The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1916-03-24
Evening Chat

SHINE one IA Fatrmont rolled out
= III ned veaferSiay morning after q bad
',,lrj,t md, consequently 18th an in;
fefiecf mt was not as bright as ~
SkonlcI nave been, procee ded to vac.
einnfe hfmself Of herself with the
idea that Mexico had Sdeclare war
mon the United States. It was an. ut
feriy afsnfd thought but that fact
.did not serve tospre vent q sdemo nstra
fion, the rapidly with " NC NC ~ !. sucn
fanctes can spread lin an 1ntelllgen.
community, for soon the +neeWsPapsst
offices Sers being called up BY people
who wanted 70 know me very e Ials =
abont the war with Mexico, some some
thing Ike that appens every once ~
= wliiIe. and the phenome non Is 80
-ysai Known I'M the fnewspapersth that q
. ,,aY5,e fifsa been given to it, When
SviId r,tfnorS begins to spread It is said
tint the grapevine telegraph Is
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. was read large
fiIy bv word az Smouth or at the most,
by tei ephone IN a. limited field, but
fsometfmesS III eseE rumors waves take IN
nreat distances and ( fly over the com
inorefaf. railroad and ypriyate tels graph
aud teiephoneI lines. Several years ago,
SItirinn oilefof the Imaginary crises in
tlIe relation on this country with ia
( E5lIi 4 story started late one after
nom somewhere ION the Pacific coast.
Ia tiie eject that Japanese war.
snip had taken possession OF point
in tie Hawaiian Islands and with am.
azinE rapid yS &c flashed across the
c6uritry until &c reached the big news
Daber officesS I'M New York and the
ether cities on the IA tlantic coast. AZ
:. first only hespeople At work on the
TELEGRAPH. and telephone syst sms
knew about itsS and most OF them rear
Lied that there was not the sngntess
possibility that IL was true, pue; . "
fore the night had got very olo ~, Ine
.pubiin got IT. and began &c. make ny
vulnerable for the people VINO answer
feienhoness I'M newspape oftices:
Tvshfually the scare, II that is the
aroner name 80 give It, got SO big
fhats fheS great news associations start:
"a sFiifed 3menyto work to try to ttnd
F,f,t TFIiere and how 1t had originated.
sEhe idea was that 1t would die out
fa6iifSker N the newspaper could tel
ENG historya OF the lie from start to
inishs
TteS theory did not work out very
well forSthe simple reason that tne
news associat ton were not able 10 nI9
nnt how e lid originate, but they did
: and ont some amazing things about
.fiIe way inSwhfc 1t spread and the
speed ofs &c. Experienced wire chiets
and traffic managers Of the big tele'
graph Companies gave 1t as their de-
Siiberate3 belief that It came east. tast:
: 81 than a message written. filed and
ssnt III the ordinary way for that pre-
! eide purpose: And yet not once was
there d regular record made OF Its
travels.
8 The story that few about this town
lyesfetday does not shave quite such
obscura percentage: One Of the PITTS.
bufgh morning papers printed clear
acfoss the top OF its first page line
which read Il: Mexicans Declare War
cft5n d. SR SD oubtless this had refer
ence 10 he$reportg that General Luis
Herrera, the Mexican commander at
Chihuahua Shad gone over to Villa with
Z the troop under his command. The
: NIGHT iitor ofs the Pittsburgh paper
eilized that the line was bad one
Tor he changed 1t to Rad Mexican
rrocpssInEReyo q in the late editions.
( However, some mot over bright Fair
mont citizen read Mexico for Mexi'
cans and, as they say III our best
cigar store circles .the stuff was or"
3 THE National 4 Forest Reservation