South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1913-07-21
Getting the News
BY FRED c. KELLY.


Once in a great while a new re-
! porter actually has an adventure al
most as exciting as that of cub re-
porter in fiction story of newspaper
life in the Saturday Evening Post.
! In the long run. experience is not
unlikely TO be a help to man, and
the old, seasoned reporter has a fair
/ chance to put it over the inexperi-
I enced one. Still the exceptional cases
occur just often enough to give
! semblance of reality to the stuff turn
! ed out by the popular fiction writer's.
In one OF these exceptional cases
! the hero was Gus j. Karger, who, be-
sides being one OF the abiest pohtlcal
! writer's at Washington, was the close
friend and spokesman of the last ad-
ministration.
Gus was a police reporter on one of
/ the Cincinnati morning papers a good
many years ago. A report came into
the station about midnight that a
man was supposed to have been MUIR
dered out near what was known as
the desiccating factory. That was all
the police knew about it. Now, Gus
| Karger CHANGED to get this brief re-
/ port a little in advance of the other
| reporters because he was taking a
walk up the street and met the police
1
1t was late to set out on a story
| with any hope of getting IL printed
| the next morning, but Gus hired
night blooming hack and started. The
| place was about FIVE miles away. After
| a lot of adventures he found that there
| really had been a murder in a certain
! cheap boarding house. Just before
he reached the house, man signaled
TO him and asked If Gus were the
! coroner. Being too young and mex
perienced to know that one must not
| impersonate an officer, Gus eagerly
assumed the role of coroner. The
man led the way to the scene and
showed Gus the shotgun with which
the murderer had pleasantly shot his
victim.
! The murderer's name was also Gus
Gus Raabs-and so he and Gus
got along nicely together. They both
! smoke German, too Raabe was get
ting ready to fee across the river in
| Kentucky about the time Gus Karger
arrived. Gus advised the man TO give
himself up arguing that it would be
better for him than to escape and be
! captured later
But the murderer objected on the
ground that he didn't like the idea of
being hanged or of going to the pen
itentiary even. Gus insisted that he
wouldn't be hanged-that it ould not
be more than manslaughter, ana mat
a few years in the penitentiary
wouldn't be bad at all. He told the
man about a friend of his who had
! gone to the penitentiary. learned
trade there, and got so accustomed TO
the life that he didn't mind IT. Gus
talked so glowingly about the life at
the penitentary that the man decided
TO give himself up.
! Gus Karger's problem then was TO
get his story to the paper and keep
il away from other reporters VINO
might be expected at any minute. The
only telephone within several miles
was in a watchman's hut at the desic-
| eating factory. Gus was afraid to
leave his prisoner, for fear he might
change his mind and escape So he
took friend murderer along, after
borrowing a key to the hut. He tel
/ ephoned in his story, assured MS
! paper IL would be exclusive. and then
ne disarranged some small wires in
the Telephone, making il temporarily
! useless. Also he locked the door OF
the hut and dropped the key into
some bushes, pretending to have lost
it.
After cautioning the men at the
boarding house 10 go on TO bed ana
not talk TO reporters-eVen those VINO
might come representing themselves
as attaches off the coroner's Office
he and the murderer climbed into the
hack for the Journey back TO the po-
lice station.
on the way Gus met the rival re-
porters. He babe his murderer &C
ouaintance crouch down in the back
where they couldn't see him in the
darkness. and then he casually LIED 10
the other reporters.
'How's il come you're blowing
yourself for a hack for the return
trip %, they asked him. suspiciously.
"Oh, ! got so disguised with the
whole thing l made up my mind
wasn't going TO wait for a car or
walk" said Gus. I'm going 10 ride
around a while now and get some
fresh air.
Just goin' Z take yourself out for
nice little morning airing, hey 2
they inquired.
Yep" said Gus.
II sounded a-plenty suspicious, but
they couldn't prove anything on him
and passed on.
There was still another obstacle. II
ne went TO the police station with MS
man there was still time for the other
papers to get the story-or part OF II
from the police. Gus decided 10
| keep his murderer all TO himself until
the papers had all gone 20 press. They
drove around town until daylight.
Once or twice the murderer changed
his mind about giving himself up and
desired 10 get out and fee, but Gus
talked German TO him reassuringly
and changed the subject by pointing
out some place of interest from the
window of the hack as they drove
along.
Finally. he took the man 20 the po-
lica station where AT Gus suggestion.