The herald., 1898-07-31

Here is a surprise for the public. At
least, an eye-opener for those who imagined
that the war had filled the Golfers of the
newspaper proprietors with golden shekp
els because of increased circulation. Tho
war has been source of great extra ex-
pense. as the following interviews demon
strate. The press associations are sup
ported by the newspap ers. An interesting
incident is the cost of the war illustrations
to the only Sunday syndicate with war ar
lists al the front.
Pater familias, reading The Herald and
gloating over the news of hard-won vic
tories in Cuba. little imagines the trouble
and expense necessary to secure for him
the latest tidings from the front. He reads
in a casual way the statement that the re-
port of the overthrow OF Spanish arms
comes by means of the dispatch boat SO
and So he skins through a statement
which explains that the news was obtained
by a man who risked his life to get It; he
notes in perfunctory manner the expiana-
ton that the dispatch was delayed little
in transmission, little dreaming that the
delay was caused by the inability Of the
writer to get 1t In quicker time over eight
miles of mountain and swamp, and gives
the matter no more thought
1t is only those who sit in the executive
gathering associations who know what
CHASTITY thing from a financial standpoint
is this business of reporting nineteenth
century war, the seat Of which is on an
island a goodly distance from the main.
land. In conversing with the writer on this
subject, Mr.. Melville E. Stone, general
manager of the Associated Press said:
''It requires fleet of four dispatch boats
to- ~Io y ha t1at ,I,ar
of this association may get the stories Of
battle and bombardment. The boats that
we have in active service are the Wanda,
the Dauntless, the Dandy and the Cynthia
II. Coal of course is the great expense. es-
pecally in a region where steamboat fuel
is almost as expensive as the necessaries
of life Each of our boats when going full
swing on dispatch work will burn from six
to ten tons of coal a day. Coal that we can
purchase here for $40 ton, cannot be
bought in the section where the fighting ID
in progress for less than from IS to 50 a ton,
and even at these figures the quality is very
inferior and all kinds Of rubbish that is not
coal Is mixed with it. No matter what the
cost we must buy the coal, for no coal no
motive power for our steamers. and had
the wheels for our newspaper boats ceased
dearth of news regarding the doings of
our warships and troops.
APART however, from the coal expense,
the average cost of running this fleet of
boats is about 5000 per month. To re
added to all this expense is the salary OF
the correspondents and the expense OF
cabling news dispatches at the appail Hing
rate of 40 to 60 cents a word. 1t will be in
Of ttn NJ
patches in our daily papers who happens
to be mechanically inclined to figure out
the cost Of the dispatch that he peruses
with so much interest. When 1 state that
it costs this organization no less that $4,000
a day for cable tolls alone It will be seen
at once at what a frightful outlay of money
the incidents happening at the front are
made known in a flash to the anxious
American public.
II have confined myself entirely to the
expense of getting the news. The danger
and hardship are another story. The pub
lie has read of the wounding of some of the
war reporters and can judge for themselves
what an arduous and dangerous task 1t is
to report fight in which modern long range
weapons are used. 1t is not too much to say
that no war has been so earnestly, painstak-
ent war between this country and Spain"
At the news gathering association Of the
New York Sun, known as the Laffan bu-
reau. the same story was told regarding the
enormous expense of gathering the news
that Is distributed to the clientele Of that
Goal figures as the chief
item of expense in the BILL" said a repre-
sentative of this bureau to the writer. I'VE
I,o OF Inn RI ia
traordinary straits to secure this precious
commodity. We have had to pay wretched
coolie laborers the most exorbitant gilt
edged prices for transferring to the bunk
ers of our dispatch boats coal that was al
most unburnable. We have been held up
in the most unconscionabe manner and
have been forced TO pay because We could
not help ourselves; had coal cost dollar
lump we should have paid it with as much
cheerfulness as we could muster, for the
news had TO be obtained. and the cost was a
secondary consideration. We have faith
fully chronicled the story of the war, and
the public has never known at what a cost
the reports from the front were obtained.
I'VE do not think 1t necessary to inflict
the details on the public. How we got the
news Is for us and not the readers to
worry about"
There is another branch of war literature
that has no cable tolls to pay, but yet is
under an extraordinary expense in collect
ing the kind of material that the readers
OF bright newspapers require. This is the
syndicate that supplies special
literary matter, photographs and sketches
for the magazine sections of the Sunday
papers. Only one of these syndicates has
gone to the expense of sending a special
artist to the front. and this syndicate seeing
hat a golden opportunity It is to obtain an
front rank position among
such enterprises, has invested every cent of
its profits In order that the papers may be
furnished with half-page war illustrations
by the most famous newspaper artists OF
the day. The Herald has the exclusive use
Of this syndicate service in this city. The
other syndicates have contented themselves
for the most part with delving into ancient
history and describing past battles, treating
the subject from reminiscent standpoint.
OF course these syndicates have saved an
Immense amount of money by so doing. IL
ustrations made on the spot during a fight
cost fancy sums. AS much as $40 is paid
an artist for single illustration made at
the front, but as the syndicate in question
announced at the beginning of the war that
1t would take the lead in war pictures, 1t has
had to live I'M To II onrounise mn YnaffpP