The Globe-republican., 1892-06-13
scooPED ALL ITS RIVALS.
How . Leak Wss Stopped In . Country
Telephone Once.

Telephone Once.
''Maybe you fellows think there is
no journalism outside of the great
cities" said the new reporter, who
had just come from one of the small
cities of the central part of the State.
| ''But you're wrong. In the town
where 1 lived last we used to have
journalism enough to run a college
school Of the profession. Why, there
were less than 10000 people in the
place and yet We had five dailies.
three of them morning papers.
Wasn't that journalism? To be sure
the best paper depended rather on
who had the best 'stand-in' with the
night pOlicemen-slx Of them in the
tOwn-than on any newspaper in
stinct. but the work had to be all
done, and each office had a regular
Poo Bah who did it all.
1.-TWO of the morning papers were
old timers, one independent and the
other Democratic, and l was playing
Poo Bah that season for the latter.
All was not pleasant between us and
our loathSOme contemporary. and
when the Republican party leaders
started third, with imported talent
to run it, the plot thickened. We
were in all things friendly with the
new sheet and both were down on the
independent brothers. The organs
of the Democracy and Republicanlsm
used to swap news at all times and
devoted their columns to mutual eff
forts to scoop the other people.
1T became habit to exchange
late news by telephone, but time after
time some hint Of our expected item
would reach the Morning Mugwump
and they would have the story as
fully as did we. At last we made up
our minds that the central Office of
the telephone company leaked the
news, and this became a certainty
when the reporter of the opposition
paper was seen to escort to the the
alter the night telephone girl. We
must prove it and have her official
scalp.
Coming in with a blare of trum-
peted promise, the new daily, our Re-
publican friend, was at that time
taking a condensed telegraph service
from Chicago, and the telegraph Office
was kept open solely for it, closing at
about 2 a. M. when their work was
ended. The other two of us supplied
our readers with telegraph matter in
stereotyped plates shipped from Chi
cago at 9 o'clock the previous evening
and reaching US each morning at 3
o'clock. So we had no telegraphic
communication with the outside
world.
Zone night at $50, according to
previous arrangement, my friend who
occupied corresponding position on
the Republican paper, called me up by
telephone. went to the phone and
asked what was wanted. He said:
"'I want to give you the biggest
piece of news for an age. Blaine is
dead!'
''Of course, 1 expressed horror and
proper appreciation of the news fea-
ture, and he told me the story as ar
ranged. 1t was at night meeting
of the cabinet on some crisis Of state;
Blaine and Harrison had first dis
agreed, then Quarreled, and suddenly
Blaine had been stricken with apo
plexy, dying in the White House two
hours later.
"Well, he repeated the story for
me to take careful notes. said that
they were giving it scare head in
the first column, and glOated over
the rage of our mugwump enemy
when he would lie surprised in the
morning. l thanked him and We
Iung of.
THAT morning l did not go to
bed until the Daily Mugwump was
on the street. grabbed for copy,
and Oh the first page with scare
head 1 saw the story just as it had
been telephOned, in all its narrowing
details. The plan had worked and
the telephone girl must go. The.
two papers in league sent each rep
to the manager of the
exchange with the story, the night
girl was called up, and of course she
had to confess.
'iWhen that great piece Of news
went over the wire she knew it would
not do to let her sweetheart be
sscooped,' 50 she had taken careful
notes and Immediately sent the mat
ter in to the Mugwump. There was
no way by which they could tele-
graph to obtain either denial or a
confirmation. so they had to risk it.
The telephone girl was dismissed. two
and two evening dailies de-
voted themself to making life miser-
able for their mugwump contempt
rary, and the wires leaked no more
when messages went back and forth
between US and our frie ads, the
enemy.
isn't that journalism"