The age-herald., 1897-11-14
GETTING WAR NEWS
 FROM THE FRONT

From Tit-BIts.
 The millions of newspaper readers who, in time of war eagerly deyour the more or less realistic accounts which appear in their morning papers have per- haps never given much thought as to how such intelligence is collated and meted out to the public; and it probably never occurs to them that while they read the paper in comfort the writer may he in dire danger under shot and shell, esking a moments rest after thirty hours of ceaseless excitement or hunt iag for a meal to satisfy the gnawing pains of hunger.
 But such experiences are common to the war correspondent, who carries his life in his hands and braves dangers daily such as few men are ever called upon to face.
 Newspaper readers who complain of latensss of news in time of war can have no idea of the difficulties under which it is sent home. The correspond ent, after receiving his impressions of a battle with the aid of the telescope, must frequently ride eighty or a hundred miles before he can put his letter on the wires, and must write as he rides Some times, if he is fortunate enough to get
 
 news, he will charter a special train or steamer at immense cost, and pay heavy special rates for transmission.
 But even when this is done, he has no I rarantse that his letter will reach home f r some days. The telegraph is a slow Instrument in war time. and the wires a e nearly always either blocked or en- Saged. When a press censorship is adopted telegrams are often detained in the postoffice two or three days, though fl,rtw, A1.. utmost importance and everybody at home is waiting anMiously for the intell- -gence contained in them. When at last the telegram is dispatched, supposing it is an important one, 1t rarely bears much resemblance to the original copy. The censor does not hesitate to mutilate the report at his pleasure, and in this way facts are often entirely reversed.
 In the recent war between Greece and Turkey, for instance, a correspondent wrote: '+rhs prince this morning rode through the streets uncheered," but on reaching England the message read: The prince this morning rode through the streets loudly cheered." Similarly, in the news of the defeat. names were altered so as to make it appear that the defeated side had b en victorious.
 war correspondents expenses are, of course. very heavy. The bicycle will probably ba largely used in future wars but hitherto the correspondent has de- pended on horses and carriages, which can seldom be hired under f5 for sin gle journey. Then an interpreter is us- ually engaged by correspondents of first class papers, which brings the bill up considerably. It Is a fact that the in- cidental expenses of one core spGndapt in the recent eastern war reached f250 before fighting had actually commenca d.
 together there were soma twenty cor respondents engaged in wiring thsir inn pressions to all parts of the world, and telegrapbic. travelling and living ex- penses must have run into tens of thous- ards of pounds.
 The Am iiean correspondents spent an almost unlimited amount, chartering special steamers with the utmost free dom. The Times correspondents were paid at tha rate of f100o a. year, ard in addition received E3 a day for expenses.
 On oneso ccasicn Reutet's core ndent sent home a telegFaphic massage some 3.Go0 words long, which. Q s the tele- graphic rate was 7d word, must have cost about f90. The rate for urgent message was to be dispatched without long tieiay-was Is. 9d. per word.
 Quite a quarter of a million words must have been tels graphed from Ath- ens and Constantinople during the war. and the probability is that the total number would be nearer half million. Reckoning it at only a quarter of mil Hon. how yer, the cost of the dispatches, directly and indire ctly. could hardly have been less than f20,000.
 It was not always necessary to travel eighty miles to send off a telegram. local stations being soms times within ten or twenty miles: but messages could never be left at local stations with con fidence. The correspondent of Lon don paper on ore occasion sent cn an urgent telegram from a local postoffice. whence it had to be forwarded to Athens on it's way to London
 The news was important and exclusive. and ths correspondent prided himself on having done a good piece of work Four days later however. he was break1ast- irg with the superintendent or tei- graphs in an Athens hotel, when his copy yas brought to the superintendent fur fra snsmlgEion.
 The war corr Spondent must be pre- pafssd to rough it. No downy bed awaits bsrn at the end of a weary day He must turn into some deserted house oltbfn eafsfet Of the front, and sleep as aSs1btay zS he can. with loaded gun al hand By tine time the war is over sae haas almost forgotten to undress at night time. His shoes are scarcely ever or a5s feet. and he sleeps in his clothes for weeks together. He must be con tent with one course for dinner. or with no dinner at all, perchance, unless he can shoot sormsthlng and prepare it
 fs. Thessaiy weElived on lambs which the soldiers Killed or which we could buy for three shillings. It was not us uaily difficult to get und cover at n 'ght. The peasants invariably fled before the advance of the troops. leaving their little homes almost intact. What became of the poor fugitiyes heaven only knows, but their empty houses were havens of resi- to a tired stranger in that strange and troubled land
 have never met anybody after return ing from tEre g at Of war who has not been curious to know what war is like. With the recent war fresh in my mind. It seems to me that a spectacle the best comparison is the stsge on a big