The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-06-10
GREAT NEWS NET OF UNITED PRESS
CAUGHT FACTS FOR VAST CLIENTELEIs
Beats and Scoops Of First Magnitude New
South American Channei-Story of the Amazing Stress
of Agency Men During World Crisis

BY JAMES HENRY FURAY,
| Foreign Editor of the United Press.)
[Reproduced from the international
Number Of The Editor and Pub
lisherl
! The great war which strained to the
breaking point the resources Of the
most powerful nations of the world
provided also the supreme test to
which newspapers and press agencies
have ever been put since the chroni-
cling of-news began.
! The Representatives, of 1914 became
the commonplace of 1918. That, which
-four years ago could not happen"
became in few short months a part
| oil the ordinary routine of everyday
| life. News emergencies that, before
the war were not even dreamed of,
arose out of the conflict in such be-
/ wildering succession as to tax human
originality and ingenuity to the ut
most to cope with them. Ideas of
news values had to be completely re-
yised at moments notice; previously
infallible plans of covering a news
story" had to be swiftly changed or
| scrapped entirely; situations unpre-
cedented in the history of newspaper
work had to be met and handled not
| only with accuracy but with speed.
The necessity of solving the problems
| thus presented and of not only obtain
| ing the new rapidly but Of trans
hitting it speedily to the newspapers
provided the standard of efficiency OF
every news agency in the world.
United Press Beats.
i Out of that supreme test the United
Press has come second to none. 1t has
added to it's record scores of news
beats" and scoops of first magni-
tude and has enormously increased its
prestige and clientele not merely in
this country but throughout the
| world.
Evidences of the effectiveness OF
the methods employed came quickly.
South America, which had always
been a closed book to American Press
associations, during the war was en-
tered by the United Press. That asso-
citation was ths first North American
news agency to establish connection
with the great papers of the southern
continent In June Of 1916 the United
Press first sent to Argentina world
news service which since has spread
throughout the continent until IT
serves the greatest journals of Latin
America These include La Prensa, OF
Buenos Aires, everywhere recognized
as one of the greatest newspapers IN
the world; o Pals, Of Rio Janeiro, and
| o Estado. of Sac Paulo, the two most
Influential newspapers in Brazil. ana
many others.
The establishment of this South
American connection opened direct
channel of daily news exchange pc
tween the two Americas and inaugur-
ated an era of closer understanding
and relationship between the repub-
| lies of Fan-America. The Latin Amer
lean nations have never been In such
close daily touch with the United
States and have never evidenced. such
o feeling of friendliness as has re-
suited from this connection.
simultaneously the United Press
was carrying to Europe American
news methods and ideas. For many
years it had had a connection with
the Exchange i elegraph company, OF
London, which had proved an effec-
tween this country and Great Britain.
To this alliance has been added one
with Agence Radio of Paris, the great
French agency serving all OF the fore
most newspapers of France.
The chief contributing factor to the
success of the United Press as world
news service, and particularly to It's
success in covering the world war,
has been It's foreign staff The shot
which killed Archduke Franz Ferdl-
nand at Sarejevo and which a month
later plunged Europe into four years
war, found that staff prepared. Under
the general European manager, Ed L.
Keen. in London, the strong nucleus or
what later developed into the United
Press "war staff" had already been
organized. Increase of it's efficiency
was only q matter OF expansion.
European Net.
Bureaus under trained American
newspaper men and fully stated by
men from this country had peen estab-
lished at London, Paris, Berlin and
! Rome. with scores of resident cor
respondents functioning throughout
the central empires, Spain. Portugal,
Russia and all the capitals OF the
old world.
T From the London staff and from the
experienced United Press managers
in this country additional men were
hurried to France to assist IN the
task of covering 1.-THE greatest story
III history In the beginning, so
rapid was the wars development and
so overpowering were the numbers OF
ren engaged that the military leaders
and the governments involved gave
little thought to the problem: How IS
the world going to get the news? Ex-
cept in Germany, correspondents were
persona non grata at the various
fronts. and newspaper men bold
enough to venture without passes 10
the places in France and Belgium
where the French, British and Bel.
gian armies were fighting a life and
death struggle with the invading
Huns, did so at their peril and at risk
Oh arrest.
But many hardy spirits took the
risk. A United Press man. after a
series Of discourse ements of the most