Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1905-04-19

runway Sulue. IL is q HLtle ClOSSlH :
ahoat 90 miles from New York. 1t is
not in me telephone book.
Hello. long distance" calls the
city editor taking the telephone re
ceiver from the hands OF a nervous re
porter. Give me the nearest central
to Squantum Junction, n. j"
In a minute the required central is
on the wire. Perhaps Central her
self can give information of the wreck;
at any rate she knows enough of the
neignborhood to connect him with
someone of intelligence near the scene
possibly in the railroad station it.
self-and In a very short interval the
news 'aper has a story comprehensive
enough 10 make the edition" and the
paper goes to press on time.
BY means Of the telephone news
paper can seek out and keep in touch
with news when all other mediums
fail. When the British freight steam
ship Drumelzier went ashore off Fire
Island IN thick fog early last winter,
the New York papers had great diff
Guilty in getting any news at all for a
time. Fire island winter wrecks are
the bane of the newspapers, because
in winter the place is often almost
as inaccessible as the North Pole and
]arther off in point of news-getting
than San Francisco or London Two
telegraph companies each have a wire
from Fire island. but when the Drumel-
Zier went ashore one of these wires
had been put out of business alto
gethcr by storm and the other was
only working irregularly. One news
paper, which started to root out news
Of the Drumelzier by telephone dis
covered that Fire island had no tele-
phone except the private government
line running from one life saving sta
tion TO another along the coast. But
at QuOgue. fifty miles east of Fire Is
land and twice as remote as the latter
from the city. the newspaper discover
ed, through the good offices of omnisci-
ent Central" that the life saving
station on the beach had a general tel
ephone connected with the Bell system
in addition to the government wire
And by putting questions TO the life
savers at QuOgue. who were constantly
in touch with Fire island on their gov
eminent telephone. the paper was able
to get the news it required. II was
merely matter of telephoning an ex-
ira hundred miles.
The city reporter looks for a tele-
phone in a sudden emergency as d
starving man looks for bread A re
porter will almost break and enter"
to get dt telephone. If the matter is
hot enough. Not many months ago
a reporter Of New York morning pa
per was sent out in the early morning
to cover a local railway accident
When he got on the ground he saw al
a glance that the story was big one;
several cars were smashed up and a
number of bodies were removed from
the wreckage. The other papers were
ahead of him and each had several
men already on the ground He looked
hastily for the familiar sign Of the blue
bell. lie visited in rapid succession
one telephone in a cafe. one in a MILL
ner's shop, and one in a drug store. All
were in use. with other men standing
in line before him. IN the drug store
he learned that a woman who occupied
a third floor apartment above had a
private telephone. He dashed upstairs
and rang the doorbell. until a frIghten-
ed maid appeared
Il want TO use your telephone" he
announced. pushing past her.
Through curtain he caught sight of
the familiar wooden box in another
room and dashed in unceremoniousIy
Two elderly ladies in a big mahogany
bed greeted his appearance with
shrieks Of Burglars, Murder, Police"
Calm yourselves. ladies'" he said.
taking the receiver. I'm not--Hello.
give me 200 James-l'm not a burglar.
It's all right There's been an acct
dent outside and Hello. give me the
city desk, pleased merely want 10
telephone TO newspaper Sorry TO
disturb YOU. but--Hello. this is Smith
This is big story" etc
Similarly at a murder trial that has
attracted great public attention the
telephones in the court house and In
the ueighborhood are besieged by a
crowd OF reporters from the beginning
of the trial to the end. In the case Of
some of the New York evening papers
that have frequent editions. in all big
local trials, the account OF the court
proceedings Is written out in full by
two reporters in the courtroom. and
sent to the nearest telephone. where
another reporter is waiting 90 read the
COPY over tho wire into the new paper
Office At the office end Of the wire
man typeW.iteS the story as It is die
tated 30 him from the original copy.
Even when the court house is only
half mile from n newspaper office
this method saves a few minutes over
the old-time scheme Of ending the
copy from courtroom 10 office by mes
scnGcr As soon as a big case goes 10
ihc Jury In New York a represent alive
II every newspaper and press associa-
tion preempt5 telephone in the court
house or In a neighbOring store. Then
each representative proceeds to hold
down" the telephone until a verdict Isl
reached. when the verdict IS FLASHED"
over the wire into the Office immediate
ly. Often within FIVE minutes after the
verdict Is given the papeT is being
cried on the street with the news
In the recent trial Of Nan Patterson
for the murder Of Caesar Young In