The Savannah morning news., 1902-08-03

but in most cases these expedients,
though ingenious, did not succeed. 1t
should be said that the mails and the
express service were censored as we'll
as the telegraph during the Spanish
war, and that rigidly. No one knew of
the censorship of the express until a
reporter at Tampa, having had his dis
patches held up by telegraph and mail,
sent package of man.
uscript by express. When
he thought his package was well
on its way to New York he boosted
to some of his fellow correspondents
of how he had outwitted the censor.
Just at that moment Lieut.. Brady
came up and courteously handed him
back his manuscript, which had been
captured by one of the lieutenant's
men before 1t got to Savannah One
man at Key West, when the fleet sail
ed to lombard San Juan. sent a dis
patch saying Fleet sailed for Ha-
vana." Being a bit of false news, he
thought the censor would pass it. La
ter he came back and handed in a
message, Make Havana smoke" US
ing code word which had been agreed
upon between himself and his tele-
graph editor
oh" said the censor, looking at the
message. perhaps you would better
handed him back his first dispatch,
which had not been put on the wires;
nor was it.
All sorts of codes were arranged
but none of them worked successful
ly, though one man did get through
from Key West an important piece of
news by telegraphing his wife, a pure
ly imaginary person. to kiss a purely
imaginary baby for him. Sometimes
n IL h. -
ingly harmless kilograms which, how
ever could be understood by his tele-
graph editor. The censor would re-
ceive them smilingly and at night
| hand him back the whole bunch.
Meantime the newspaper mans office
| might be abusing him violently by ca
| BILE at great expense and length for
| not sending any news. One man got
! a taboo piece of information to his pa
| per by going by train from Tampa to
| Savannah and telegraphing from there
to his editor, personally, at his house
address, that he had shipped him 100
boxes of Havana cigars" with some
detail of tls.ir quality and price; all of
which was translated by the use of a
code by the editor into an interesting
story. He did not repeat the exploit,
however, for, somehow, his action be-
came known to the government, and
lished at Savannah and for that and
another successful operation of the sort
the correspondent was temporarily
forbidden to use the telegraph.
One naval commander was so en-
ragged at finding that correspondent
had sent a cable dispatch, saying that
the fleet had passed certain point in
the West Indies that he summoned the
newspaper man on board his ship.
1yh he G01IndIU hpf0ra
hands, ordering him not to bring his
dispatch boat near the feet again on
the penalty of being fired upon, and
declared in a passion that he had a
good mind to order up q file of ma
rines and shoot the delinquent. Yet the
man was only doing what his paper
had sent him out to do and what the
Secretary of the Navy had allowed him
to join the fleet to do; the dereliction,
If there was any, was at the New
York end of the cable, where the gov
eminent should have confiscated the
dispatch if 1t was Objectionable.
When the fleet of transports was
ready to sail from Tampa all news
from that place was shut off. Wash
ington gave out dispatch saying that
the fleet had already sailed, and the
wires were kept hot with the scornful
words of irate editors, berating their
men for not having sent them news
OF such an important event. The fleet
was still in the bay and did not sail
for two days afterwards. but all that
the censor would allow to go out, in
response to the entreaties of the news
paper men to be allowed to square
themselves" with their offices. was
only the single sentence, Censor abb
solutely refuses to pass any news per-
tanning to the fleet" But the censors
and the newspaper men got along well
together and matched their wits
against each other with the utmost
friendliness. So. also, in all probable
ity, the best of good feeling will ex-
list between the parties concerned In
the war on the newspapers and the
navy during this years maneuvers.