Frank O. Broili: The Transformer

by June Broili

FRANK O. BROILI will long be remembered for his talents and accomplishments as an engineer in Nevada and northern California. Frank pioneered in the fields of electrical engineering and radio broadcasting at a time when Nevada’s towns vied with each other for recognition as the “wildest,” “toughest,” “fastest growing,” and later as the “most cultured” or “most progressive.” Arriving in the booming, young mining camp of Tonopah in 1904, he crisscrossed the state in subsequent years developing sources of electrical power which contributed greatly to Nevada’s modern growth and economic well-being.

Frank’s father, Anton Broili, came to America in 1867 from Wurzberg, Germany. Anton was a descendant of the noble de Broglie family of Piedmont, located near the Italian Alps. The family moved to Venice early in the seventeenth century and later crossed into Germany. Anton Broili settled in Nebraska where he met and married Amelia Keller. In 1874, while Anton and his wife were living in North Platte, Frank was born.

Only a few short years after Frank was born, the Broili and the Keller families moved to Alameda, California, a move which was quickly followed in 1884 by another to Willow Ranch, California. Willow Ranch was situated in the triangular section between the borders of California, Oregon and Nevada. Frank’s father opened a general store in Willow Ranch and also operated the area’s post office. In addition to the Broilis’ store, Willow Ranch sported a hotel, saloon, flour mill, country school, and a few sawmills nearby.

Land surrounding Willow Ranch had been opened to homesteading by the federal government; Anton found this excellent opportunity very appealing and homesteaded 160 acres about a mile from town. The Broili home was situated in a natural grazing area that abounded with deer and antelope trails. Viewed from the house the beauty of the surrounding desert lake country was amply displayed. The location was truly appreciated by the practical German, Anton, who knew the value of land, esthetically and practically.

Life was good to the Broili family and in 1886 Frank’s brother, Julius, was born. When Frank graduated from country school, his father became concerned about finding a way for him to continue his education. Anton sent to Germany for school books and began tutoring the children, he found Frank especially bright in mathematics.

Self-reliance was a necessary quality for a young man living in a pioneer area to develop. Anton taught Frank to hunt geese, ducks, deer and other game that abounded in the Willow Ranch area as a means of supplementing the family’s food supply. As Frank grew older, his enthusiasm and resourcefulness prompted his father to give him more responsibilities.

Frank’s acceptance of a greater role in caring for the family became even more important as Willow Ranch prospered and grew in size. This prosperity attracted a new breed of man into the area; men who were adventurous and unfettered by families and businesses moved into Willow Ranch. The small community soon found itself in the midst of a lawless element that threatened the peace and safety of its citizens. Increasing numbers of desperados found the isolated area a welcome place to rest, eat, and drink; Willow Ranch became their “watering hole.”

Protection of the Broili family required that Anton share his duties with Frank. The decision facing Anton was where was his presence most essential, at home or at the store which was a mile away. It was decided that Anton would sleep at the store, and Frank who could shoot a gun as well as any man would guard the family at night. Apparently this arrangement proved satisfactory and a routine was established which continued for several months. Anton would go home to dinner in the evening, then ride horseback or walk back to the store, spend the night, and return home at daybreak for breakfast and a brief rest. The routine would then begin again. One morning, however, Anton did not arrive home at the expected time. Frank was sent to look for him; he found his father lying in a patch of willows about midway between the house and the store-he had been shot and was dead.

Frank, only fourteen at the time, ran home to report that Anton had been murdered, then went for the sheriff. Later it was discovered that two teenaged brothers who lived nearby had murdered Anton for the day’s receipts from the general store-receipts which amounted to thirteen dollars. They had evidently also attempted to break into the store but had been unable to open the difficult lock on the door.

Anton’s tragic death left Frank, the oldest son, with the responsibility of helping his mother care for five younger brothers and sisters. His training and self-reliance were put to the test and he performed his duties well. The store, however, proved too much for Frank and his mother to operate alone and it was sold.

When Frank was seventeen, his mother married a man named Charles Taylor whose own wife had died aftet their children were raised. Mr. Taylor loved the Broili children as his own and expressed great concern for their future. He encouraged Frank to complete his education as Anton had always dreamed. He helped Frank with plans to go to San Francisco where he could live with an uncle, work for him, and attend school while doing so. Frank, however, proved somewhat reluctant to leave his mother, brothers, and sisters. It was Charles Taylor who removed this reluctance by spinning yarns about his own adventurous youth in the West. How when only nine years old he had come west and camped on the Truckee River, fording it near the present Virginia Street bridge and riding horseback toward Washoe Valley. Later Frank was not certain whether it was the story telling or the hunting trips with Charles Taylor, but something made him feel he almost had his father back for counsel. Frank agreed to go to San Francisco.

Frank’s uncle, Richard Keller, owned a dairy on Fell Street in San Francisco and Frank’s first job was not much different than the one he had left behind at Willow Ranch. For a salary of $3 per week he helped milk sixty cows each day and then delivered the milk. Awed with life in the big city, Frank found each morning’s delivery a new adventure.

