Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1924-12-26
Careful Beat With
News
BY WARRINGTON DAWSON
20, Doubleday. Page 8 Coz

DAYS TEST VOTE SPARE NO
EFFORT SECURE RESULT TOMOR-
ROW ELLERBY."
Gareth threw down the telegram
after reading 1t and sprang from his
desk. In pushing back his chair he
was careful not TO upset and break 1t,
knowing he would not be supplied
with another.
"Spare no effort" indeed. II he
had been told not to spare cash for
necessary expenses, the message
would seem more to the point. Nine
times out Of ten he beat the opposi-
ton, just by alertness and initiative
and physical speed and-well-say
luck; and eight times out of those
nine he wouldn't even know of his
success until much later, accidentally.
But when he slipped up, as he must,
in competing with an organization
which employed three men to do
what he did alone, and which al
lowed them to spend ten dollars to
his one, he would find his nerves put
on edge at a critical juncture like
this. Three minutes The wonder
was he hadn't been beaten by three
hours or course, though, he ought
not to have let them beat him.
The next day, the French parlia-
ment was meeting; both houses as
sembled, at Versailles, to elect new
President of the Republic. A pass
had come in the affairs of the nation
when the question was of worldwide
Importance. The group of American
evening papers whose Paris news
service Gareth managed" Che had
been given the title Of Manager to
balance scarcely decorative salary
simply must be first In the field with
the news. He was perfectly aware
that the telephone wires would be
leased by men who could afford to
do 1t, and large sums would probably
go for brides. To Offset this was the
fact that the censors would be watch
ing jealously with the high motive
of delaying all messages impartially.
Unless a first flash caught them nap
ping, there would be a confusion
abolishlng privilege as It would order.
SO he must get that fash, II he would
beat the others. And he had to beat
them.
Not as purely personal matter
He had set out to help build up this
new service out of nothing, with no
facilities at hand and every odd of
money and Of influence against him,
and-he was going to see 1t through.
lie knew at what cafe on the boule-
ward some Of his newspaper friends
would gather that night They were
good fellows, and while swapping
stories would drop hints. He might
No, he wouldn't. His program had
been prepared and he wasn't going
TO be ratified by foolish telegram.
Nevertheless, when the crucial
moment came, at Versailles next day,
he caught his breath as IL for cold
plunge He had staked everything
upon psychological observation at a
famous trial on whose verdict he had
beaten the world to his own surprise.
II the same law failed to work now
he was done.
From gallery Gareth watched the
crowded Congress hall, tense with pas
sions and heavy with breathing. The
speeches, heard In scattered portions,
reused the fervOrs Of craftsmanship on
benches where senators and deputies
sat with common rank. Then came
the vote and the rush for the room
where ballots were counted
Gareth knew his ground well, hav-
ing paced It in advance. SO he pro-
ceeded quietly to the vast hall serv-
ing as antechamber to the secret
room. The most brilliant and eminent
figures in the life Of Paris-sOclal, |
diplomatic, political, intellectual
we're pressed and packed against the |
forbidden door like shoal upon shoal
of herring.
With a crash, the news broke. The |
doors did not have chance to open, |
they were driven In. Yells, punctu- |
ated by d roar of footballs, rang and |
re-echoed The result, cried out in |
stentOrlan tones, was caught up and |
repeated, again and again and again. |
Not at the hrst cry, nor at the |
second, but at the third and fourth |
Gareth dashed out Of the far door and
down the deserted stairs, four steps |
at q leap. He had been sure enough |
Of his advantage TO wait for confir-
nation. AS he leaped, his fingers
were busy, choosing from some writ
ten cable forms he held the one with
the result which proved true. The
others, he crushed into his pocket, and
read and re-read the one In which
only the figures Of the vote were lack
ing. He added those, with a polite,
"Send that at once, will you please"
"At once, please" Gareth repeated.
The telegram went at the first flash.
In the stairs he had heard the crowd
catch in an all but inextrlcable Jamb
behind him. He could not stop to
look back. But he looked now, from
his vantage ground within the tele-
graph office. He saw the advance
fringe Of the battling rabble reach
the door, and jamb anew, for the
fight OF fights. Beyond them-beside
him--.were the empty telephone booths
and the idle employees waiting.
Gareth learned later that his pa
pers In America had had the news to
themselves for twenty entire minutes.
He learned it very much later. and
quite accidentally, at that.
But when q newspaper correspond
cnt, no longer a cub and not yet old,
has worked out psychological laws for
himself, don't they bring him their
own reward? Especially when he
was right.