The times., 1897-05-03

Among others, it has so-called graphic
style The Chicago 4 ssociated Press le-
| ceives its European news from an agency
which is about as vivacious ia it's En.sisn
composition as is a Senate reporter OF a
compiler of patent office records. What
ever news comes from this agency Is as FAR
removed from the picturesque rs cordwood
is from green bay tree. One way of
eniivcning the agencys dispatches in the
padding cell, and at the same time e-consum
ing space, is by the use Of adjectives and
figures OF speech. Thus it has come that
the Greeks have been represented con
stantly as fighting ike gladiatorsn or
with the spirit OF their ancestors end
the Turks like devils Thus it has come
also that the public, after being con
founded with turgidty, has been daZlled
with explosions of adjectiyes. An Illus
tration Of the padding that is supposed To
enliyen follows. 1t is n:oraSs, but the
reader who struggles through it will be re-
warded with new insight into the ways IF
the grapevine.
The Turks pulled up to the top OF the
hill three mountain batteries, singing,
laughing, and weeping with JOY Ike chil
dren. One battery opened fire upon Tie
Greeks. who were retreating on the plain Of
Traves, and did terrible execution. The
correspondent of the Associated Press saw
some of the Turkish shells burst in the
middle of "A serried battalion of Greeks,
with the Result tnat whole groups were
killed or wounded.
Yesterday evening seven new Turkish
bdttalions and several mounted batteries
OF artillery left for the 'front.' and at dawn
the guns were trained on the Greek block
house ON tie plain below. Juncs Effcndi,
the Turkish commander, and his men tad
been twenty-six hours without food or
drink, When they were preparing to cap
ture the Greek blockhouse Junes addressed
his soldiers, saying: 'All those who love
God must advance to the assault This
was enough. Every man, with loud, ex-
ultant shouts, dashed forward In the direc-
ton of the blockhous Even the mule
;eers who were bringing up the reserve
ammunition joined in the assault on the
blocShouse, which was held by the Greeks
with magnificent courage. The Turks, with
splendid dash, charged with the bayonet
and eventually leaped over the ralnparts
with shouts of triumph. The Greeks wait
ell their approach until the Turks were
within thirty yards before withdrawing.
In the assault the Turks had only sixteen
men killed and seventeen wounded. Every
where was to be seen the effect Of the
Turkish artillery, their terrible shells
bursting just at the calculated moments"
The inmate of the padding cells seems
to feel occasionally that he should explain
the inconsistency between the facts and
his fanciful flights into space. In the LIST
quotation, despite the terrific fighting,
# viii he observed that Only sixteen Turks
We're said to have been killed. Perhaps at
the moment the grapevine was more pro-
iific than the cable; perhaps he forgot what
he was there for; perhaps the eXuberance
of his Imagination was such that he could
not get himself down again to plain facts
At all events, he did not explain how
troops could fight so desperately yet lose
so few lives 1t would he unjust to expose
him in such a mistake without showing
how he fOrtifes himself in less trying mo-
ments a quotation in point In therefore
given:
''As details come In it becomes more and
more apparent that the fighting In Milouna
Pass was of the most stubborn and savage
character The Turks fought like devils
and the Greeks resisted in the spirit of their
ancestors The most inexplicaole fact in
the comparatively small number of killed
All the special correspondents agree to
this"
Il will be observed that this paragraph
was written at the leisure Of the inmate
OF the padding cell The words, "as de-
tails come in, show that he had in hand
a case of delayed transmission II was
possible, therefore, Ia suggest that GER
tain fact stated in the context, seemed
"inexplicable.' and that all the special
correspondents agree To this The ex-
PLANTATION itself may strike the casual
reader as a trifle inexplicable; but lie
should not be too critical; he should be
satisfied TO learn that light sometimes
eiimners even in the padding cell . the
Chicago Associated Press.
1t is impossible here to illustrate all the
eecentriciues of grapevine cable news
Those mentioned have been observed in
less than a week. Anybody wishing to
learn more of then has only tolose himself
any day in the front page of a newspaper
served by the Chicago Associated Press.