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THE WAY IT WAS

Steamboat boys establish radio station

Jean Wren

— Editor’s note: Longtime Pilot & Today columnist Jean Wren, who compiled The Way it Was, has died. Her contributions will be sorely missed. The Pilot & Today will be reprinting a selection of Jean’s previous columns.

Oct. 12, 1921

The world’s voices, transmitted by electric waves, the most marvelous feat of an age of marvels, are being heard in Steamboat Springs.



The ships of the Pacific telling their stories to land stations, operators in Wisconsin and New Mexico flashing out their messages to other wireless stations in dots and dashes, and the latest the radiophone whereby voices are projected hundreds of miles through space, all these being picked up each night by three Steamboat boys who have for several months been establishing a station and perfecting their apparatus.

Malcom Campbell, who has a natural genius for electricity, is at the head of the firm. George Fletcher and Albert Leckenby are his partners in what they call the Power Creek Radio company. They have recently erected a small building on land belonging to Earnest Campbell and have installed their apparatus, much of which has been constructed by themselves.



This makes intelligible the strange voices from hundreds of miles away.

The sending apparatus of this company is not yet strong enough to transmit messages more than 15 miles, but it is being improved so that it can be heard for 125 miles.

Two autos smashed

Sunday afternoon Alfred Padgett and Miss Henry were going up Elk River road in a Ford. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Keene and the latter’s brother, Mr. Matthews, were coming down Elk River in an Oakland. Probably neither was going very slow. At the curve near the Moonhill bridge, the machines met. The front ends of the machines got by, but the back ends didn’t. As a result, there are two pretty badly used-up cars. Miss Henry broke the windshield with her head and had her arm bruised. Mrs. Keen and her brother had their knees bruised. The Ford came on to town on its own, but the Oakland had to be towed.

Bold holdups at Mt. Harris

An Italian miner who had recently arrived at Mount Harris was held up there last Friday night and robbed of about $2. He had stepped out of a house at about 10 p.m. and was confronted by a masked man with a flashlight who commanded him to hold up his hands. He grappled with the man, who fired, inflicting a slight wound on the nose of the Italian, and then ran.

It is also reported that a club house known as the Monts Carlo at the Wadge camp at Mount Harris was also held up, this time on Saturday night by three masked men who backed the players against a wall and swept all the money, about $900, off the table.

News of friends

and neighbors

There will be a box supper and Halloween dance at the Deep Creek schoolhouse Saturday evening, Oct. 29. The proceeds are for the benefit of the school and the public is invited.

Irving Arnold has had shipped in from Denver 200 head of yearling and 2-year-old feeders to be wintered at his ranch.

Truck- and wagonloads of produce from Steamboat Springs are being hauled into North and Middle parks every day. Freighters are taking advantage of good roads and ideal weather.

Hi Bernard, the old-time lower country cow man, is much improved from blood poisoning caused by bee stings and has returned to his home in Browns Park.

The storm of last Thursday night, bringing light rain, was evidently the annual “grayling” storm, due about now. It starts great schools of this variety of fish up the smaller streams to deposit their spawn. The grayling is not protected by law, so many people use nets to catch them in great numbers, salting them down for the winter.

Miss Portia Swett of the Rocky Mountain Dancing camp departed last week for her home in Chicago.

Sam Weed returned last night from Denver, where he took a shipment of cattle.

On the mesa most of the men who are not with the threshing machine are rounding up cattle. The women are busy cooking three squares a day.

Consequently, social activities have not been on the calendar.

Mrs. Val Brunner returned to her home in Pleasant Valley Sunday from the Steamboat hospital.

Out at South Side, Frank Squire has moved his threshing outfit to the O.H. Krueger ranch and the Harry Hitchens outfit on Tuesday went to Ray Johnson’s ranch.

Mrs. Frank Johnson is assisting at the latter ranch while the threshers are there.

A special election of the taxpayers of the Yampa school district has been called for Nov. 9 to vote upon the question of issuing bonds to provide for the erection of a new school building.

The present structure, erected 18 years ago, that increased in size a couple of years later, has been outgrown.


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