Waterbury Democrat., 1901-01-03

DIcTATING MIDNIGHT DISPATCH. the ability to write paragraphs, but was a forceful political editorial writer.
 Well, this reminiscence of the news paper para graphers' mutual admira- tion society reminds your correspond ent that there is to-day existing a similar organization, or series of or ganizations, in this city. There are coteries of Washington correspond ents who exchange news day after day, or, rather, night after night. They help each other along, and thereby give their papers better serv- ice. For example, the correspondent of a New York paper runs across an item of no value to his readers, but which would prove to be very inter- esting to the readers of Chicago paper. Forthwith he sends that item to the correspondent of Chicago paper. In return more than likely a day will not pass until the corre- spondent of a Chicago paper finds something which will be valuable to his friend from New York, and he sends it to him.
 Then there are agreements among s596a dozen correspondents that they will divide all news of general in- terest. Thus it often happens that one newspaper each in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, Denver and San Francisco will have an ex- elusive item of valuable news. One man out of the party has found some thing interesting and has divided it with his partners in this news busi- ness, and all of the other newspaper correspondents are .'scoopeG.''
 Whenever there is a river and har- bor bill reported from a committee Of the house the representatives of newspapers interested in river and harbor Improvements divide up the bill, each taking part of it and go- ing over every item, not solely with a view to giving his own paper the local news, but with view of looking after the interests of the other core spondents in this syndicate of fellow workers. As q result each one of them gives his paper better and more complete service than any one cor respondent could do, working on the bill by himself.
 For example. one correspondent of "a paper in Buffalo. another each in Detroit. Chicago, Grand Rapids and St. Paul, will go over the bill with a view of getting all of the items of interest to readers residing within the vicinity of the great lakes. When they have concluded their work they get together and make up complete dispatches. The result is that they completely cover. the case, and any one correspondent outside of this combination will be likely to fall short of the successful work of the combined workers.
 So there are trusts forming every where and in all sorts of business. In union there is strength, and wherever men can trust each other in combining their work and capital it is to be expected that they will do so. The writer had hard experi- ence with the combine on great lake news about ten years ago. and achieved success only by accident. The combine had worked up their bill with customary skill, and it was good work, too. But late in the evening your correspondent. representing the Detroit Tribune, Milwaukee Erenine, Wisconsin and St. Paul Globe, found Congressman Sam Stephenson. of Michigan, q member of the commit tee, who knew the bill by heart be- cause of his careful painstaking work upon every item ofsit, and dear old Sam dictated a dispatch which cov- cred the great lakes even more com pletely and entertainingly than it was told by the ''eombine boys. Ste phensan gave reasons for each appro- priation, and that of course nobody but member of the committee could do. Until this day the writer has never told his competitors how he managed to get up such a good dis patch. As matter sof fact it was Sam Stephenson's work, and the cor respondent was merely an amanuen- sis
 The stories of how the Washington correspondents strive for exclusive news for the papers served by them would fill volumes, and all of them would be interesting, particularly to
 he newspaper men, the editors as .ell as the news ratherers.
 SMITH D. FRY.