, pointing to the window
which reflected the darkness outside. “Must be past twelve.”
“I guess it is,” admitted the young inventor, somewhat wearily. “I
didn’t notice. It’s a shame to keep you at it so long, Ned.”
“Oh, I don’t mind!” said the other quickly. “Not as long as it’s
going to be a success. But is it?”
Tom Swift hesitated, looked at the complicated machine in front
of him and slowly shook his head.
“Frankly, Ned, I can’t say,” he admitted. “You came through in a
measure. Of course I heard you plainly enough over the radio—that
part is simple enough. But the picture of you was too shadowy to be
satisfactory. It’s coming, though. I’ll make it come!” and Tom, in spite
of his weariness, showed some fighting spirit in his voice and
manner.
“Could you identify me there?” and Ned pointed to that burnished
metal mirror with its covering of glass in the lower edge of which
were fused several wires.
“Oh, yes, I knew it was you, Ned, of course. But, as I say, the
projected picture was too visionary. It didn’t stand out clearly and
with depth the way I want it to. It was like a moving picture when the
man up in the booth goes to sleep on the job and the projector gets
out of focus. I’m rather disappointed.”
“I don’t mind going back and going through my stunt again, even
for the fifty-first performance,” offered Ned, with enthusiasm. “I don’t
care how late it is. Helen won’t expect me now.”
“Did you have an engagement?” asked Tom, looking sharply at
his friend. “And I kept you here doing a song and dance act half the
night when Helen expected you! That’s too bad! If I’d known——”
“Keep your hair on!” chuckled Ned. “I didn’t really have a date
with Helen. I said I might drop around if there wasn’t anything to do
here. But she knows you well enough to make allowances for
emergency work—and this was just that.”
“Yes, it is an emergency all right,” returned Tom slowly. “But I
shall give it up for the night. No use keeping you any longer, Ned. Go
on home and I’ll try it again to-morrow with a different wave length. I
think that’s where the difficulty is. We’ll tackle it again in the
morning.”
“All right,” assented Ned Newton, and he could not keep out of
his voice a little note of satisfaction and relief. Truth to tell, he was a
bit tired. For several weeks now he had been helping Tom Swift on
the latter’s newest idea—an invention, Tom declared, that would be
the greatest on record and one that would tend to revolutionize the
radio and moving picture industries.
This was a daring plan Tom had conceived of making a radio
machine, both sending and receiving, that would enable a person or
any number of persons not only to hear a distant performance in
their own home, but also see those taking part.
“I’ll make it possible,” declared Tom Swift, “for a man to sit in his
easy chair, smoking a cigar in his library, and, by a turn of a switch,
not only to hear the latest opera but also to see each and every
performer and witness the whole play.”
When Ned had asked how the vision would appear to the man,
Tom had replied:
“On an electrified screen attached to his radio receiver by which
he listens to the songs and music.”
As Tom said, the problem of transmitting an entire opera through
the air was simple enough. That had been done many times. So had
the transmitting of photographs by wireless. Also, in a limited way,
television had made it possible for a person in a dark room to be
visible to lookers-on in another apartment some distance away.
“But I am going to combine the two!” declared Tom Swift. “I want
to make it possible for a synchronized performance of seeing and
hearing to take place. Thus when a theater is equipped with my
sending apparatus and I have perfected my receiver, one need never
go outside the house to enjoy a theatrical performance or a concert.”
“But even if you’re successful, you won’t make any money out of
it,” declared Ned Newton, after first hearing of his chum’s ambitions.
“Look at the radio people! The air is free. Anybody who wants to can
tune in and listen to a million dollar concert without paying a cent.
They don’t even have to buy any special kind of receiver—they can
roll their own, so to speak. What’s to prevent them from stealing your
stuff—your—what do you call it, anyhow?”
“I haven’t settled on a name,” Tom said, with a smile. “Call it
talking pictures for the time being. Of course it’s entirely different
from moving pictures with phonograph attachment.”
“Well, what’s to prevent any one from tuning in on your talking
pictures?” asked Ned.
“This,” answered Tom, pointing to a small tube on one side of the
receiving apparatus. “This is a new device. Without it no one can see
and hear my pictures that will talk. This is protected by patents and
no one can use it without my sanction. That’s the secret.”
