Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1909-10-08
How Newspapers Treated Startling
Events-Three Columns TeId
Of Fall of Sumter.
THE OLD WAY AND THE NEW
Facts of Momentous History Making
Events Were Made Secondary
TO Editorial Comment.

n-f are. IhSre was no possible COM
Dination OF brain, money, and muscle
that was not brought into play. Hun
dreds OF workers in all branches of
the profession we're sent to the front.
Al the matter Of news gathering
1hings have changed nightly since
me days OF over forty years ago.
There We're daily papers plenty of
them-when the cable OF the Union
snapped under the long strain, and
the two sections of the country drift
90 apart. They had what they called
the magnetic telegraph" too, but they
We're little chary about using It. IL
cost money, and the leased wire had
not been invented. No correspondent
sat on stump with q typewriter on
his AIees and clicked of beautiful
stun while the bullets made sounds
Hike splitting silk in the air around
PIN, as Richard Harding Davis did
In Greece and In Cuba. News in those
days came by mail, and II was sent
by correspondents who had much rev.
srence for the general commanding
and took what he said as matter In
spired. They were not more anxious
20 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 a man is
fifteen miles back of the zone of fire
ali day. and is then forced to get his
information from a fabbergasted gen
era! who is thinking only how best to
preserve his own reputation and save
his bead, the news" he sends on TO
his paper Is likely TO be a little off
eolCr
Any reader OF the modern newspa-
per who desires to have the strong
contrast between the paper of the
SOS and the paper of the present time
brought to his mind, has only to ex-
anime war file OF some of the jour
mails that are still nationally known
Take the New York Tribune, for in
stance. which at the outbreak of hos
tilities was one of the most prosper
Gus and influential dailies in this
country. 1t had high-class editorial
soreamer as it's Washington cores
spondent, and Horace Greeley az its
editor One would think that there
rivals shiver and turn pale. 1t did
not The rivals we're no better and
no worse than ". II used to subdivide
it's local intelligence into departments,
headed respectively Local Items"
and Brooklyn Items" This was all
he heading they got 1t has been
many years since the word item" has
been used in a newspaper to describe
news story. The Tribune published
detailed report OF the proceedings
OF Congress, much the same as is now
given TO its million Of readers by that
accurate and sportive journal, the
Congressional Record The important
news Of each issue was moi printed
upon he first page, but upon the fifth
page, opposite TO the editorial page.
Those were the days OF personal edl-
tors when one man dominated the
paper and the papers constituency 1t
got brief kilograms from Washington
each day, which 1t printed bearing
the credit .iae BY Magnetic Tele-
graph"
The national capital was then boil
ing and bubblinS like a caldron All
men saw that .hs inevitable conflict
could not be much longer postponed.
and those who net heir neighbors In
the morning after a 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 scale common
surate with its standing and inhu-
| ence. IL hired q man in Charleston
TO send 1t something IN case the "reb-
! els" succeeding in soaring Mp nerve
| enough to do anything II may be
] said that II was two years after this
before the word Confederate" found
fits way into the columns Of the Tri-
bune
Sumter was attacked ard the Fri
! bune man did himself and his paper
proud He sent total OF three col
umns, which we're printed, Of course,
! on the fifth page, under scare
/ head" 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
4 statement, These are lively times
here" and another with the similar
statement. These are revivlng times
on the Palmetto coast Evidently be
| desired TO give the paper is moneys
| worth and he could not think OF any
/ 81 Al mid