The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-16

Key West, May 1.-THE cable office
in Key West. since the world became
interested in war talk, has been the
most interesting spot on the island, and
the most interesting and the most inn
portent man is the censor.
The cable office is a small brick
building, two stories high, with large
cocoanut palm growing on either side.
The palms spread their great branches
anove the building and form a perfect
arch over the red tiled llOOr Great
clusters of coCOanuts are suspended
from the green arch and all day swing
and rustic in the swarthy leaves when
ever the lazy south wind comes up
from the harLor 1t is only few yards
from the door OF the cable office to the
government dock. In fact it is only q
few yards from any point on the island
to the water and when the tide is at
the highest point the sea sets back
through most of the streets and leaves
a white fringe of salt along the cutters
when the tide goes out and the salt
soaked earth dries.
EXCITING RACES
Up through the narrow streets, which
lead from the cable office to the wharf
some very interesting and exciting
races have taken place during the last
few weeks. When the newspaper dcs-
patch boats come i'm from the gulf they
always land rs near to the cable Office
as possible, and when the correspond
ents land at the same time the race for
the cable office is more interesting than
any steeplechase ever run. Some of
them after a long cruise so staggering
and reeling on their sea. legs, like
drunken men. Some arc weak from
seasickness, and others are limping
from bruises received from being
pitched about in the rough sea. But
sickness and bruises are forgotten
when land il reached. and every effort
is put forth TO be the first to file copy"
If it he late at night five seconds gain
cd in the race from the dock to the ca
hle office NAV mean an exclusive story
for one of the great dailies in the
North. Gable transmission is necessar-
lily slower than sending overland wires,
and the correspondent who files 5000
words at midnight js pretty sure that
M other paper will be able to get any
thing for its morning edition from Key
West that night.
But after the copy has been filed the
correspondents trouble is not at an
end. Every word of it must he read
and passed on by the censor. No mat
ter how much time, hardship or eX
panse it has required to get the story,
if, in the judgment Of the censor il
ought not to be printed, it cannot be
sent. If it gives any information as to
tn movements OF the fleet or the army
it cannot so.
RED INK mo"
There are something like one hun
drod and fifty newspaper correspond
erts in Key West, and while most of
them appreciate the wisdom of the
government censorship of news mat
ter. some of them have grown impati'
ent in their eagerneSs to tell the inter
esting sOries that are 10 be told, and
have tried all manner of iugeniou!
schemes for getting matters past the
censor. Usually, however, all plans
have been rejected by the censor, ana
the apparently innocent or stupid des'
patch ras been returned to the writer
with NO" written in red ink across il
The most trying period for the cor
respondents was on the day the flee
started on it's cruise eastward Every
correspondent in Key West knew tha'
the great hattleships were steaming
away from before Havana in quest %
big Spanish game. Every newspaper
man was eager to send the story, bu
not line, not a word would the censor
permit to pass. From a hundred pa
pers in the North came the query:"Ha'
the fleet started" Even the answe
Yes" TO this inquiry was not permit
ted to 90. Some Of the correspond
ents had arranged a cipher code will
their home offices. but the code wa
useless. Everything that had the ap
pearanCc of cipher-everything tina
was not absolutely plain and explain
ahle--was stopped, one correspondent
worked out a plan which he though
would give the desired information l.
his paper. but he failed. Early in tn
morning he filed a despatch, the frs
line reading as follows. The news
paper fleet sailed this morning towar,
Porto Rico An hour later he wen
10 file a personal message to his editor