According to dictionaries the word '"'broadcast"? means scattered, scattering at large or widely. This was formerly the accepted meaning of the term, which in itself is very general and common; but in the last two years there has grown up a very Specific meaning, a meaning just as significant as the original agricultural derivation of seed scattering. To broadcast electrically is to spread knowledge of an infinite variety of natures, to transmit the spoken word to a friend, to sing into space, to "root" for your home team, to transact business or complete a deal, anything that can be accomplished verbally.
From wireless telegraphy it was but a step to the other wireless achicvements—telephony and telephotography, the latter not so far advanced. Now the distributing of energy is done on a wholesale jis in America. But two years ago the first message was broadcast, when the presidential election returns were sent. out. Then at the New York Electrical Show a noted singer sang for an audience round the city. She was encored by the amateurs, who were able to communicate through their sending outfits With her sending station. Thousands heard the returns of the Dompsey—Carpentier fight through this medium. attempts were but a beginning, reaching those only properly tuned to "'listen in." From the pleasure received by the mostly youthful experimenters with their home-made sets, it was but a step for commercial houses to utilize the opportunity offered for filling this need with the American public. Within two years this industry has grown to immense proportions, thousands of receiving sets being in daily use. The total number of listening stations amounts according to the latest estimates to three-quarters of a million, with not less than 200 sending stations, located in the largest centres of population, the listeners being scattered within range.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.