“Well, maybe you’ve got something there,” Ned admitted.
So, during the past months, he had helped Tom Swift bring the
new apparatus to such perfection as it now had.
The present night’s performance was only one of many. At first
there had been only blank failure. But by using different kinds of
receiving screens, finally settling on a mirror covered with electrified
glass, Tom had achieved a measure of success. Still, even now, the
projected image of the singing or talking performer in a distant room
was too dim to be commercially successful.
“We’ll go at it again to-morrow,” Tom told his chum as he let him
out of the laboratory and locked the door after him.
“It’s the biggest thing I ever attempted,” he said to himself, when
Ned had gone and he was alone in the room, “the very biggest, and
I’m not going to have it stolen from me. No one suspects as yet what
I am working on—no one except dad and Ned. But I wish I were
nearer success. I thought the image would come through clear to-
night, but there was that same haze—that same haze. I wonder——”
He paused and listened intently. Outside his door he heard
footsteps—cautious footsteps.
“Is that you, Ned?” he called. “Anything wrong?”
Tom did not open the door—he was taking no chances.
“That you, Ned?” he asked again, more sharply.
“No, Mr. Swift,” came back a voice with a foreign accent. “I am
just leaving my own laboratory. I think I have perfected that new
magnetic gear shift we have been working on.”
“That’s good,” Tom responded. He recognized the voice of Jacob
Greenbaum, a clever inventor whom he had recently engaged to
work on some side lines that occupied the Swift factory. Tom had an
idea for a new device to make easier the shifting of gears on
automobiles. It was an adaptation of the old magnetic selection that
has often been tried and which, up to date, had not been successful.
“Do you want to take a look at it?” asked Greenbaum, and from
the nearness of the voice Tom knew that the man was just outside
the locked door.
“No, thank you, Greenbaum, not now,” the young inventor replied.
“I am busy at something else. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“You are working late, Mr. Swift,” went on the man. “Could I be of
any service to you? I should be glad——”
“No, thank you,” Tom said. “As for lateness, you are doing a bit of
overtime yourself.”
“Oh, yes; but I do not mind. I think I am on the right track. If you
would take a look——”
“No, not now,” and Tom’s voice was a bit sharp. “I am busy. Good
night!”
There was no response for a moment, and then came a short:
“Good night!”
Greenbaum, however, did not immediately move away from the
door and a look of annoyance passed over Tom’s face as he bent
over his secret apparatus.
“What’s he hanging around for?” thought Tom. “I wonder if he can
be a spy? Two or three times I’ve caught him lurking around my
private laboratory. But he can’t get in since I put on the new lock, and
I know he hasn’t so much as poked his nose in during the times I
have been here experimenting. Still, I wonder——”
He was about to call out, to tell the man to go away when
footsteps were heard moving down the corridor and toward the outer
door of the small shop where most of the experimental work was
carried on.
“Good riddance,” murmured Tom Swift. “I don’t want to be unjust
to a good workman, and Greenbaum is all of that, but I must confess
I don’t like the way he hangs around me. As soon as he finishes that
magnetic gear shift I’ll pay him well and let him go. Now let’s see if I
can think up another way of doing this. Perhaps if I hooked up the
wave distributor to the vibratory selector instead of to the polarizer
we’d get better vision. I’ll try that and have Ned perform again to-
morrow. Now I’ll take a look to see that my wire connections are all
right and then I think I’ll go to bed. I’m tired.”
Tom spent perhaps another half hour in getting things in
readiness for some new experiments, and, having made sure that
everything connected with his secret was put out of sight of possible
prying eyes, the young inventor started toward the door.
He inspected the new combination lock he had had put on, noting
that it was properly set, and then opened the door to step out. The
experimental laboratory was only a short walk from Tom’s home, the
back of the Swift Construction plant being some distance away.
As Tom opened the door there was a click, followed at once by a
blinding flash of blasting fire. Then a dull explosion shook the
building. Tom had no chance to leap back. The force of the blast
hurled him forward, across the corridor and out through a wire-
screened window into the yard. He fell heavily, uttered an inarticulate
cry, and then seemed to be sinking down into a pit of dense
blackness.

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