The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-02-03


The man who stood by Dewey in the
battle OF Manila was Mr.. Joseph L.
Stickney, of the New York Herald
Close to Schley in the destruction of
Cervera's feet was NJ. Graham, of the
Associated Press. GSSe>aD Dad to San
tiago Mr.. Creelma' &C. go x'arsl1all
were wounded, and T. h:-elt
publicly expressed his Oh. ]so.
assistance received from Ricla. -
ing Davis on the firing line.
The censorship in South Africa is
very annoying. In the first place, for
every correspondent who was sent there
were hundreds who wanted to go. In
the second place, the few who did go
bound themselves to the most rigid ad-
herence to the War Department rules.
Leading from South Africa are several
cables, but over these the Government
exercises absolute control. AS soon as
the Beers began to hold their own the
British, as war measure, instituted
censorship OF dispatches which is the
strictest in the history OF journalism
Their fear was. that the news OF the
Boer victories would lead the Dutch in
other colonies to rise in favor of their
kinsmen. Thus it made little difference
even if the correspondent had in his
possession the most vital facts; he could
not get it to the world. For instance,
Mr.. Julian Ralph, we'll known to the
readers OF the Saturday Evening Post,
is with the army, travelling with the
privileges and appurtenances of lieu
tenant, and probably enjoying life as
much as man can under the circum-
stances, but when he marches to the
cable office with his batch of facts he
is as coolly repulsed as if he were the
lnunblest private So with slight ex-
ceptions our news from South Africa is
from the official sources of both sides.
One interesting thing i'll that section
OF the country is variety OF methods
in communication The carrier pigeon
is the most useful. Had it not been for
these fleet messengers OF the air we
should not know the news from Lady
smith. Back OF these services are years
of training. While the Beers control
everything leading out of that city, they
cannot reach the birds that sail in the
air and make their way straight to Dur
ban, from which place news is cabled to
the world.
Another method employed is the hell
ograph The working of this is very
familiar; it is simply the use of the tele-
graph code in flashes Of sunlight over
miles Of country. There is a third
method which is almost as mysterious
as it is interesting. In Africa they have
the native runners, and the way they
communicate is by shouting from hill to
hill. An extraordinary statement is
made that in this manner they can send
information hundreds of miles day.
The cost of reporting the war can be
estimated from the fact that in Our war
with Spain one of the biggest news as
sociations ended the conflict more than
quarter million dollars in debt. 1t
would not be great exaggeration to
say that upon the war the newspapers
spent for their special services and spe-
cial dispatches several millions of dol
lars, and in many instances the most
elaborate plans costing thousands of
dollars, yielded nothing whatever. The
English papers are spending fortunes in
South Africa and are getting scarcely
anything for their money. At the same
time, their expenditures are nothing like
as prodigal as were those of the Ameri-
can newspapers in the recent war. 1t
has been stated with some show of pride
that one of the English newspapers paid
$4,000 for single dispatch, but GER
tain single dispatch to an American
newspaper cost over $4,000.
The one correspondent in South AT
rica who has interested the world and
made distinguished reputation is
Winston Spencer Churchill, whose
mother is Lady Randolph Churchill,
formerly Miss Jerome, of New York.
Although lieutenant in the British
army, Churchill went to South Africa
as correspondent of the London Morn
ing Post, which is one OF the arsto-
cratic newspapers. He accompanied
two detachmcnts OF troops on an ar
mored train in an attempt to get from
Estcourt to Ladysmith, but four miles
south OF Colenso the train was derailed
and the Englishmcn were captured. The
war correspondent is supposed to be
non-combatant, but Churchill took full
part in the scrimmagc, and one CORE
spondent-a rival, by the way-wrote
this sentence: Churchill behaved mag
niicently during the train disaster and
deserves the V. c."
The war correspondent deserves we'll
OF his age and of the world. He is the
servitor of the public, without the ex-
citement of fighting which helps the he
roisln of the soldier in the midst of dan
ger. His Importance was recognized
by the Peace Conference at the Hague,
and in the Nineteenth Article of the
Regulations it is declared that CORE