Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-10-15
How Newspapers Treated Startling
Events-Three Columns Told
of Fall of Sumter.
THE OLD WAY AND THE NEW
Facts of Momentous History Making
Events Were Made Secondary
to Editorial Comment.

4AS war VIII spain CaX0O the jour
nalistic resources Of America, vast as
they are There was no possible COM
bination of brain, money, and muscle
that was not brought into play. Hun
dreds Of workers in all branches of
the profession were sent to the front.
In the matter of news gathering
ehings have changed nightly since
the days OF over forty years ago.
There were daily papers-plenty of
them-when the cable OF the Union
snapped under the long strain. and
the two sections Of the country drift
ed apart. They had what they called
the magnetic telegraph" too, but they
were a little chary about using it. 1t
cost money, and the leased wire had
not been invented. No correspondent
sat on stump with a typewriter on
his knees and clicked OF beautiful
stuff, while the bullets made sounds
like splitting silk in the air around
him, as Richard Harding Davis did
in Greece and In Cuba. News in those
days came by mail, and it was sent
by correspondents who had much rev
erence for the general commanding
and took what he said as matter In
spired. They were not more anxious
to be killed than are the correspond
ents Of this day, and kept out Of
harms way as much as possible 1t
stands to reason that when man LIS
fifteen miles back of the zone of fire
all day, and Is then forced to get his
information from flabbergasted gen
eral who ia thinking only how best to
preserve his own reputation and save
his head, the news" he sends ON to
his paper is likely to be little off
color
Any reader OF the modern newspa-
per who desires to have the strong
contrast between the paper of the
'6Os and the paper of the present time
brought to his mind, has only to ex-
anime a war file Of some Of the jour
nails that are still nationally known.
Take the New York Tribune, for in
stance, which at the outbreak of hos
t1lities was one of the most prosper
Gus and influential dailies in this
country. 1t had high-class editorial
screamer as it's Washington CORES
spondent, and Horace Greeley as Its
editor. One would think that there
was a combination TO make envious
rivals shiver and turn pale. 1t did
not. The rivals we're no better and
no worse than it, It used to subdiVide
it's local intelligence into departments,
headed respectively Local Items
and Brooklyn Items" This was all
the heading they got. 1t has been
many years since the word item has
been used in newspaper to describe
a news story. The Tribune published
detailed report of the proceedings
Of Congress, much the same as is now
given to it's million of readers by that
accurate and sportive journal, the
Congressional Record. The important
news of each issue was not printed
upon the first page, but upon the fifth
page, opposite to the editorial page.
Those were the days of personal edi-
paper and the papers constituency 1t
got brief kilograms from Washington
each day, which it printed. bearing
the credit line by Magnetic Tele-
graph"
The national capital was then boil
ing and bubblins like caldron. All
men saw that the inevitable conflict
could not be much longer postponed,
and those who met their neighbors in
the morning after restless night
looked at them with scared eyes and
asked for intelligence that was dread
ed. The Tribune had ample warning
of the impending crash. and the prep
arations made to report the first overt
act of war were on a scale common
surate with it's standing and infiu-
ence 1t hired a man in Charleston
to send it something In case the "reb-
els succeeding in soaring up nerve
enough to do anything. It may be
said that it was two years after this
before the word Confederate" found
It's way into the columns Of the Tri-
bune
Sumter was attacked ard the Tri-
bune man did himself and his paper
proud. He sent total Of three col
umns, which were printed, of course,
on the fifth page, under scare
head" a single column In width and
containing twenty-five black lines. On
April IL, while the guns from the Is
land batteries and the guns from the
fort were roaring all day, he sent on
seven dispatches Of an average length
OF 100 words, giving the progress Of
the engagement. He announced the
occurrence of the most momentous
event in national history in these
words: The ball has opened" He
ended one of his dispatches with the
statement, These are Lively times
here" and another with the similar
statement, These are reviving times
on the Palmetto coast" Evidently he
desired to give the paper It's moneys
worth and he could not think OF any,