Evening star., 1936-02-09

who obviously was appalled, by the
confusion and swift pace of events,
enjoyed one advantage over all others,
however. He telephoned in japanese
the most effective code to insure
privacy.
A half dozen makeshift arrange
ments were tried to break the tele-
phonic logjam during the first two
days, but all eventually came to
naught as the British post Office be-
gan limiting calls first to six, then
three minutes each, breaking the con-
versation ruthlessly in the midst OF
a sentence
Sunday morning, the day before the
Kings death. found a situation prob
ably unique in journalism. With Sand
ringham glistening under an inch Of
snow In a bleak, warmless sun, 100
newspaper men wanted to attend
church, but couldn't.
Chapel Glimpse Forbidden.
The scene was st. Mary Magda-
lene's chapel, from where the dying
Kings bed room windows could be
seen. The press wanted a glimpse Of
the chapel where the King was soon
to lie in state, and the opportunity
OF describing the scene when Queen
Mary came to worship. This, how
ever, was not permitted.
The remainder Of the day was
spent in securing the countryside for
facts. Every employe who left the
estate eventually was interviewed, but
the Kings own servants knew less oft
times than the people outside. Watch
Is were set up by press associations,
who by now had three to five men
on the ground.
BY Monday afternoon belated tele-
phone lines began coming through.
-Four phones were put into order only
five hours before the death. A half
dozen more were opened 48 hours
after the King passed on.
Monday evening brought the climax
Of the short-lived drama. The Kings
strength was diminishing and news
men raced across the countryside for
other telephones to call the news to
London. One car was ditched on
the sharp turns to Kings Lynn, the
nearest town of consequence.
Reporters who reached phones had
no time to prepare or compose their
stories. They improvised In rapid
fire conversation, hastily pouring in
the facts before their connection was
broken.
Amid much pandemonium the San
dringham call for Louis Wulff, press
association contact man, came
through shortly after 9 pm.
THE life of his majesty is drawing
peacefully to its close" the newsmen
heard Wulh receive and flash on to
London to his own association and
to the London A. p. Bureau. "King
dying" "King dying" was the shout
that went into phones by the few who
had connection at the time.
Men Rushed to Gates.
Extra men were rushed to Sandring-
hams gates to await development-
ments. Some were posted in front of
the jubilee gate, where the death
bulletin was expected, others strained
their eyes In the darkness to watch
the royal standard which was to be
lowered momentarily with the passing
of the King and hurriedly run back
up with the accession Of King Edward
VIII.
Midnight came and passed. The
King was dead, but the news was not
yet out. A dozen minutes later. al
most as an anti-climax, the death
fash came, starting presses rolling
throughout the world.
This brought no letup in the jour-
nalistic pressure, however, which con-
tinued until Thursday afternoon, when
the ghostly y-silent train finally inched
away from the royal station at Wolfer-
ton with the BODY and funeral party.