Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1905-02-10
COST OF GETTING
THE WAR NEWS
immense Amount of Money is
Spent Weekly-Correspon-
dents Have Rough Time.

One of the hitherto untold horrors of
the kusSo-Japanese War Is its cost to tho
newspapers the world over, conservative
ly estimated at O,OOO, 900 for the first
Year. ThIee-uuarters of this great sum
Is being spent 10y the papers published in
the English language, for the rest of the
world-thRt which indulges I'm French
and German aud other foreign tongues
Is not yet educated 10 the thrills of four
inch deep, drst-page headlines, with
elSht lines OF more or less accurate read
ing matter beneath The newspapers Of
America and Great Britain are bearing the
orunt ot the eNpense-and are gaining
absolutelely nothing by II.
To begin with. no one who had moi hoo,
actively employed in newspaper work for
n year could 90, the Japanese t;overnment
not caring To furnish expcrience for
amateurs. Each correspondent had 20
'ake an interpreter with him, as all dis
patches must be translated into Japanese
before being submitted 10 the censor
Correspondents were permitted 20 haveone
servantapiece ana had to agree 10 wear
European clothing. with band OF white
cloth ON the left sleeve. with the name az
theIr paper on 10 I'm Japanese I'm red ink
Paragraph ~ Lad an ominous sound: eff
war correspondent violates tho crimin-
al law ,or law for the preservation OF
military secrets. he may be punished
according To military law, by court.mar-
tial."
how the correspondent gathers his
news ahd sends IL 10 the home onioo and
now IL Is therc knocked into shane. such
a. u represents when the paper is read. Is
'"lly ~ interesting ~ the news Itself
The army corps To which the correenon-
dent rs attached begins its march to tho
objective point to which IL has been
assigned by the commander. The ma,cb
takes placsat night and In silc,ce tho
men walking In file. Hundreds OF cool
ie'' carrying ammunition, sandbags for
earthworks, and camp utensils. trudq.
along with the correspondents docking 10
sclhcr Tor the sake of cOmpanionship and
riding with the officers.
Then the battle beglns-shelIs wbiz
through the air, shrieklng a noise warn
ingi bd,lets hum-the shouts of tho
ohrushing combatants. the shrieks OF the
wounded, the curses of the artillery driv.
ers' all producing . pandemOnium which
requires steady head for disp Assionate
Thought. On some elevation, so that he
may better scan the the field. Is the CORE
spondent, looking hther and thither
through feld-glasses. His Interpreter
tells him the name of the various reSi-
ments, their strength, their location. The
correspondents makes no nOtes-his mem
ory must treasure all that. for he has 10
move-shrapnel is bursting close TO him.
and discrstion is the better part of valor
In this instance.
a last she battle is Oyer-thc Russians
are In full retreat, and while the cayaI-
ry Is In pursuit the infantry is resting or
helping the ambulance corps to take care
OF the wounded and bury the dead. Then
the correspondent takes time to write his
dispatch I'm skeleton shape, probably sit
ting on the body OF a dead horse, or on a
rock, or standing up-he has no choice,
for time is precious. The dispatch finish
ed, he must find the censor. just where
that worthy it is hard to tell, for he is ar
oiiceras well as an editor, and he may be
miles away. At last he is found and the
dispatch is submitted.
Most interesting and accurate" he
says. and then adds deprecatlngIy: "You
mention certain movements we expect to
make tO-night, and forecast some for the
future. DOn'tyOu think it might be best
to omit that?"
And the correspondent, who knows the
necessity of keeping on the censor's good
side, agrees and the dispatch is ready to
be sent to the nearest telegraph station.
Now, it may be that the military teIe-
graph is not too crowded and can be utlI-
lied, but in most instances the dispatch
( has to be sent by native runners to the
nearest officer out of the zone OF the ac-
tual hostilities, whence it Is transmitted
beneath leagues of sea to the news-reom
of the newspaper.
1t is estimated that the cost of getting
the eRusso-Japaness war news is $S4, 600
per week to the papers in the United
States alone.
b From the above the readers OF the daily
s newspapers can get a good idea of the
70 trouble, ETC., that is attended in getting
the war news.