The state herald., 1904-11-04
WRITE OF WARFARE
HAZARDOUS WORK OF NEwsPA.
PGR CORRESPONDENCE.
Quick Thinking and Absolute immu-
nifty From Fear Demanded for This
sefvles--Some Achievements Of the
Best OF tho Men In the Field.

sent by the London TlmeH 10 the pc,
ninHula In 1905 Ra ~ special cores.
pendent 10 report the prosrosa oI the
British army under Sir John Moor-.
was probably tho iifat war corrospon.
dent, according to Muomillrns Maga'
ginc. Robinson. however, did not
witness tho operations, but reported
them from tho shores of the bay ot
rlscay, The first journalist who
best anywors the description of war
correspondent M the term II nav un.
dcrstood--thnt IL TO say. the repre-
sentative Of u newspaper who accom-.
panicH an army In the neld ard sends
his communications from the scene
Of hogtllltloH- was Charles Lewis
GrunclSon, who represented the Morn
Ing Post In Spain during tho CarilHt
war Of 1887.
'Tho frst war correspondent to oh
tain rcnown was MIR. tnow Sir Will
lam Howard Russell who represent.
ed the Times In the Crimoa: and 10 IL
has come To pass that he In popularity
rogpfdcd as the first OF the war cor
respondents, His position with the
troops, being unrecognizcd By the mil.
itary authorities. was attended by
many dlscomforts and inconycn-
iencos," Lord Raglan would not help
him. though he did represent tho
Thundorcr. "Throughout the cam
palgn, therefore Mr.. Russell had TO
victual and clo,hc himself and pro-
vide forage for his horse as best he
could. A ham cost him E5. n turkey
G5. a little pot OF marmaladc 5s II
pair Of boots &C. But the trouble
was not 80 much tho high prices OF
provision and clothing as their mca
ger and uncertain supply. What
queer figure he must have presented.
mounted on fiddle headed. eve
necked horse. dressed In all sorts OF
odds and ends, including n commits
sariat officers cap with broad gold
band. rincman's patrol Jacket.
Lreeches. and Blucher boots with huge
brass spurs, riding hero and there. ns
he pleased over the field OF battle.
The first to see the possibilities Of
the telegraph In the rapid dispatch Of
war news and to startle the breakfast
tables OF the kingdom with tho de
scription Of yesterdays battle, was
Archibald Forbes Of the Daily News.
He II was who recognized that II Is
not part Of the duty Of the war cor
respondent to describe In detail the
tactical or strategical movements Of
the rival forces on the field OF conflict.
That kind Of work may very properly
be left to military men In the service
magazines. What the general public
look for In the newspapers IL not tech
nical records Of the military opera
tions. but bright. graphic. vivid pic
tuies of the war: Its thrilling cpl
codes. Its pathetic incidents, Its glor.
les and It's disasters. with interesting
narratives OF personal experiences
and adventures, That Is exactly what
Forbes supplied.
"One OF the finest achievements OF
war correspondent was that OF Holt
White. n representative OF the New
York Tribune. In the Franco-Pr Prussian
war. He witnessed the battle Of Sc
dan from the Prussian headquarters
on Thursday, Sept. !, 1870. At its
conclusion he rode to Brussels, but
there the postofnce authorities re
fused to transmit his dispatch to Lon
don,' and even threatened to arrest
him for saying that the French had
been defeated. He then went on to
Calais. crossed to Dover by special
steamer and took special train to-
London. where he arrived at 5 o'clock
on Saturday morning. Next day there
was description Of the battle. six
columns long. in the Tribune. 1t was
not till Tuesday that the London news
papers had accounts of the conflict
from their correspondents.
"But the most famous deeds of
physical endurance In the race for
news between war correspondents are
told OF Archibald Forbes. In the Ser
Wan war of 1876, Semlin, the nearest
telegraph station. was 128 miles dis
tant from the scene of the battle. so
soon as Forbes knew the result he
rode of and all night long he kept at
n gallop, changing horses every If
teen miles. At Semlin he had one long
drink Of beer and then sat down to
the task Of writing, hour after hour.
against time, the tidings OF which he
was the bearer After he had writ
ten the story OF the battle and put 1t
on the wires he lay down in his
clothes and slept twenty hours with
out waking. He had witnessed the
battle, which lasted six hours, ridden
1923 miles and written and dispatched
telegraphic message four columns
in length to the Daily News, all in
the space of thirty-six hours.
During the Greco-Turkish war the
Morning Post was first out with i'm
portant news due to the use of the
bicycle by their special correspondent.
Wilfrid Pollock. After the decisive
battle of Domol,o had been won by
the Turks, the Greeks made no at
tempt to hold their strong position at
the Phourka pass, and all the English
correspondents raced to Athens,
straining every nerve to be the first
to dispatch the important news. They
were all taken by a Greek steamer to
Chalcis, where they arrived at mid.
night. Pollock had bicycle. and
while the others were engaged in bid.
ding against each other for the speed
lest means OF transit, he was we'll ON