1941 A Roundabout Call

Richard S. Dunham '39, son of Prof, and Mrs. Howard Dunham of the Romance Language Department, recently turned his hobby to a practical use. The owner and operator of Dunham Crafts, a wood-working shop in South Londonderry, Vt., Dunham was one of the fortunate few whose property escaped damage when a fire gutted the center of the Vermont village. Unfortunately the fire also disrupted telephone communication so that South Londonderry was temporarily cut off from the rest of the world.

Wishing to inform his parents that he was safe and that his shop was untouched, Dunham, an amateur radio operator, put his hobby to ingenious use. He radioed a fellow "ham" in Boston, told him of his predicament, and asked him to phone his parents in Hanover. By means of this novel radio-telephone communications system, Professor and Mrs. Dunham learned, only a few hours after the fire was put out, the Dick and Dunham Crafts were unharmed.