Evening star., 1940-10-18

had been cultivating news sources
in the Vatican for 10 years and pay
ing weekly visits to the Pope's per-
sonal physician.
Tipped by Physician.
So, as the pontiff expired and
the doctor stepped into the next
room for the traditional candle to
pass before his lips, he was able to
pause a second to pick up a tele-
phone and whisper a few words to
Mr.. Cortesi 2 miles away.
The Milestone" to whom Mr..
Contests historic message was ad-
dressed was Melville E. Stone, the
Associated Press first general man.
ager and a great figure in its de-
velopment.
Stone, a former executive of the
Chicago Daily News. called from
semi-retirement by the reorganized
Associated Press founders, made a
new career in the campaign 70 put
across the principle of non-proft,
unbiased news-gathering organiza-
tlon run on a cooperative basis by
the beneflting newspapers.
Along with Victor Lawson of the
Chicago Daily News. an Associated
Press pioneer, and Frank B. Noyes
of The Washington Star, the Asso-
ciated Press president for 80 years,
Stone fought in the front lines in
the battle against rival private
news services, exposed their thievery
of Associated Press news and set
about building up the organization
OF the worlds greatest news Sys-
tenn.
The basis of the system was
the contribution of news to the
general Associated Press report by
participating papers, and this un-
familiar principle was vividly dra-
matized to the whole country
through the unwilling aid of that
mistress of drama, Sarah Bern
hardt-in a story that ran from
coast to coast.
Opened European Sources.
The divine Sarah, boarding a
train after a successful engagement
in Carson, New, turned to Sam
Davis, reporter for the Carson
Appeal and correspondent for the
San Francisco Examiner, and kissed
him heartily three times-"the right
cheek" she said, "for the Carson
Appeal, the left for the Examiner,
the lips, my friend, for yourself"
Mr.. Davis, preserving, despite his
astonishment, remarkable reportorial
presence of mind, exclaimed:
But madam, also represent the
Associated Press, which serves $3.50
papers west of the Mississippi River
alone!"
When the great eruption of Mount
Pelee occurred, killing 10000 per-
sons and wiping out news sources,
Melville Stone drafted the Ameri-
can Consul at Guadeloupe to cover
the disaster for the American news.
papers.
And when in the early 19OOs Eu-
rope burgeoned as a field of Ameri-
can interest it was Stone who,
through personal negotiations with
the French Government, the Ger
man Kaiser and the Car of Russia,
broke down the walls of censorship
that had kept Europe dark conti-
nent and established the basic
channels of information that have
served down to the present.
Mr.. Stones main concern was the
distribution of factual information:
he had little regard for personalities
or color When Jackson Elliot
OF the Associated Press Washing.
ton Bureau in 1904 essayed the AS
sociated Press first humorous story
"a piece about a dude Congress-
man who appeared one day in un-
mated shoes-Mr. Stones comment
was something like "hrrmph!" He
characterized the story as too
trivial"
News Report "Humanised."
1t took three gruff railroadmen
IN switchman's shanty in upstate
New York to set in motion the
process of 'humanizing" the A. P.'s
utWS report.
Mr.. Stone and a rising young as
sistant named Kent Cooper were
riding on a train which stalled
there, and they stepped into the
shanty to pass the time.
The railroadmen greeted them
coolly, but Mr. Stone borrowed a
chew OF tobacco and soon had them
entranced with rapid-fire string
of stories.
Yet few minutes later back on
the train Stone became engrossed
with former Canadian Premier in
a deep discussion on international
affairs.
These two little Incidents" Mr..
Cooper remarked to Mr.. Stone,
"have a direct bearing on what I
think the Associated Press news re-