Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-12-01

"Scoop" and Who Then Induced
bismarck to Allow Him to Send Gu
the News Over His Private Wire.
During the Franco German war, from
Oct Is, 1870, to March /, 1871, was
attached to the headquarters of thC
crown prince, who occupied an unas
Stunning little villa called Les Ombragos,
IL an outskirt Of Versailles, his august
father residing throughout the invest
ment and siege Of Paris in the prefecture
of the whilom royal buIgh," and
Count Bismarck, with his staff of coun
Cilors and secretaries, in n detached
house of the Rue de Provence. 1 often
met the chancellor out Of doors, walk
ing or riding, during that long and bit
ter winter, but sedulously RETAINED
from soliciting audiences, being well
aware that the visits of war CORE
spondent, who had everything TO ask
and nothing TO tell, could not possibly
be welcome 10 so desperately oyerwork-
ed a statesman as Bismarck.
BY what means [ need not explain in
this place, l had been made acquain ted
with the precise terms of the capitula-
ton of Paris at an early hour of the
morning after the conclusion of the
arinistice, and had, moreover, good rea-
son to believe that the conditions of the
surrender had not been communicated
TO any other correspondent of an Eng
lish or even a German newspaper ut
headquarters. Having obtained the su
premely important item of news, what
was to do with it? Unless it could be
forthwith transmitted to The Daily Tel
egraph Office by telegraph, my chances
OF forestalling my fellow correspondents
would be aunihilated, and there was no
wire az my disposal-or, for that mat
ter, at that Of any foreign journalist
within the vast radius of the lines of
investment.
The situation appeared an utterly
hopeless one, until suddenly the hap
piest of "happy thoughts flashed
through my mind. Perhaps the all pow
erful chancellor. newly created a prince
Of the young German empire, would
authorize the transmission to London
OF my dispatch over his own official
wire, by means of which he was zen
rapport" with every European capital
except beleaguered Paris. There was rs
time to lose. Before a. III. had taken
down the articles Of equalization from
the lips of my informant, within half
an hour L had copied them out, 'large,
bold and handsome" ON two pages of
foolscap and had made myself presenta-
bic.
At 9 O'Clock presented myself at the
street door CT the house i'll the Rue de
Provence and sent up my card to Coun-
cilor Lothian Butcher, with u penciled
request that he would allow me to speak
to him in private. Almost Immediately
he came down 10 the waiting room on /
the ground floor, into which I had been |
shown, and asked me what he could do |
for me. Can you procure me a five !
minutes audience of the princef" 1 re- !
piled. 81 don't know, was the rejoin- !
der, "but I'll try. The chancellor is ex- /
tIemely busy, but perhaps he'll see you |
if you can assure me that the matter is !
really urgent" l declared that for mo |
it could not possibly be more so, where
upon Butcher left mel confess, in n !
fever of anxiety-and was absent for |
about quarter of an hour, at the ex-
piratiOn of which he reappeared and
beckoned to me to follow him up stairs
In an ex-boudoir on the first floor
into sort of Office I found
the chancellor awaiting me. After the
Driefest of greetings he said, "Pray, tell
ne what you want i'll the fewest posi-
Ole words, for have not a moment to
ose." 1 produced my dispatch, handed
t to him and asked him if it was sub
;tantiaIly correct.
After looking through it he answered.:
. Yes, it is. L don't know how you got
your information, and dom intend to
lsk, but these are the terms on which
Paris surrenders. What then:'' When
besOuSht his permission to forward
he message over his wire, he laughed
ather grimly, saying, "You must be
mad to ask such a thingr"
1 urged upon him that the tension of
10 bic feeling in England with respect |
o the fate of Paris was very painful
many peoples sympathy being tempo
arily averted from Germany by harrow
ng accounts of the sufferings undergone
y the population of the French capt.
al. "That tension would be considera-
ly relieved, sir, replied, "by the
that the siege of Paris is
ONE to an end and that the victors
ave accorded merciful terms to the
Prince Bismarck held ont
gainst my importantly for about
ouple of minutes, but he yielded at
asst, only STIMULATING that l should
face my name at ithe end of the dis
atch.
"On no account can allow you to
ign message sent over my wire. If
our people in London do not believe it
? be authentic when it reaches them,
nat is their affair. But it must go I'M
igned or not at all. - 1t did go unsign-
4; 1T was accepted as authentic, and !
e publication that very afternoon in
1ecial edition Of The Daily Telegraph
roved to be one of the greatest journal ]
tic coups effected by any Lond on
ewspaper during the Franco-German !
Telegraph.
BaEpipe Music. III
A Glasgow paper thus analyses the