The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-05-15
CENSOR HUMOROUS.
TIE JENSUR HUMUKUUS.
"All Fleets Look Alike to Mc" Was
His Endorsement.
ALL MESSAGES LlUotLY SCANNED.
Difficult job In Getting Telc-
grams Through.
copyrighted. 1875. by Associated Press,

Key West, Fla, May 1i.-(From a STAFF
Correspondent OF the Associated Press)--
The cable Office In Key West since the
world became Interested in war talk has
been the most Interesting spot on the
island. The most interesting person and
most important by all odds here is the
censor Up through narrow streets when
lead from the cable ofhce TO the wharf
some interesting and exciting races have
taken place In the past few weeks. When
the newspaper dispatch beats come in from
the guilt they always land as near TO the
cable office as possible and when CORE
sporceGis land al tho same t1e the cable
cfice Is more interes ing than any steeple-
chase ever run. Some OF them, after a
long cruise, go staggering aud reeling on
tier sea legs like drunken men, others
are weak from sea sickness and still others
are limping from bruises received from
beng pitched about in the rough sea. But
sickness and bruises are forgotten when
land is reached and every effort is put
forth 10 be Inc first to file copy" ii 1t
be late at night five seconds gained in
the race from the dock 10 the cable office
may mean an exclusive story for one OF
the great dailies In the North.
Gable transmission is necessarily slower
than sending by overland wires and the
correspondent who files 5000 words at mid
night is pretty sure that no other paper
viii be able to get anything for its morn
ing edition from Key West that night
hut after he copy has been filed the cor
respondents work is not at an end.
Usually all plans TO get news past the
censor have failed and the apparently in
nocent or stupid dispatch has been returned
20 the writer with mo" written in red
Ink across 1t.
The most trying period for correspond
ents was oil the day the fleet started on Its
cruise eastward Every correspondent IN
Key West knew that the great battlesEips
were leaving for big Spanish game. Every
newspaper man was eager to send the story
but not a line. not a word was permitted
TO PASS the censor.
Several hundred papers queriod HAS the
fleet startedP' Even the answer "Ycs' to
this inquiry was not permitted to go. Some
correspondents had arranged cipher code
with their home offices. but tho code was
useless. Everything that had the appear
ance of cipher, everything that was not alb
soiutely plain and explicit. was stopped
One correspondent worked out plan which
h. thought would give the desired informa-
lion to his paper, but he failed. Early in
the morning he filed a dispatch, the first
line reading:
THE newspaper fleet sailed this morn.
ing toward Porto Rico" An hour later he
went to file IA personal message to his edi-
Tor reading Correction second
word in last dispatch"
When he handed in the last dispatch the
censor met him at the receiving desk, aud
with smile handed back the first dis
patch. with these words written across 1t
'All fleets look alike to me-"
The censor, however, is greatly liked hy
the newspaper men, ard spends most of his
time In chatting with the men on the porch