Evening star., 1921-11-26
QUICK WORK MARKS
PARLEY REPORTING
London Reads Conference
News Thirty-Five Minutes
After Happenings.
ny HERBERT COREY.


Never before in history has the
F.; speed with which the developments Of
| the day are sent out to the ends of
| the earth been approached.
over in London the dy-ly pi-pers
use what Americans call a fudge"
This is a black and gummy artifice,
printed in column held open for
! last-minute news. and which can be
slipped in the forms in practically no
. time at all. 1t is not necessary to
make over the page. Two or three
lines of bold-faced type are thrown
| together in hand chase. locked in
| the open column, and the press start
| ed over again.
Well. the London dailies have ac-
tually been able to get the news of
| the conference OH the street within
rhirty-five minutes Of the time the
news became news. 1 do not know
| that this has been done. hut it has
been possible. A wire leads direct
from press headquarters in the Navy
! building to North Sidney. Nova SEQ
! tia, which is the cablehead. There
| one operator takes the incoming mes
| sage. and. as he does. the fimsy copy
| is sent into the cable room. In mo-
! ments of stress the cable sending is
| not fifty words behind the receiving.
! Washington. San Francisco and in
| terminate points are continually on
| the same wire. The western coast
| knows what has happened practically
as soon as it happens. 1t doesn't take
long for the dots and dashes to cross
the continent on straight wire.
Experience with Big Men.
most remarkable change has come
| over the temper of the great men of
hA 4, 1al Sr
! ent conference are good tempered.
humorous. even chatty. Their eyes
] shine at the sight of a reporter. One
/ can see ii is with difficulty they re-
. sist the impulse to step down from
| their private and portable daises and
grab the reporter by the arm and say:
, ''LiSsen, boy
) 1t wasn't that way at Paris. There
a reporter had to be certificacted.
| stamped and hall-ma~ked. Reporters
. who did not send the sort of news the
! great men of the earth desired .ihem
! to send were made to feel leprouS and
| unclean. Before a reporter could get
; the passes emitting him to get about
| where he had to get about his general
| health. appetite, disposition. and
/ views on morality were examined
into.
! Now and then the American report
! ers listened to Secretary Lansing or
Gen. Bliss or other battleships of
| our diplomatic fleet. At the time the
| reporters cursed them bitterly though
! surreptitiOusiy. Lansing and Eliss
and the others would come out and
stand in a tired and lop-sided row and
gaze listleSsly upon the assembled re-
porters. s. me- one would ask Il ques-
tiou. The battleships would say:
We are unable TO answer that
question"
! At the time the cynic and soured
Ars hS ha los N
were lying. 1t is only since the pub
lication OF Secretary Lansins's con-
! fession that they have realized the
battleships really did not know. They
! were not permitted to know.
Mr. Balfour's Methods.
Here all the great men are the jolly
little pals of all the reporters. 1t is
and eonstitutionally rather stand
offish reporter to feel himself on such
intimate terms with statesmen who
have been on the first page ever since
they first learned to roll their own.
Mr.. Balfour. to use the most striking
instance, has been more accessible
than in all previous history. 1t is
only lately that the reporters have
observed that Mr.. Balfour does not
, exude any dangerous information.
You will pardon me. says Mr.. Bal
four. when he is asked a question,
hard of hearing"
Heaven forbid that any one should
! suspect that Mr. Balfour is not hard
of hearing. And he is seventy three
years old, or such matter. 1t is
doubtless due to the fact that some
reporters enunciate much more clear
| ly than others that Mr.. Balfour re-
plies to some queries right off the
bat. When others are propounded he
cups hand behind an ear. smiles
benignly and walks down the room
toward his QuestiOner. He is very
should be arrested. But he is hale.
hearty. ruddy. wlite-haired. silvery
bald-headed gentleman. whose mind
/, is as alert as steel trap.
! "Hello. Ad. Net Translatable.
/ At the soiree given by the Japanese
! to the reporters one reporter came in
contact-now. how should. rather
i could. he have come in contact
with a mess of lovely Scotch whisky.
There is no doubt that since the
death of Premier Hara admiral Kato
is the most powerful man in the
Japanese government. He weighs 1870.
he is quiet. rather long-faced, wears
dropping gold-rimmed princenez. and
reminds one more of the late E. H.
Hartman than any one else known
to the American public.
Hello, -Ad.," said the Scotched re-
porter.
! Admiral Kato does not talk English
If he understands it he gave no sign.
There is no way of translating Hello:
Ad," into Japanese. Fire from Heaven
| would consume the impious trans
J lator.
Different National Methods.
| Odd how the methods Of the various
/. nationals here differ. At Paris the
Japanese were stand offish, curt, cold,
existence of the press earthworms.
!. Here they are friendly, apparently
candid. seemingly anxious to impress
| upon the United States that the Japa-
nese attitude has wholly changed.
They plead guilty to the sins of the
frank in admitting that while they
have sinned they do not want the
, profits of their sins taken from them
1t Is new, an astounding and a
somewhat perpleXing attitude.
"Vive Ia France is the statement
of the representatives of France upon
any occasion.
France has suffered so terribly in
| the late war-is still suffering-that
the Frenchmen do not even pretend to
| consider any problem other than their
own. Or. IL they do. it is only to ex-
! anime the problem of the other man
| in relation to their own situation.
i if they can get some further measure
| of protection or relief out Of the
Washington conference. Italy seems
4 to have come rather to make known
her genuine friendship for the United
States. She is not really interested in
| either the eastern problem or the dis
! armament plan, and says SO.
!~"But here we are" her delegates