OUT OF THIN AIR be born, and those stations throughout the country selected to be offi¬ cially made a part of it would have a promising future in Canadian broadcasting. My father always kept in touch with an old friend Major William C. Borrett of Halifax , a pioneer in broadcasting in Nova Scotia (CHNS licenced in 1926). They worked together with others to promote chain broadcasting as it was called then. In PEI the station chosen would either be CFCY or CHCK or CHGS in Summerside (licence granted 1927 with a power of 25 watts.) Ottawa aggravated the competition by making the Charlottetown stations share the same wavelength. The broadcasting day was divided between them and in many a game of tit for tat, listeners would hear God Save The King blending discordantly with O Canada as one station signed off perhaps late, or the other signed on too early. Mr. Gesner at CHCK would retaliate by breaking in on the middle of CFCY's broad¬ casts with "CHCK Testing. CHCK Testing." Fist shaking and insults would be hurled across the street. One old timer recalls my father brandishing a tire-iron. Accusatory letters flew back and forth to Ottawa—"Rogers is telling his customers that only his stock can be guaranteed as fresh and good", or, "We obey the government regulations, why cannot Gesner and CHCK be made to do the same?" Gesner , with the backing of the Marconi Company , built up a case against Dad accusing him of direct advertising which was forbidden in those years. Ottawa responded by revoking Dad 's permission to advertise his retail products directly over the air. Round to Gesner . Dad got on the air and asked for support from listeners. Letters poured in from around the and these were sent to Ottawa. Ottawa wrote Gesner saying his reports were exaggerated. Round for Dad More support was solicited by both competitors over the air. Complaints ranging from trivial to serious were made almost daily. There were signed petitions from citizens, and letters from politicians— the local liberals backing one station, local Conservatives the other. Inter office memoranda from senior civil servants to juniors asked for and gave clarification. Even government station inspectors at times seemed to take sides because on a few occasions they added their personal opinions, for which they received a ticking off by their supervisors: 62