The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-29
best to accommodate the eager publish
ers.
MR.. NIXON'S LETTER TO CARNA.
HAN


MR.. NIXoN'S LETTER TO CARNA-
HAN.
There were, as 1 said, thousands of
words flied from the special correspond
ents in the field AS all Of these specials
were filed by Col. Smith at the time he
filed the official reports, / could not give
one the preference of the others. as all
had been filed at the same time. In or
der to be as impartial as possible, pre-
pared an account OF the Big Horn battle
that was little more detailed than the
brief message that I had sent earlier.
This 1 sent to all the papers that had
filed specials from their correspondents
| in the field. This special was accepted
by the papers to which it was sent with
many expressions of appreciation. I
don't think that / ever did anything in
my life that was so appreciatively re-
eeived.
Nearly all of the managers of these
| papers sent me letters at once. The one
| that 1 prize most was from VIM. Penn
Nixon, Of the Inter Ocean. have pre-
served this as one Of my most interesting
souvenirs
Mr. Carnahan then produced this let
ter. which is as follows:
/ 81. NJ. Carnahan. Esq.-Dear Sir: Your
| dispatch of July was the best that
came over the wires in regard to the
Custer disaster. Accept our special
thanks. Your city Is likely to be the dis
tributing point for news OF Off importanGfe I.lf
eontinCe. to look sharply after our in
terests, and not allow the Inter Ocean
to be 'scooped' on any matters of impor-
tance. OF course; we emily want that
which is of general interest. The. eyes of
all the country are now on the Indian
movements, and these, that would ordi-
nariiy be of no Importance, are eagerly
read. The rates from Bismarck are high.
so we expect you to be judiciouS Render
your bill the first of each month. 1 have
ordered the daily Inter Ocean sent to you
regularly. Yours truly. szI.
-"Wm. Penn Nixon"
THE experience OF those two nights
and days" continued Mr.. Carnahan. was
the most exciting that I ever passed
through. The long trick at the key
seemed as nothing, so great was the ex-
citement. The feverish eagerness that
prevailed at the other end of our wire
seemed to be communicated to those in
my office. l felt no particular weariness
until it was ali over. and the sustaining
force OF the excitement had disappeared.
1t was an experience never to De forgot
ten. / don't think that any single wire
in the old days ever did such a business
as did that one of ours from Bismarck
TO ST. Paul during those forty-eight hours.
Page after page of official communica-
tions l sent that day and night. The
work finally became mechanical, and 1
gave little heed to the passing of time
and the din1inution of the size Of the pile
of manuscript that lay before me- Then,
when the official business had been dis
posed of, there was the stack of private
kilograms to friends and relatives in the
East
'fThe suspense among these people muSt
have been terrible 1 realized this, and 1
think that the other boys on the line did
also. We rushed the work as much as We
possibly could. AS soon as the official
business was out of the way we tackled
this pile Of personal kilograms. We
didn't stop for anything to eat, nor did
we try to get any rest till this part of
the work was disposed of. One by one
l clinked off these messages that were to
carry Joy or sorrow to the homes in the
East that they would reach, according
as they told of the safety or the death of
loved ones in the army. l experienced
feeling of deep. relief when the last one
was cleared, and l got the o. K. from
| the ST. Paul office. There was a brief ex-
i change of messages between Gridley and
| Hughes and myself in the two offices.
| and then we arranged for three hours
rest.
! when / was called at o'clock 1 went
! at once to the office and called up the
| boys in St. Paul They were ready, and
once more we resumed the transmits on
/ OIL the StCry III all us I1OItOI 1AAo IAL1iO
! It was not In the terse terms of army re-
| ports, but in the more elaborate form OF
special correspondence. For another
! tWent-four hours we continued this, and
| it was the dawn of another day before
we said good-by. Then. confess was
! tired But the work was done. and we
felt that we had made a good record. 1t
was the heaviest lot Of work that l ever
did at one time.
Gen Custer was deeply interested in
horse racing, and he read the reports
from Eastern tracks with feagerness.
remember how constantly he used to ask
me for news. Here is a characteristic
note that I received from him just a few
| days before he left on his fatal expedi-
| tion. / found it on my desk after the
| massacre, and have preserved 1T ever
since"
Mr.. Carnahan showed the following
note, hurfiedly seribbied in pencil and
written on a bit of rough paper torn from
something that was probably lying handy
! es the messenger left the fort for town.
The note reads:
"Mr Carnahan:s If you get any news
] tomorrow or next day on the results Of
the races at Saratoga tomorrow, particu-
larly the Saratoga cup race, please send
| it to me and oblige. g. A. G.
"Wednesday"
Such is the story of the transmission
Of the famous piece Of news, as related
! by the man who sent It,
attresses-Schroeder & Dickinson. 1G
| East Sixth street.