University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1909-03-30

NJ understands 4 little better
how il cam. about that the
~ United states wa- far advanced
in information IL I" the recent >icilla''
ear, huuak,.. when Italy and the resi- "i
Europe were cropping dimiN Tor mere
fact, about the disaster. after readih"
the Associated Press story az how It's
REPORT, were gathered and forwarded
to this country.
The Associated Press beat the world
on the thriIlin" story. cI;ablln" the
United States I" lead in the relief sun
>cription-. brc.,r-r Salvatore '"rtc-i. III
charge of the hi" news organization :
office. in Rome. got up ont ~ the bed IN
hich he had been confined by scarlet
fever and took personal charge "f the
-i,uati"n.
Barely Il c"nvalc-ccnt. thin. yellow
skinned. and h.arlrd like the pard. he
-ar up night and day. "ivin" Il mastery
exhibition uf the uuntr->cncr "f news
~rn-r and succeeded in "cttIlI" hi copy
ON to th. wires fnr the United States
while the correspondents Of the world
ra"cd hclrlc--lv in Naples or clutchcd
columns al copy while confined on Nc>-
~,.I- anchored iar ont oi reach II the
madly desired wire.
Eluded His Physicians.
Curtr-i wa- told that he couldn't get
"ltt OF bed i"r three weeks. His assist
ants. irarin" information nf the i'm
pnrtant news event would shock him
int" Il dangerous relapse. made every
"il"rt to Keep word "r il from him. The
~i>th >crl-,. that "!dtinr newspaper men
have. told him that >omrthin" import
ant was tran-pirin". lie cludcd his
phv ~ician-. got To the office fri"l,trnin"
the staff 10y his >tartlin" physical ap-
pcar;incc. and went to work
He already had some important news
triumph- t" hi- credit. not the least
"i which wa his announcement To the
before Eur"p" and Italy had heard
about it. He also had distinguished
himself ut the Al"rcirl> contention ami
The Hague.
The sick Chief rolled his sleeves up
over his thin. fever SCARED arms and
organized hi~ campaign. An emergency
corps wa- perfected and sent out. and
the windrow- "f nc--a"r~ hat pied IN
from the South duriu" the succeeding"
edited and tossed tn he cable transmit
tiers. This "cttin" oil the messages
was moi easy. Til" ""vrrnmcn, had re
served all "f tn" wires for it, own use
Aided BY Griscom.
With Il diplomacy that would have
distinguished an amha--ad"r ut the
'"rIrt "f -. .'amc- hr impressed upon
I hose in authority IN" advantage uf yet
lin" the details al ,lc-ula,iun to those
points from which -ucc"r might hr rN-
I"ctrd. lie found an able assistant in
this connection in American AmI,a~>a- +
dor Gri-com. vii" realized he imlortan; /.
part the press was playing. TIL" need
rd wirr- We're obtained.
A. result tn" A>>".iated Press. be .
on Dee. y. Wa- able la GIVE, Il !;
connected runnin" story oi the great /
disaster which robbed the uInbr nf 2OO.- .
"m inhabitants. The in-t word oi .
rnuhlc was from Montrlronr. Calabria. !
I'Ii"wrd >hurtlN by rabc"rimc from .
'an,anzar" and other places in CaIairia.
Non" al these gave an inklin" I'll the
mnIrn-iIy of IN" disaster. but pir,.rd to
either they indicated that there had
been an"th cart lqrIak" in or abuu, the
heel "i th,. boot
The dispatch tina, first limited at the
,N. ni the disaster Na- from Cataniu.
md t"ld oI tidal wave which had
injured three vessels. Reference tn In.
'hippin" registers showed that the vc--
,cl~ We're al large TONNAGE. To the
falnrd minds IN the cabr-rnom the
Navc spelled death and destruction ON
,hnrc
How The Story Was Handled.
t"rtr>i at Rome took hold of Il -i;ua- !,
ion IL follows: iIi~ correspondent, AT