Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-11-30
AUSTRIA SERIOUS
ABOUT PUBLICITY
Press Bureau Is Great Insti-
tution-At Field Headquar-
tiers of the Army.
BUSY SCENES ENACTED
IN LITTLE TOWN HALL
Correspondents Receive News From
Battle Front as They Eat Mutton
and Smoke Cigarettes.

RIAN-HUNGARIAN GENERAL
FIELD HEADQUARTERS, press de-
partment, Galician 'front.' November e
Dragons in red trousers and blue tu-
MICS were in the act of serving soup
TO those seated at three long tables in
the main hall of the casino OF a small
Galician town. There was general
hubbub of conversation and smell of
roasting mutton under the low. beamed
ceiling, mingling with the odor of
cigarette smoke and coffee.
From the head of the center table
came sharp raps of a fork against 4
glass. and Simultaneously an officer
rose The equivalent of the word
order" was shouted in several of the
ten languages spoke in Austro-Hun-
gary, and silence ensued.
Gentlemen" said the officer, as he
drew a typewriter sheet out of his
breast pocket, there is no news today,
but 1 will read you the various official
communicates. Before doing that 1 will
say that there may be some news this
afternoon, and that the party of pho
tographers and artists now at the front
is expected back today; should have
been here yesterday, in fact. AS soon
as this party is back others of you
gentlemen will go to the front. The Off
With the military situation In GaIcia,
Poland, Belgium, France, various PARTS
of Turkey and other spots on the maps
sufficiently clear. the dragons filled
the last of the tin plates with soup, and
the midday meal of the press quarters
of the Austro-Hungarian army in Ga
licia was in full progress.
That night there was a similar meal.
and next morning a breakfast OF cof-
fee and rolls was served. During the
day the correspondents were taken to
the nearby military headquarters. and
a full twenty-four hours of life in one
fully supervised press quarters at the
front had passed.
Is Large Institution.
The press department of the Austro-
Hungarian army in Galicia is a large
establishment. 1t exists for the pur-
pose of taking care of about thirty-five
Austro-Hungarian newspaper cores
pordents, working in about ten Ian
guages; several Germans. four Amer
lean correspondents (among them
woman), one Dane, one Italian, a
Swiss and a Turk, who is about to
make his appearance. About dozen
officers and threescore men are in
charge of the institution.
There are a number of telegrapherS
and two field post ofhcials-the depart-
belong about twenty vehicles for the
transportation Of the correspondents and
others. and a like number of army trans
port wagons. Automobiles are scarce at
present, because the hard going over the
Galician roads during the recent rainy
weather has made their retirement to
the repair shop imperative.
Last. but not by any means least,
there is the medical staff Of the press
department, consisting of physician,
veterinary and several trained attend
ants There is no doubt that the press
department is a well organized and thor
oughly efficient institution-down to the
understanding that those who belong to
il agree to comply with military law or
suffer the consequences.
The little Galician town where the
press quarters are at present located.
never saw so much excitement in all Of
its previous existence. On the market
place stand the vehicles, carriages in
front and escort wagons in the rear.
Busy dragons of the reserve line load
and unload wagons with hay and straw.
and when not occupied with this spend
their time warming their hands over the