Show radio q ai night and keeps s explorers N normal al human beings 1 by DONALD B MACMIL LANi polar explorer TIE radio gives us s food for thought and topics for conversation T JJ to men isolated in the cold regions the radio serves as the daily jl newspaper 1 which eh every knows i is s the source of bf conversation in civilized countries when people are isolated as an exploring ex be it ls bouda to come about in tho the course of time that the members of the le party cease to be interesting to each other in a few bev months we have pumped each other dry I 1 know all about every everyman man in the party andi and lie he knows all about me all wo we have to discuss is ia personalities and past experiences if 11 we are given to imagination and even the dramatization of our experiences when hard pushed for conversation wo we even run out of that material it is a fact that almost every expedition ends eads by each one hating every eadry one else tho though 1 I must say I 1 have beez been rather fortunate in my own personal experience but 1 I use the utmost care in selecting my crew from the many applicants I 1 choose the men I 1 feel will wearthy artho we bo best with with each other 1 I during the monias we are icebound waiting for the 1 long ong night to pass it is or was until the radio came to our relief tho the habit for each man to stay by himself as much as possible hosale wo might meet only at meal times and perhaps not then for we would tako our dogs and go off alone conlong journeys to vi tour eskimo friends to io get away from each other the radio made us quite normal happy human beings for one thing we were all anxious to keep in touch with the news from froin homo home we waited around for the radio programs wo we also enjo enjoyed ved the music musi cand and waited for that wo no longer were we cut off from tho the whole world and our temper was much utter better than in the pro radio days the radio companies all over the country were wonderful to us as were the amateur operators era tors being aff of in the north is very different these days from what it was when peary made hi his s courageous and lonely journeys |