The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-06-15
GRANT AND II REPORTERS.
How They Watched When lie was
Thought 10 Be Dying.
Cooperating to Get the Kews-The Busy
Headquarters Near the Generals House
AStOry OfNOtable Days in journalism.
sew York Commorciai Advocate.

new 1ork COMMERCIAL huVoCates
The manner in which General Grants condi
ton at the most serious period Of his illness was
daily spread before the public, together with the
incidental scenes which occurred outside the
Grant mansion in those critical days, will always
be an interesting chapter in the history of the
Grant case. Such was the popular demand, not
\ only in New York but throughout the country,
for news from the Generals bedside, that
newspaper rivalry to fill this want was at its
height
During the three weeks when the General was
extremely low, all the New York daily journals
had at least one reporter, and sometimes two or
three, at his house; and several out-of- town pa
pers were represented by correspondents. From
fifteen to twenty-five reporters were constantly
on hand. Owing to the important nature of the
assignment, the best men on the city Stats were
selected.
The work was, to say the least, not a pleasant
one. When the reporters first began to assem-
BILE, in the neighborhood of Sixty sixth street
and Fifth avenue, they mad no place in which to
write their coy. or to rest when relieved. The
air was cold, strong winds blew ssleuas of dust
from the park, and now and then it raiued. Gen.
Grant was expected to die at any mo-
ment; to be the first to announce his
death was each reporters chief ambition.
1t was at great risk, therefore, that the
watch was relaxed. Up and down the pavement
in front Of the house the weary tramping went
on, or the trampers stopped on the corner to
chat with a policeman. or rested a moment
against the stone walls ~inclosing Central Park.
There were days when excitement was intense,
and then the hours passed quickly. But again
came the news that the General had rallied. and
there were few callers, and the time hung heavi-
ly.
But service by day was cheerful compared
with that of the night. The crowd Of curiously
inclined people, the cranks with their amusing
theories, the veteran soldiers with their pathetic
reminiscences-these were gone, and there was
nothing diverting in their place. Still the watch
had to be kept The lights in the house were
the indication of the sick mans condition. Let
q gas jet DO turned on, and instantly there was
a ~hurrying of feet to a suitable place of obser-
walton, and an anxious peering at the apertures
OF the blinds. At such times interest was at
fever heat, and the darkness and silence added
romance to a scene never to be forgotten.
During the first of the three critical weeks
there was no organization among the press rep
resentatives. With commendable discretion,
the reporters ceased, after the first day, to ring
the door-bel Of the Grant house and make in
quiries. In fact, very little good could be thus
accomplished. The servants knew about as little
regarding the Generals real condition as those
outside the house, and upon other subjects they
were dumb. The representative of the Associ-
ated and City Press was the only reporter who
had the privilege of entering the house, and it
was through him that all official announcements
from the phycirians and fpnm moyOharc Of fba
family came. To get further information it was
necessary to inquire of friends Of the General
who had called at the house. During the first
week, whenever a caller left the house he was
surrounded by ten or a dozen reporters, all
anxious to get an interview with him. This
moderate-siz gathering, Of course, attracted
the Idlers In the street, and. before he was
aware of it, the stranger would find himself the
center of a crowd. This naturally led to no
good results, and it was not long before a sys-
tematic organization was effected.
Under the new arrangement one man was Sc
lected, with the title OF ''city editor" Ii was
his duty to divide up the day and night into
watches, and three others were appointed for
each watch. A schedule of the watches and of
the mon belonging to Them was posted in q room
selected as headquarters, so that all could see.
Any man attempting to shirk found himself i'm
mediately in disfavor. The agreement was that
whatever had happened during each watch was
to be reported by the three men on duty, and a
brief abstract of it posted alongside of the sched-
Wv IL otCh Woo SbtiC0 liz ii Z
plan worked admirably; then there came q
split"
What caused the split was not entirely clear
to all minds, but nevertheless it's created some
commotion. The real cause was as follows:
The correspondent of an out-of.town paper So
cured a beat in the shape of a long interview
with q man familiar with General Grants case.
This he telegraphed to his own paper, which
published 1t the next morning. In accordance,
however, with the terms of the con-
tract, he offered the ''beat' to the rep
resentatives of the New York morning newspa-
pers, on the condition that it should not find its
way into the hands Of the Associated Press, who
would telegraph it all over the country, and thus
defeat the correspondents enterprise for his own
paper. By some means, nevertheless, the Asso-
GATED Press got hold of it. and the organization
of reporters. which had hitherto worked har-
moniously, was Immediately resolved into fac
tions.
The same method of gathering news was pur-
sued by the factions. Although there was not
worked independently of the others, each strove
to get beats over the others. Rumors of still
further subdivision were frequent. aid it was
sometimes a puzzle to a reporter to determine
when he entered upon his duty of a night or
morning to what faction he really did belong.
Naturally he selected that faction through which
he thought he could get the most news.
Soon after the reporters had begun steady
duty at the Grant house, they secured a room in
the rear of the Mutual District Messenger Office.
on Madison avenue. The apartment was small,
and contained principally a long table, a few
chairs and a lounge. The materials for writing
were all handy. After the first split, the major
ity of the reporters moved to another room,
which had been hired in a house at Madison
avenue and Sixty-seventh street, and formed a
combination of their own. No members of
other combinations were expected in the new
quarters. Telegraph and telephone facilities
were put in. and messenger boys were constantly
in attendance.
some newspapers had special wires running
into the headquarters of their representatives
for telephone or telegraph purposes. The bulle-
tins, usually written BIZ DR.. Shrady, were carried
out of General Grants house by two messengers,
who were stationed in tho house day and
night AS the uniformed boys opened the
door and ran down the s~teps-mak-
ing noise enough to disturb a we'll
narsnn-fhnrA was immadiafalu a rr,sh of ro-