Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-16
How The Star Informs the
Public of Great Events.
STEREOPTICON EXHIBIT
GIVING PROMPT RETURNS FROM
ELECTIONS.
Description Of a Bulletin Night and
The Evening Star
Office.

Although the ordinary function Of news
naner ts to print a daily edition. which Is
sold to the public on the principle that
the people should pay for the news that
they read, one of the most firmly establish
ed customs of American journals Is upon
occasions of great Importance to make Tree
bulletins of the news as 1t Is received, SO
that he who runs may read without COST
This Is particularly true OF the news OF
elections. Other occasions, such as con-
ventions and important sporting events, are
bulletined with the degree OF detail winch
the public interest in them demands Inc
Star has always made 1t a practice thus TO
supplement it's editions by means OF the
stereopticon at night and the blackboard
and the bulletin board during the daytime
while during later years the megaphone mas
played an important part. both night ana
day. In widening the range of the free an
nouncements.
Whenever an occasion OF this KIND arises
ARRANGEMENTS are made for running special
wires into The Star Office from both OF the
great telegraph companies. and on some
occasions from the long-distance telephone
system. which. with the wires already in
The Star office connecting with the Asso-
ciated Press service, give the paper access
through the country. If the news is being
received In the daytime, brief statements
of the most important features are written
in a large hand or printed by means OF
block types on great sheets Of manila paper
and are hung upon the bulletin boards as
rapidly as possible. So keen Is the interest
of the people of Washington in a news sit
uation that the appearance of a single small
sheet betokening bulletin upon the board
at the corner Of 18th street and Pennsyl-
vania avenue is the signal for an imme-
date gathering of people, large or small In
proportion to the Importance Of the an
nouncement In the old days before the
present Star building was erected a space
was available on the 18th street front for
additional bulletin boards, and these were
often filed with Transcribed dispatches for
the dedication Of thousands Of people In
the street below.
Bulletins by Night.
Bulletins by night involve more cab
crate preparation, especially in times Of
national elections, such as that Of 1900 for
the presidency. Then, when public excite
ment is at fever heat, effort is spared to
give the people instant access to the least
shading of the news. The bulletins are
ceived in The Star office by the scores of
hundreds, some of them, Of course. being
duplicates and others beated. AS soon
as they are received over the wires by these
various sources Of information, the tele-
graph companies the Associated Press, the
telephone company and The Stars own spe-
cial staff correspondents In the field, they
are digested by a staff of trained men
in the news rooms of the paper and the
most succinct possible statement of each
announcement IS prepared for the stereopu-
con. This is done by writing in India ink
upon a thin sheet Of transparent gelatin.
about four by three inches in size. Under
the present arrangement this work is done
on the seventh floor of The Star building.
The films are then placed in leather car
riers and shot down by the pneumatic tube
system to a front room on the mezzanine
floor of the building Pennsylvania avenue
side where the stereopticons are located.
Here they are further edited by being ar
ranged in semblance of order and given
to the stereopticons that the crowds be-
low may receive them in ineligible form.
When a general election IS In progress The
Star sometimes maintains as many as three
instruments, but in other years, as on the
occasion of the election last month, where
there are few points of exciting interest,
single stereopticon is found to suffice
Big Crowds.
The crowds begin to gather in front OF
The Star Office as early as 8 o'clock, watt
Ing for this display of returns. The hand
written bulletins. posted during the day,
have, of course, attracted close attention.
but the great crowds wait for the main dis
play of the evening, when the returns are
detailed and decisive.
Interspersed between the actual bulletins
of the news. portraits Of prominent men
and candidates are shown upon the screens,
and this diversion Is varied further by the
showing Of comic pictures drawn to Illus
trate the news it is received by the car
toonists of The Star. Color pictures and
the mechanical slides of the usual stereopti-
con exhibition add to the entertainment.
The crowd, which sometimes aggregates
49, 600 people, remains as long as the news
Is interesting and the decisive announce
ments are yet to come. The rule of The
Star is to keep up the display Of bulletins