Show I 1 simm M 04 1 lm S maw bark buy goes U artes m hud VP oil fa paci 2 this week we gladly give space to the write up of our former town lad ind ralph lunt hunt townsend Towne end as a it appeared in the tribune sunday last and wish it were po possible s sib 1 e to reproduce od u ce the picture of creditable lt a I 1 e resemblance 1 c e jack to all us kids and others not so kiddish was a recent visitor in camp with big wife nee miss anna paul daughter of mr and mrs peter paul and the th e writer of this prologue enjoyed a pleasant chat with him and while we knew something of his inventive mind and accomplishments we frankly admit that hat the one onetime time youth of our mining town was noncommittal non no committal as to his advancement van vanc cement emerit in the business world to such an extent as the article gives credit to our neighbors mr and mrs H S town sent and family we congratulate them upon the distinctive dis inactive honors bestowed upon their son likewise to mrs jack townsend and her parents do we join hands with them in the hope that the future brings to him and to them even greater glory in his chosen field not only ma nay y utah claim hina him as a progeny but park city Is righteously boastful not alone in her wonderful wealth giving resources but in a greater sense do we point with pride to the attainments of some of her boys and girls of bye gone years lores heres I to you jack may success crown your every hope and ambition it if it tor for the state of utah halt half the arts of tte the amusement work would he be crippled that you say well heres proof utah has provided the stage and the tha screen with more talent lor for its population than any other state in the union high in the rosters of stage acting directing and writing are sons and daughters of utah likewise in the ellms III sm directors stars topnotch top notch writers technicians cinematographers cinematograph ers every branch of the cinema stars directors and writers often break into the public prints but the technicians the men tar far behind the scenes often are neglected mayhap the whole business of making a picture is dependent upon their ability yet their names never sell any pictures to the gum chewing flappers or the staid upper crust of society however they have their place and it Is the purpose of this story stary to tell of one of illustrious sons who has gone to the top of his profession he Is ralph hunt townsend chief sound engineer of the studios who also Is the key man on all RCA installations on oil the west coast townsend Townsen ranks dranks among the forem foremost os t sound engineers in the picture world his interest in engi engineering g dates from the time his parents me moved ed f from rom his birth city salt lake to park paris city site sits of the famous silver and lead mines although he was only 11 years old at t that hat time an age when most boys are gr grumbling u mb against an enforced education townsend began working thousands of feet under ground in the pit 0 of I 1 a mine and solving mathematical problems at night his world then chiefly one of darkness went to the other extreme eventually he being destined to spread a 5 powerful light over the population ot of the middle west at 20 ho he was employed in the standard laboratory of the telluride association which developed all the badro hydroelectric power east ot at the glenas and west ot of the mississippi after several years in this capacity he was victor in a scholarship award over contestants and was sent to purdue university at lafayette Lat ayette ind that was in 1913 here the germ of electrical recording was hatched batched and townsend evinced keen interest in it from the start through T lar ough his close friendship with the dean ot of the english department he be received permission to use the physics laboratory alter after hours he made numerous experiments expert using the vacuum tube that has played such six an important part in the development ot of electrical recording pictures and radio following his with highest honors helas commissioned to build a power line tor for the government in utah it was during this period his very promising ising career nearly came to a 26 close A horse jumped over a cliff without waiting tor for townsend to dismount townsend spent a year in the hospital because sometimes the horse was on top sometimes I 1 was then townsend during the world war went overseas with an engineering company when he returned to america at the close ot of the war lie be was given an experimental peri pert mental laboratory by the brunswick Brunsw lct company in chicago tor for the purpose ot of developing electrical recording townsend makes improvements in recording ot of sound in the early days ot of phonographs three and one halt half octaves constituted the range of the best recording apparatus townsend was able to extend that range to include the entire audible limits by using a microphone to collect the sound round waves and turn them into electrio electric impulses that could be carried by wire ire any distance while to in chicago he perfected a lie detector this device w was a 5 designed to discern certain nervous and physical reactions when an accused person was being questioned concerning crime although townsend demonstrated mayor his device to sir oliver lodge mayor william hale thompson and afterwards t ter at columbia university it never came into practical use because legal authorities held that evidences gained through a mechanical invention Is unconstitutional townsend experimented with electric recording on film long before moving picture t r producers dreamed of making makiej the tha screen croon talk so it was a logical sequence in n townsends Town sends career that his next step should hould s be as a director ot of sound for the paramount long island studios where he functioned in that capacity tor for considerable sid erable time when radio picture officials launched their extensive program they selected townsend for the important post of chief of the sound department on april 1 1929 ho he came to hollywood as the master mind of av ac the studios |