The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-02-06
HEARD AND SEEN UNDER
 THE GREAT WHITE DOME
MmIllI.I|.g..... IllI.I|
BY WALTER HARPER

; Washington, February 5.-(Special.)- There is strange fascination about the making of a great newspaper that ap- heals even to the 1ayman. The easy going citizen who can indulge the lux ury of perusing history of the world doings of the day before at his break fast table finds added zest in the luxury in the very mystery that surrounds the art.
 The newspaper, fresh and crisp, on his door step at daybreak carries the sug- gestion of a sleepless night for an army of workers and a wakefulness Of energy that reaches around the world
 But only one feature of this luxury that has grown into a necessity will be touched upon here That is the manner in which the Presidents messages. are handled
 The public may not know it but a mes isaee..frorn- the President to the Con tsGass-.al-.tIa j LLnited-States is--a profound serfet until it is actually being read by the clerk. either of the House or the Senate To give out one word of 1t before it lis officially or actually released by Congress would be serious violation of all the known rules of government, courtesy or reason.
 Yet the newspa pers of the entire coun- try are able to present messages of the President printed in many columns be- fore the clerk has really concluded the reading of it from his desk. How this
 is done is naturally a mystery to the layman who knows but little or noth- ing of the manner in which newspapers are built.
 I saw a message released at the Wash ington end last Friday. The clerk of the House was calling the roll of the House on a vote on the pension bill There were but a few members on the floor. The clerk was nearing the end of tho call.
 The young man in charge of the Asso- ciated Press work on the House side of | the capitol ran almost breathless into the lounging room of the press gallery | and called for Tom, ''Norwood," Jones and Harvey" "The message is released Where are all the boys? Tell them the Presidents message is re- leased"
 He had come from the floor below and was dancing about as if every minute might prevent the fall of an empire. All of the other boys got just as busy. There was a rush to the telegraph wires in the front gallery. It was all over in a mifhlte and the boys returned to their cigars. their writing or their gossip. The message had been released and in cities hundreds of miles away where early edi- tions stood ready to go to the press could picture in my mind the hurrying Xof editors, foremen, pressmen and mail Hing clerks. It was simply a transfer of Xetergy from the press gallery in Wash krgton to hundreds of newspaper offices seattered from Maine to California. In flew minutes newspapers were on the streets containing the full message Of the President.
 And yet at the moment the message |vas released in Washington the clerk (had not started the reading of the mes sage. | stepped into the gallery while Inc boys were releasing the message. The clerk was still calling the roll of the House. I knew the Senate was not in session. It could not have been released from that end thought somebody had made a mistake.
 No. That has been done but once in Inc history of the country. A new man