The radio has made an important contribution to the State service by broadcasting information on weather conditions whenever necessary. Lives and thousands of dollars in property have been saved by warnings of spring floods. During the winter months frequent weather and highway reports are given, and warnings sent out regarding advisability of sending children to school during storms or extremely cold weather. In November 1930 an unusual service was performed by the Fargo and Bismarck stations. Heavy coatings of sleet had broken down telephone and telegraph wires throughout the State, and severed all communication between Fargo and Jamestown, division points on the Northern Pacific. During the first afternoon of the storm short-wave communication was established between the Fargo transmitter and an amateur set at Jamestown, but after sunset interference forced abandonment of this broadcast. Receiving sets were quickly installed at the studios of the Fargo and Bismarck stations, making possible a two-way conversation. On the one available telephone connection between Jamestown and Bismarck the dispatchers' office in Jamestown was hooked up with the Bismarck studio, in Fargo the dispatcher was linked with WDAY, and for two days all trains on the line were dispatched by radio. Between train orders the facilities of both stations were turned over to the telegraph offices, and Fargo alone sent out more than 200 messages. Several amateur stations were in operation before any commercial broadcasting had been done in North Dakota. When the convention of the Dakota Division of the American Radio Relay League was held in Fargo in 1936, there were 300 licensed operators in attendance, and each year finds an increased number of people selecting short-wave broadcasting as a hobby. ARCHITECTURE The buildings of North Dakota cling closely to the low, tranquil landscape of the State, avoiding exposure to the cold northwest winds that sweep across the snowy prairie in winter. Farms and towns huddle in valleys or hug the open plain, and only grain elevators dare to break the comfortable horizontality of the prevailing contours. In the few cities a tendency can be noted toward height in buildings, but the number of skyscrapers in North Dakota can be counted on the fingers of one hand.