The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-07-30
ChaIlenee to writers

Adequate communication will
present constant challenge Il
Beattie and other correspondent
who may follow him into Ethiopia
Direct wireless contact has beer
established lately with London bui
Il operates only at certain hours
and is always subject to interior
ence.
There are four other possible
channels of communication from
Ethiopia to the outside world. One
Is by telegraph and cable via Port
Sudan. but 1t passes through a few
miles of italian territory and IL
likely to be avoided.
The second route is the French
railway telegraph paralleiing the
only railroad line, from Adds
Ababa to Djibouti, and thence by
cable, wireless or airplane to a
stable cable-head.
Another is from Adds Ababa to
Cairo via the Ethiopian govern.
fnent wireless and thence by wire
less to London.
The fourth is from Adds Ababa
via Gambela in southern Ethiopia
to Khartoum and thence to Lon
don. The latter route, however,
has 20-mile gaps amidst Lion-in-
tested country where dispatches
must be carried by native runners.
Companies to Reap Harvest
The communications companies
are likely to reap one of the rich
profits of the war. They are large
" British controlled. When other
foreign correspondents flock into
Ethiopia or it's outskirts, as they
undoubtedly will, thousands upon
thousands of words a day are
likely to be filed, jamming the
communications facilities beyond
their capacity.
The minimum cost of each word
autographed or wirelessed will be
rs cents, while to guarantee speedy
handling, the correspondents Will
have to pay IS cents a word. That
is to London. Western Union
quotes $1.20 a word for urgent rate
direct to New York.
First Dispatch
Telegraph Editors Note: This
IS the first dispatch from the
first American Press Association
correspondent to reach East
Africa ON special assignment to
cover the approaching war be.
tween Italy and Ethiopia. Beat.
tie will make his immediate base
. IN Adds Ababa, capital OF
Ethiopia, and move thereafter
to report developments where
and when they occur.
BY EDWARD w. BEATTLE
Copyright, 1885, by United Press)
Djibouti, French Somaliland,
July 20 - (UP) - Djibouti, gate
way to Adds Ababa and the only
route to the capital by rail from
the coast, was a deserted port un-
der armed neutrality today.
The French have landed guns
ana are bringing up troops to pre-
serve its neutarity. The possibility
of unrest among the native popula-
ton, strongly sympathetic to Ethf-
opia, has led France to take ex-
trnordinary precautions against
disorder.
A French naval transport in the
last few days unloaded four light
guns, barbed wire and munitions.
The small French Somaliland gar
rison will be reinforced by black
Senegalese troops.
Precautions Taken
Il was explained that the pre-.
cautions are not directed against
my particular government, but
have been taken simply because
in event of continued European
reverses in East Africa, Native
tribes might be given the idea of
attacking all whites"
Otherwise, the formerly busy port
was dead. The sun-baked, wind
swept quays were almost empty,
the only ship in the harbor being
a small Italian coastal patrol boat.
1t was result of the European
embargo on the shipments Of arms
to Ethiopia, apparently, and the
over the continuance of
Ethiopia's hitherto busy trade with
Europe.