New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1909-08-22
London. August 6.

49, e,cspt for the opportunity Of buying that
..,ornt al q high price. There was an en-
-.,sHng alliance which forbade The Daily
~" 70 hand It over 10 The Tribune hut did
-, nrevent the correspondent of that paper
-, selling il. am not sure whether the
eve n the writer is known, but in the circum-
'.es y is not for me TO disclose it. The mar
-s.,ya WAS. OF course, cabled TO The Tribune at
.,os Gravelotte was fought on the 18th OF Au-
-, The account OF the battle reached New
81 7 think on the 21st. 1t was. at any rate
So 6rst and for some time the only, narrative
.,,sbed The defeated French called IL the
,,.,,a ~ Rezonville, and under that name was
.x,s description first printed. From a military
-, n. view the account had no great value
,,, !, was plcturesquely written. and in those
.,sscult DAYS anything from the field was
eagerly read
Greater DAYS were at hand. The battle of
esssn was fought on Thursday. September l.
SEQ followed BY the surrender OF the town. the
INV and the Emperor Napoleon on the day fol-
living The news Of the French defeat was not
Known in London till Saturday morning at 10
o,clock and then only in the briefest form,-the
WORE fact and not much more: through the gem
..sI press agency; I suppose Reuters. Mr..
pobrson wired me and 1 went to THE Daily
,,.us" office But the bare news was Of no
SHINE Office in Pail Mall wondering what
rss 70 dc. and still more what The Tribune cor
-.snondents in the field were doing ] had not
1,,g 70 wait. A dispatch arrived from Mr.. Holt
white saving he should be in London that after
80, and al : o'clock he walked into the Office.
Seldom have I been so glad TO see any mans
.eoe as was 10 see his, but there was hardly so
much as greeting between us. / asked first.
.qs your dispatch ready?" Not a word OF II
----en viii YOU sit down at once and
bssn?" I cannot. l am dead tired, and have
As5 no food since daybreak. l must eat and
sssn before can write" He looked it,-a mere
wreck Of correspondent, haggard, ragged.
si-tv. incapable Of the effort which nevertheless
had 10 be made II was no time 10 consider
srvbodv's feelings a continent was waiting for
the news locked UP in that one mans BRAIN and
somehow or other the lock must be forced, the
news told and the waiting continent supplied
,.th what II wanted. Incidentally. il such
an opportunity for The Tribune as seldom had
come 10 any newspaper. II was necessary TO
pse a nrtle authority ! said TO Mr.. Holt White;
Won shall have something to eat, but sleep you
cannot Til YOU have done your dispatch That
rrp.t he in New York tomorrow morning" So
We went over 10 the Pail Mall Restaurant, which
was then FIN the building now replaced by the
oceanic House. the headquarters Of the unlucky
International Marine Navigation Company.-if
that be- IFS name Food and drink refreshed
him We were back in The Tribune Office not
long after 6. and work began.
Mr. Holt White wrote one Of the worst hands
rye- seen So ] said TO him l would copy as he
vrote and my copy would go to the cable oper-
stors. Bad or good mine was hand they were
familiar with We sat opposite each other at the
sane table and / copied sheet by sheet till there
was enough 10 give the cable a start, then took
:, 10 the cable Office in Telegraph street, L
went myself for Two reasons: first, TO make sure
q was delivered and, second, 10 make sure II
went without interruption. The latter, indeed
was a point 81 which il impossible, under
the Weaver regime, 10 make sure But l could
al least hand iu the message over the counter
Many a message have I trusted myself and no
body else with and MANY a letter have posted
with my own hands-everything in fact OF i'm
portance ever since I had anything 10 do with
Journalism. II is often inconvenien-, hut I have
found Il a good rule.
dwell ou these details. Few things in Amer
scar journalism. the Civil War excepted. have
made more stir than this exploit % Nj. Holt
White But he fun credit y tich belongs to him
he has never had. Consider what ~ had done.
He had been al through the battle; he had
morning TIL rirhtfau The battle over. he start
&C fer London. He rode with his life in his
hand. He had 70 face the lines Of three armies;
The Prussiars. who refused him q permit; the
French outrosts 10 the north Of Sedan, and the
Begians who made 2 pretence OF guarding their
frontier ana the neutrality Of Belgian territory.
He could nor explain how he managed il. When
he reached Brussels he thought il might be pos
sble 70 write rhere and 10 wire his account from
Brussels 70 London. But az the chief telegraph
once n Brussels The official in charge told him
natiy hc would accept no dispatch relating to
We war The issue Of the battle was unknown
II Brussels. Anything handed in for transmits
son % London or elsewhere y 7uld be submitted
''st Of al 10 the censor: ana in Brussels as
elsewhere -he censorship Is a heartrending bust
ness de.av Inevitable. and there was no time
'o' delay r was. IS 7 explained i'm an earlier
Keller one reason why al correspondents We're
directed 10 come straight 70 London, where the
censorship old not exist Mr. Holt White was
tooh satisfied that ii was useless 10 try 10 tele-
s'spn from Brussels. and he came on by train
" Calais. missed rhe Calais boat; caught a later
"he which did not connect with the Dover
'oAoo2 service. ar6. once at Dover chartered a
fpe'.a. frs'n te London. and so at last arrived.
asked him - amy other correspondent had
rome WITH l'n He thought no.-at any rate no
one "-1r rr know as correspondents and. Of
'oI'se poo one came by The special train. Still.
'-'e'e was no certainty. n was already TWO days
,1e- lhe sun had gone down on the beaten
french in SEDAN There was nothing TO do ex-
'' hurry on the dispatch 10 New York.
WIN 'nlamitah'e courage White wrote on.
.,ll'r time 7 asked him il he would rest n
,''.s before finishing No" he said; If I stop
? s--i g. o. sheen and n I 20 Ia sleepI shall