Steve
Using WE 8.4 on an XP machine with Outlook Express, can't find the play 
button, any ideas?
Albert Sanchez, WA7FXB
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 3:22 PM
Subject: Complete Hindenberg Broadcast with Herb Morrison


> BlankFYI
>
>
>
>
> "the airship is going to make an attempt at landing in the rain..."
>
> Some of radio's greatest moments are when the actual event occurs live on
> the air or while a reporter is recording and the unexpected happens.
> Hindenberg DisasterOne such event happened to reporter Herb Morrison on 
> May
> 6th, 1937 in Lakehurst, New Jersey. The mighty German passenger Zeppelin,
> Hindenburg, was attempting a mooring. The Hindenburg was one of Nazi
> Germany's finest airships. It was supposed to reflect the greatness of the
> German Reich and its leader, Adolf Hitler.
>
> The airship had made this voyage before and friends and family were at
> Lakehurst waiting for the arrival of the great zeppelin. Reporter Herbert
> Morrison was there too thanks to his radio station, WLS, Chicago. The day
> was rainy and there had been strong thunderstorms earlier. Morrison was
> recording the event for later rebroadcast. The early part of his recording
> reflects information about the airship and the day and what is necessary 
> to
> bring it into mooring under such conditions.
>
> Engineer Charles Nehlsen was manning the Presto Direct Disc recorder. The
> recorder includes a large turntable with a 16-inch platter, a heavy-duty
> lathe, which would actually cut into the lacquer disc, and an amplifier. 
> It
> was important that these recorders be perfectly level and that vibration 
> be
> avoided. Ultimately, the complete broadcast would be recorded on four 16"
> Green label lacquer discs.
>
> Herb MorrisonAs the zeppelin arrives, Morrison is describing the mooring
> when suddenly it bursts into flames. Morrison is shocked, but keeps 
> talking
> though breaking occasionally overcome by the tragedy unfolding in front of
> him. Later the broadcast continues after the tragedy as the victims are
> being brought in and survivors are interviewed.
>
> An interesting side note is at the moment of explosion, when Morrison is
> heard yelling "It burst into flames!" the vibrations from the explosion
> caused the recorder to bounce on the disc creating deep grooves until
> Engineer Nehlson is able to momentarily lift the lathe from the disc and
> place it back down. The discs, which are contained at the National 
> Archives
> reflect the grooves and the force of the explosion.
>
> It was radio news at its finest; news events reported as they happened. 
> The
> description is brought home to radio's listeners and we in turn grieve for
> the dead and injured. This event reflected the potential and power of 
> radio
> broadcasting immediately before and, later, during World War II as the
> Murrow Boys and others would bring the war home to America via the 
> airwaves.
>
> While the event was not aired live, it did air later. In those days radio
> reporting of events was always broadcast live only since the networks had
> policies forbidding the use of recorded material except for sound effects.
> But Herbert Morrison, the reporter, was not there to report disaster and 
> had
> no facility for broadcasting live. Instead, he was there at the behest of
> his radio station, WLS, Chicago, to record a report on the grand airship.
> Later that day, Morrison and his sound engineer, Charlie Nehlsen left New
> Jersey with the transcription discs and headed back to Chicago. The 
> morning
> after the disaster is when parts of the recording first aired over WLS. 
> Logs
> of when it first appeared over NBC are not known to exist. It is known 
> that
> at least five minutes of the recording did broadcast on May 7th at 11:38 
> AM
> in the New York area and over the Red Network. It was later in the day 
> that
> the longer sections were played to a national audience. This was one of 
> the
> few times that the networks allowed a recording of an event to be 
> broadcast.
>
> http://www.otr.com/hindenburg.shtml
>
>
> Steve, K8SP
> Lansing, MI
>
>
>