Attending school in the exciting environment of San Francisco broadened Frank’s outlook and he began to make plans for his future. Soon one desire gained predominance over all others-he wanted to become an electrical engineer. In pursuit of this goal, Anton’s special tutoring of Frank paid off when he applied for a job with the California Electric Company. His proficiency in mathematics served him well as he worked and studied as an apprentice engineer.

Frank’s studies as an electrical engineer brought him into contact with another example of the “magic” of the time-radio broadcasting. With his usual enthusiasm and curiosity Frank began an intensive study of radio. When the letter “S” was signaled across the Atlantic by Marconi on December 12, 190], Frank was hooked-he had to learn how to send radio waves too.

He joined others and built a wireless, but he did not stop there. After he was certain that the wireless worked properly he transported it to the Farallon Islands outside of San Francisco and waited. Marconi was experimenting again, this time attempting to send a radio message around the world. As there were no professionals in the field of radio transmission, Marconi had to depend on amateurs to assist him with his experiment. Frank listened carefully at the wireless, barely risking to leave it for a moment. His perseverance was rewarded when he picked up Marconi’s signal on his homemade wireless-excitedly Frank transmitted the signal on its way. For this act he received recognition from Marconi; he had assisted in completing the first transmission of a radio signal around the world.

The publicity surrounding the radio experiment soon brought Frank to the attention of his employers. His reputation as a bright young man grew and several professional promotions followed. Important jobs began coming to him as his ability became better and better known. He was placed in charge of a million dollar project to make San Francisco Bay safer for sea·worthy vessels. Eliminating marine hazards in San Francisco Bay meant that huge Skagg Rock had to be dynamited and removed; Frank had to become an explosives expert to accomplish the task. The harbor was cleared and Frank was credited with the successful completion of the project.

In 1904, the California Electric Company sent Frank to Nevada to scout for new business opportunities. Arriving in the dusty, rip-roaring, mining camp of Tonopah, Frank was reminded of his youth at Willow Ranch. In his report on Tonopah to his employers, Frank managed to include his comments on Reno. He saw Reno as the progressive town of the future in western Nevada. He indicated that although Sparks possessed the railroad, people seemed to choose Reno to live in. Perhaps it was because of the sparkling Truckee River that wound its way through the midst of the town-or perhaps because the university had been moved there. Frank wanted to help Reno get “all lighted up.”

Appointed electrical engineer for the Truckee River General Electric Company, Frank was transferred to Reno. Despite the fact that Reno was the place Frank wished to reside in, and had plans for the development of, he was shortly moved to Virginia City to design, construct, and maintain an electrical substation for the community. Work began on March 24,1905 and before a year had passed the project was completed.

Frank remained in Virginia City after completion of the substation, taking a position with the Sutro Tunnel Coalition. He was hired by Mr. Frank Leonard, supervisor for the coalition, to electrify the tunnel. While in the employ of Mr. Leonard, Frank began escorting his daughter, Frances, to social events-later they were married.

Julius Broili, Frank’s younger brother, was encouraged to move to Reno and to attend business school. Only eighteen at the time he entered business school, by 1910 Julius had completed school, married his childhood sweetheart, and was ready to go into business with Frank. That same year Frank went to Tonopah, bought the Nev.ada Machinery and Supply Company and transferred it to Reno. The company had been housed in an army tent in Tonopah and moving the name and merchandise was not as difficult a job as it might at first seem. Before much time had passed Frank renamed the company Nevada Machinery and Electric Co.-the name that the successful company is still known by throughout the state.

This company was the basis of Frank’s electrical engineering and contracting business which operated throughout Nevada, northern California, and as far north as Portland, Oregon. The partnership between Frank and Julius proved to be ideal, Julius excelled in the business management of the firm. What Frank found bothersome and time consuming was a delight to Julius. As a result, the brothers made a fme business team.

Frank’s professional ability and personal charm won him a wide circle of friends in the Reno area. One of these acquaintances was Emmet D. Boyle, who upon being elected governor appOinted Frank to serve on the Public Service Commission as state engineer for four years. As state engineer Frank traveled extensively over the dusty, unpaved roads of Nevada. The difficulty of such travel Frank considered one of the major hindrances to the industrial development of the state-an opinion which he never failed to reiterate to Governor Boyle who often accompanied him on these trips. Perhaps these trips with Frank influenced Governor Boyle to make highway construction one of his major goals as governor.

World War I and the use of the airplane brought Frank’s old love for radio back to the forefront of his thoughts. Radio equipment installed in airplanes had proven a great advantage to the U.s. Army in the conflict. Enemy troop movements could be observed from the air and the information radioed to allied troops on the ground. It was also possible to direct artillery fire via the radio. Tested in war, radio began to expand its civilian role after the conflict had ended.

