The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1905-11-04
FOREIGN NEWS GATHERING
four Great Agencies Formally Cover tho
Happenings OF the World.

Annually the members gather in gem
eral convention in New York and elect
board of directors of fifteen mem
bers BY common consent the MEM
bers of this board are chosen from
different parts Of the country, 50 that
each important division is represent
ed. They are trained newspaper men.
who bring to the discharge Of their du-
ties an intimate knowledge OF the bu>i-
hess and high sense of responsible
ity. The board of directors IN turn
elect a president. two y1cc-presidentS.
secretary and general manager. an
assistant secretary and assistant gen
eral manager and treasurer. and
designate from their own number five
members to serve as an executive com
mittee
The world at large is divided. for the
purpose Of news gathering, among four
great agencies. The Reuter- Telegraph
COMPANY. Ltd, of London, gathers and
distributes news in Great Britain and
all her colonies. China, Japan and
Egypt. The Continental Photographer
Compagnie. Of Berlin. popularity
known as the Wolff Agency, performs
a like office in the Teutonic, Slav and
Scandinavian countries; and the
Agence Havas, Of Paris. operates in
the Latin nations. The field Of the AS
ISOLATED Press includes the United
States, the Hawaiian Islands. the Phil
ippines and Central America. as well
as the islands of the Caribbean Sea.
Each of these agencies has represen-
tative in the offices Of the others. Thus
/ the Associated Press bureau in Lon
Y don adjoils the Reuter- offices. Tie
\ kilograms to the Reuter- company are
written on manifold sheets by the tele-
| graph and cable companies. and copies
are served simultaneously to the ASso-
ciated Press bureau, the Wolff repre-
I sentative, the Hayas men ana the Reu-
ter people A like arrangement OBJ
| tainS III Paris, Berlin and New York.
! so that in each Of these cities the whole
panorama of the days happenings
passes under the eyes Of representa-
! tives of each of the four agencies.
But the scheme is much more elahor-
ate than even this arrangement would
! indicate. Operating as tributary to
the great agencies are Il host of minor
! agencies one such smaller
agency for each of the nations OF i'm
/ nortance. Thus in Italy the Stefani
! Agency, with headquarters in Rome,
/ gathers and distributes the news OF
Italy. 1t is the official agency. and to
| it the authorities give exclusively all
governmental information. 1t is con-
/ trO!ieu j., Italians. but large minor
| ity Gf Us shares are owned by tie
| Agenca IIavas, Of Paris, and it oprr-
atcS i'm close alliance with the latter
organizations.
Thus. if Il fire should break out in
Milan. tie Secoio, the leading neWspa-
per of that city. would instantly teie-
graph Il report Of it to the Stefani
Agency at Rome. Thence it would be
telcgraphod to all of the other Itailan
papers. and copies of the Secolos mes
sage would also be handed to TIE rep
rcsontativeS. in the Stefani Eeadquar-
tiers. OF the Reuter- Wolff. Hayas and
| the Associated Press agencies.
| In like fashion. if the fire should hap
| pen III Chicago. the Associated Press
would receive its report. transmit it to
| the American papers. and furnish cop
| les TO IL representatives of the for
eign agencies stationed in the New
| York Office or the Associated Press.
| OF the minor agencies the most i'm
portant are the Fabri Agency. of Ma
drid; the Norsiy Agency. OF Christia-
na: III" Swiss Agency. OF Eerne; the
| Svenshy Agency. of Stockholln; the
Correspondents BureaV. Of Vienna; the
Commercial Agency. Of st. Petersburg,
and the Agance Ealcanique, of Sofia.
But Ia Associated Press is not con-
tent 10 depend wholly upon these o.E-
cal agencies. II maintains its own
bureaus in all the important capitals,
and reports the more prominent events
By its own men. who are Americans
and familiar with .merican newspaper
methods. These foreign representa-
tiyes are drawn from the ablest men
III the service and the Offices they fill
are oj:.cTslr Of great responsibility.
They must IL qualified by long train
ing in tho = journalistic profession. by
familiarity with Il number Of Ian
:Ila@es. ard by 4 presence and bearing
which will enable them to mingie with
men Of the highest station III the CONF:
tries to which they are accredited
From Melville +. stones The ASS
GATED Press" il the Century.
ENScncl he ! IL