The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-22

Prize or Dispatch boat Is seen
Coming n-WritiHg Stories of
Rattle and Bombnrdment Will.
the Ront Is Rocking
CORRESPONDENCE The st. Paul Globe.
KEY WEST, Fla, May 19.-When the
war is over and the newspaper men
have leisure to sit down and think, and
write something that will better bear
inspection through a literary micro
scope than the hurried dispatches that
they are compelled to dash off at pres
ent, not the least interesting of the ar
ticles they will then prepare will be
these descriptive of the extraordinary
difficulties under which they labored to
get the news. There never was war
in which the unfortunate war CORE
spondent was so beset with perils and
so harassed by that most awful of pos
sibilities, getting left on the news,
as in this present remarkable war.
To take the men who are stationed
at Key West as an example. This IS,
of course, the great center for war
news. If Manila has had the first great
story, it is here in Key West where
the Cuban news centers, that the most
important events of the war are des-
tined to occur, and where the newspa-
pers have stationed their best men.
With the cable cut there is only one
way Of getting news; by means Of
swift dispatch boats. Now the broad
eXpanSe of blue sea is a very wide
stretch for little boat to cover. No
matter how active the crew. and how
V1gilant the captain and the newspaper
men who are on the boat for the pur-
pose Of witnessing and writing up any
thing that may occur of Importance
af1oat, 1t is not possible for the boat
to be in more than one place at a time
and while she IS cruising off one sec
ton of the coast of Cuba 1t is not at
all improbable that great battle may
be taking place at another point. While
one dispatch boat is piling up steam in
an earnest and well meaning effort to
keep UP with a cruiser or gunboat that
is chasing a Spanish fishing
smack sina9 dor, or +oh lumber per- barge, the
formed or more lucky, may be racing
to Key West with news of lombard
- ment, or of capture that double dis
counts that of the fishing smack or
lumber barge.
THE DISPATCH BOAT.
And then the man at Key West Oat
across the sea there is blank expanse
of blue water Away off in the distance
there suddenly appears a dispatch boat
piling along apparently for dear life
The men ashore are snatching a few
hours sleep. They have been watch
ing all day for the news that did not
Gene, and just as soon as they are
wrapped in Slumber there comes a hur-
ry call to get up and go to meet the
incoming craft. Then hurry! Slap-dashi
down to the docks to meet the incom-
Ing steamer. Any craft the newspaper
man can get hold of is hi/ad, so that
he can go out and be the first If pos
sible to catch the news from the in
coming steamer, or at least get it as
soon as the next man.
II the newcomer proves to be the
dlspatch boat of a rival newspaper, it
Is sad for the man who meets her
Ihere is no such thing as dividing
up down there. 1t is every man for
himself, and a sorry fate for the hind
most. The beaten man knows that his
own dispatch boat has been gloriously
left when he sees the rival come in
and no other boat in sight but he must
swallow his grief and wait for the next
arrival. Meanwhile the telegraph Of
flee is in the possession of the victori-
Gus newspaper man, and there is no
sleep for the rest of the fraternity
- Possibly the boat that comes in is a
boat in charge of prize crew. In that
event the newspaper men must swarm
out and meet the vessel catching at
any straws in the way of news that
may be floating on the surface. The
reporter must ascertain the circum-
stances of the capture, the name of
the prize and her value, get any inter-
esting point about the officers and
crew, and get it the best way he can.
Tor United States naval officers, even
whfIl flushed with the happiness of
walking the deck of a captured boat
are not going out of their way to pro-
vide news for the newspapers.
Having got the news, then the re-
porter's troubles are about over thinks
the inexperienced newspaper reader
Are they? They are just about begin
ming. 1t is the man who first gets hold
of the wire down here who enables his
newspaper to be ahead with an extra
on live incident of the war The re-
porter who allows himself in his en-
thusiasm to stay too long getting ma
terial for his story is likely to find the
telegraph wire pre-empted by a whole
ROY of rivals, and his dispatch left I'M
til Ill the others have been sent away.
WRITING IN A CH0PPY SEA.
Have you ever tried to write on
board boat that is pitching and toss
ing in a choppy sea? If So you will
huOW WHY lHt men WHO are getting
the news here are acquiring the art of
using a pencil under circumstances
never before considered possible. 1t
is fatal to leave the dispatch to be
written when the boat lands. 1t must
be ready for the race to the telegraph
office by that time.
1t is the same with the dispatches
written by the men on board the
yachts. The copy must be written
during the run for the shore If it is
not finished by the time the yacht
reaches the harbor it must be contin-
ued during the journey of the small
boat to the dock. Quickness Is essential
If the reporter wishes to be first with
the wire.
AT first the dispatches that were sent
out from here were voluminous and
wordy. The reporter spread himself to
give the American public graphic de-
scriptions of war incidents that would
picture the scenes to the reader, and
enable his Imagination to have free
play. Some Of the reporters revelled in
words, and the readers who like that
kind of thing We're happy. Suddenly
there appeared on the scene g. bOgy
with blue pencil, whom they called
the censor. Away went the magma
tive reporters beautifully writeen de-
scriptions; dead and buried were his
plans of campaign carefully thought
out and admirably written; ruthlessly
blue-penciled was his inside informa-
ton about the intentions of the naval
i commanders. Only the news as the