Frank Broili was quick to recognize the potential of radio for civilian commercial uses. The government, particularly the military, was reluctant to give up its monopoly in the field of radio communications. Eventually President Wilson placed the responsibility for developing controls for civilian radio broadcasting in the hands of Herbert Hoover in the Department of Commerce. As secretary of commerce, Hoover endeavored to assist private industry in solving the many problems facing the fledgling enterprise. Painstakingly Hoover assigned specific broadcast frequencies to weather stations, government agencies, army, navy, private stations, and amateur operators. He attempted to iron out the problems of signals splashing over into other areas or frequencies because of equipment not yet adequate in design; he tried to settle the difficulties caused by competition from foreign stations and the poliCies they were adopting. Secretary Hoover soon became known as the “ether cop.”

Despite the problems involved Frank applied for, and received, a license to operate a radio station. The station was assigned the call letters KDZK and the Broili brothers found themselves holding the license for the first radio station in the state of Nevada.

Frank, Julius, and Charles Gorman of the University of Nevada thoroughly discussed the problems of building a wireless station. Julius was sent to Sacramento to visit the radio station owned by the Sacramento Bee and to San Francisco to study the new station located in the San Francisco Examiner’s building on Market and Third streets. Next he interviewed radio engineers looking for one to assist Frank in construction of the station. He chose an engineer from Sacramento who was paid $500 for his part in bUilding a twenty watt station. Through Frank’s continued efforts KDZK soon increased its power to fifty watts.

The power and quality of an early radio station could only be determined by a method of trial and error. To measure the distance at which a satisfactory signal was being received, early stations requested their listeners to send post cards to the station stating the time of day and strength of signal received. The public responded wholeheartedly and cards flooded into station KDZK. Freakish weather conditions sometimes brought unusual responses from listeners; quite a stir was caused at the station when a post card was received from Alaska or the East Coast. KDZK was generally on the air some three hours per day although an engineer remained on duty twenty-four hours a day in case a national emergency should occur. As part of the station’s programming, John Sanford of the Reno Evening Gazette presented thirty minute news broadcasts each day.

As the radio industry matured the public began demanding more and better programming-they wanted programs other than news broadcasts. This new demand made operation of radio stations a much more expensive proposition than when Frank and his brother first began station KDZK. Further difficulties were caused by the labor unions; the musicians’ union was strong enough to prevent the transmission of any music other than that performed by live orchestras. To encourage the use of live orchestras, the publishing houses shipped bundles of free sheet music to any and all radio stations, however, often there simply was not enough money to hire the musicians and in many cases no musicians to hire.

Frank Broili began to think in terms of the retail selling of wireless sets. He found that the public was not interested in building its own sets; people wanted wireless sets ready made. The problem was that such sets did not exist in the quantity necessary for successful retailing. Frank was aware, however, of the potential profit in such an enterprise.

Due to the ever increasing expense of operating KDZK, Frank decided not to renew the station’s license when it became due in 1921; the station went off the air. Eventually the station was dismantled and stored in the basement of the Ginsburg bUilding on North Virginia Street. A man from Sparks expressed considerable interest in purchasing the equipment but Frank refused the offer, hoping he would again be able to open the station when conditions improved. KDZK was not destined to return to the Reno airwaves; late one night a large portion of the equipment was stolen and KDZK no longer existed even in a dormant state.

While attending a Lions Club luncheon April 26, 1922, Frank listened to a speech given by Charles Gorman in which he indicated that some thirty thousand radio sets had been sold in 1921. Gorman further indicated that sales to date had grown to eight hundred thousand sets with some $15 million worth of unfilled orders on the books of the large radio manufacturing companies. This information prompted Frank to give up the idea of ever returning to radio broadcasting, instead he decided to sell radio sets to the public.

Unencumbered by the extra work of operating station KDZK, Frank turned his full attention to his electrical engineering career. His company completed many jobs for private industry, schools, and governmental agencies during the following years. Some of the area’s brightest young men came to apprentice under Frank’s supervision and become licensed electricians. While engaged in the construction of a substation in Pioche which was designed to provide power for the operation of mines in the area, Frank suffered a heart attack. Urged to return to San Francisco because of its lower altitude for his convalescence, Frank passed away in 1938.

Frank O. Broili’s life in Nevada spanned the era which saw the state change from a primitive pioneer area to a region struggling to take its first steps toward modernization. Frank Broili’s professional career was devoted to the furtherance of that modernization process. His development of electrical power sources within the state and his early experimentation with radio broadcasting contributed much to Nevada’s effort to move into the modern age. This devotion to his adopted state can be seen yet today; each year a deserving electrical engineering student is awarded the Frank O. Broili Scholarship by the University of Nevada.

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June Broili received her B. S. degree from the University of Nevada, Reno. She has done graduate work at the University of Nevada, the University of California-Berkeley, and has completed a communications seminar in Amsterdam, Netherlands sponsored by Temple University. Early in her Nevada career she taught in the Wells High School. For the past twenty-lIVe years she has been engaged in the retail merchandizing business in the city of Reno, while maintaining an avid interest in Nevada history.