London-New York Radio Telephone Service Opens With an Exchange of Good Mornings

Commercial radio telephone service between New York and London was formally opened on Friday morning, the Associated Press reported. Officials of the American Telephone and Telegraph Company and the British post office exchanged greetings across about 3,500 miles of ocean.

President Walter S. Gifford of AT&T, seated in the company’s offices on lower Broadway, asked the operator for Sir Evelyn Murray, secretary of the British post office, in London. Gifford said “Good morning” and Murray answered in kind. The worst atmospheric conditions in months produced static that delayed the start and interrupted the call, and both men had to say “I beg your pardon” as they strained to hear. Gifford told Murray he believed the service would link the two countries as neighbors.

The New Britain Herald reported that the Associated Press received its first commercial radiophone dispatch from its London bureau, which said the Prince of Wales is expected to visit Canada and the United States next summer.