Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1902-07-22
Latest Scare in Washington.

star part.
Latest Scare in Washington.
The latest development was a
scare" in which the dire probabilities
that the secretary and family had dis
appeared under the waves Of the At
lantic, were played up with spectacu-
lar vividness. OF course there was
nothing in it, as there was nothing in
the long alleged interview with the
secretary in which he was made to say
that four or five years was all any Of
fetal or clerk could best serve the
government.
This latest story was the creature of
the fertile fancy of a Boston ship
ping" reporter. This class of newspa-
per men do nothing but look after ar
rival and departure or ocean craft,
passenger and freight and other mat
tiers in connection with the sea coast.
Shaw Leaves New York.
1t appears Secretary Shaw and fam.
lily left New York at certain hour on
the United States revenue cutter Ores.
ham, bound for Boston. When the
hour of sailing was announced this
Boston newspaper man sat down and
did some figuring. He knew the pre-
else distance from New York to Boston
over the course that would be taken by
the Gresham. He knew the ship was
scheduled to average sixteen knots an
hour. OF course it was easy for him
to figure out just exactly when the
smoke from the tunnels of the Ores
ham would appear off Boston harbor.
He did all this and then calmly waited
for that moment to arrive.
The Gresham Did Not Arrive.
The moment arrived right ON the dot
but the Gresham did not. An hour
passed; then another, and then the
bright young reporter got out his pad
and began to do something with his
pencil. What he did was to write a
narrowing tale in effect that the gray.
est apprehensions We're entertained
concerning the Revenue Cutter Ores,
ham, with the secretary of the treasury
and family and other officials and
prominent people on board. This re-
porter is an adept at this business. He
has superb stock of plausible and
highly creditable hypothesis which he
cleyerly works into his tale, without
committing himself or the paper. AT
the same time the impression Is left
with the reader that the chances of
seeing the boat again are extremely
remote.
Depicted Disaster.
And so the leading Boston paper ap-
peared with a double column scare
head depicting all sort sof woe and
possible disaster. Secretary Shaw was
strongly featured and all the harrow
ing points possible in such a story
were worked to FRAGILE.
The next morning the Gresham put
into Boston, never having met so much
as big wave on the trip. in fact the
voyage was entirely devoid of incident
Figures Were Right.
The Boston newspaper mans figures
were all right He had the precise dis
lance between points; the speed of the
Gresham was correct, but the reporter
had, unfortunately neglected to secure
a copy of the Gresham's itinerary. AS
matter of fact the opportunity OFFER
ed the secretary to put into Vineyard
Haven and another port and inspect
government affairs, and he requested
the captain to land. In this way the
schedule was seriously interrupted and
in consequence the Boston reporter
was seized with pipeomania and reliev-
ed himself in the manner described.
The Gresham incident is closed, of
course, but the reporter has, no doubt,
sprung several other scares, equally