Evening star., 1940-10-17
By GLADWIN HILL,

BY GLADWIN HILL.
NEW YORK. Oct. II P,.-When
Mahatma Gandhi was sent to prison
by the British in 1882. one of the
last people he spoke to was an Asso-
ciated Press man.
Months later when he was re-
leased, hundred miles away, un-
eXpectedly and in the dead of night,
to avoid a demonstration, the first
face he glimpSed through the dark
ness was-an Associated Press man,
James A. Mills.
Il suppose he said in whimsical
delight, that when I 60 to the
hereafter and stand at the golden
gate. the first person I shall meet
will be correspondent of the Asso-
ciated Press E. :"
The ubiquity which Gandhi re-
marked was a phenomenon of long
standing.
Nationwide Facilities.
When Jack Binns sent out the
first radio distress call from the
sinking liner Republic in 1906, it
was not accidental that the ASso-
ciated Press had the news to spread
over the country within a few
minutes. A. P representatives are
everywhere The wireless operator
In the lonely station on Nantucket
Island who picked up Binns' mes
sage Uas-an Associated Press man.
He was one Of the thousands of
"stringers' part-time. space-rate
correspondents who form an impor-
tant element of the far-reachlng
system Of coverage that has made
the A. P. the worlds greatest news
institution.
When the Athena sank a year
ago, no passenger list was imme-
diately available on either side OF
the Atlantic. Yet. through messages
that poured in over its news lines
reaching into nearly every hamlC5
from coast to coast. the A. P. was
able to compile a comprehensive
list of the Americans on the Athena
hours before the U. S. State De-
partment had even a Sketchy list
The story of the growth of the A.
Pan organization maintained by
some l 400 of the Nations principal
newspapers on cooperative basis
from single man into this COM
prehensive newsgathering system
"A. P-The Story of News" 500
page book written under the spon-
sorship of the A. P. by Oliver Gram
ling. assisted by William A. Kinney
both A. P. staff men-which is
being published Monday by Farrar
e. Rinehart.
Writer With Custer.
One of the A. P's first "stringers"
was Mark Kellogg, staff member
of the Bismarck IN. D. Tribune,
who went out on a mule beside Gen.
Custer in 1876 to cover the expedi-
tion against the Sioux.
I'VE leave the Rosebud (River)
tomorrow, Kellogg wrote back, and
by the time this reaches you, We will
have met and fought the red devils,
with what result remains to be seen.
I 60 with Custer and will be at the
death
1t was one of the last messages
received from the expedition.
At that time the Associated Press
was 80 years Old 1t had been
formed in New York by group of
newspapers as means of sharing
the small amount of news obtainable
over the limited facilities of the new
telegraph. Its formation ended an
era of cutthroat competition in
which James Gordon Bennett had
paid premiums as high as $500 for
news beats" from Boston-by car
rier pigeon.
BY the 1905, when typeWriters
began coming in and it was consid-
cred extraordinary coverage when
the A. P. assigned six men to the
inauguration of Grover Cleveland,
the A. P was taking a vital role in
the Nations affairs.
Style of Writing Revised.
In the first A. P story ever to
be given by-line, Chicago Corre-
spondent Charles Sanford Dlehl,
on vacation in Florida, detailed an
interview with Jay Gould on the
Missouri Pacific strike which was
credited with averting general
railroad walkout.
Newspapers still told stories in
chronological. Congressional Rec
ord style, and it was not until four
years later, when the great Samoan
hurricane dispelled an international
crisis over influence in the Pacific,
than A. P. Correspondent John
Dunning wrote the first notable
modern who what why when
where" news lead-an example that
still stands today as a classic of
dramatic writing: