The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-05-17
Gathering War News.


now reached very nearly 300. says
Washington correspondent. 1t IS no easy
task for stranger 10 obtain this cour-
tesy. He must be introduced properly,
identified by some one known TO the de-
partment, and have with him credental
of some sort from the paper he proposes
to serve. These preliminarfes are no mere
empty form, as the correspondent VIII
discover who comes in from the north on
one train, intending to leave for the south
on the next; for his papers must De stru-
tinized, and the assistant secretary OF
war must satisfy himself positively that
the man is a proper person TO be en-
trusted with paper from the department.
and then the filled-in blank must take us
place in the midst OF the pile submitted
for signature at the same hour in the al
ternoon with the mass of daily mail. AS
a consequence the time consumed IN get
ting one of these documents is rarely less
than twenty-four hours.
When obtained. the pass" proves to be
nothing more than a stereotyped letter OF
introduction to the commanding officer at
the point TO which the correspondent IL
directing his steps. 1t cannot be used at
that place, even to insure free ingress ana
egress of the military lines. until it has
ignated by the commander. After that IL
gives the correspondent no assurance that
he will be permitted to accompany the
army when II moves.
Some of the correspondents who are
moving to the front now have seen service
In former wars. Not few Of those who
come from abroad were with the Turkish
or the Greek army In Crete. One OF these,
speaking of the precautions observed In
Washington in connection with the pres
ent war. said; This Is very different
from my last experience. With the Greek
army. anybody could do anything. No
papers or>passes were required; you could
go where you pleased. inside or outside of
the lines: you were held to no account for
what you said or what you wrote. but you
were at liberty to walk up to the next
eqauletted dignitary you met, and ask
him in your heartiest manner what he
was doing there and what the next move
of his brigade would be. The memory OF
those days is amusing by way Of contrast
with the very strict observanceS enforced
here"
During the war between Japan and Chi
ma the correspondents who accompanied
the Japanese army were furnished with
long catalogue OF conditions under which
exclusively they would be permitted to
perform their duties. Certain officers were
designated to prescribe the places which
correspondents were allowed TO visit. as
we'll as the time when they might do so.
Correspondents were required always to
carry in the hand" their tickets of per-
mission. AS to their letters and dis
patches they must in all cases be laid be-
fore the controlling officers for eKamina-
ton at certain fixed time. Their re-
marks, moreover. must be limited strictly
to past events; they must not mention in
any case the strength or distribution of
the Japanese forces, or on any account
state the place or time at which the let
tiers were sent out
The change i'm the method Of transmit
ting news of great battles within the last
eighty years has been vital. In the early
part of the century the newspapers used
to get their information about such mat
tiers from the business community-pre-
cisely the reverse of the present condi-
tors then employed special correspondents
instead OF the journals. In June. 1915, all
the bourses of Europe were in a state
of wild excitement over the chances of a
great battle between Napoleon and Allies.
The Goldschmidts and the RothchiIds
were rivals in the matter of obtaining
war news for London. The Goldschmidts
stole a march, as they thought, upon the
Rothschilds by sending their agents to
Waterloo to watch the fight for which the
armies were then lining up. II did not
take him long to be snitten with panic,
in the midst OF which he made his fast
est time to Brussels and sent a messenger
to London to tell his employers that all
was lost.
The correspondent of the Rothschlds,
on the other hand, went to Client, where
Louis XVIII. was staying. acting on the
assumption that in this cooler atmos-
phere he would be less likely to be carried
off his feet by confusing rumors and that
the first positive information would I'M
be conveyed to the king. 1t so
happened that the king breakfasted, on
the morning after the battle, in a public (
place, where the agent Of the Rothschilds
could watch him. In the midst OF the /
meal came an interruption. A herseman, !
covered with dirt, and bearing marks of !
hard riding, appeared in the court yard Of I
the inn, and was ushered at once to the |
presence of the king, to whom he present. |
ed sealed package. The agent watched /
the king break the seal and read the con-
tents, and then, to his aTaazement saw his 4
majesty rush towards the courier. en- 4
brace him and kiss him on both cheeks. I
The agent waited to see no more, but 4
FASTENED to Ostend, hired fishing boat, /
and reached London before the post con- j
veyance could possibly have done so. ~ 4
announced to his employers that the bat !
tie had gone against Napoleon; the stock /
market at once stiffened on the news, and /
the Rothschilds who had been investing
heavily for their customers. reaPed a 4
arge fortune by their correspondents en- 4
.erprise.
This was a long time ago. But what 4
shall We say of the contrast presented
within a single generation? The other 1
Iay we received news from Manila up TO ,
The time OF the cutting OF the cable. y
.eok only few hours for a correspond I
Eat in those distant Asiatfc seas 70 tell !
he people in the streets OF Washington |
and New York what had happened and 1
was happening In 1870. when President I
Lincoln died. a ship was about TO start I
for England. and an enterprising news Z
agent hired a swift tug and followed the 1
Vessel down New York bay tn he was
near enough 20 toss aboard tin canister I
containing a scrap of paper with the an
Of the presidents death
scra w3ed upon Il in pencil This was the
vehicle by which England obtained its
first news ~ the tragedy. about ten days
after il occurred
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