Evening star., 1941-11-24
J. Fred Essory Quits as Chief
Of Baltimore Sun Bureau
News Veteran Remains
As Correspondent,
However

oSllOOA 10 out Aol tllC AOpOi lSL W Az
sent the first news dispatch by Wire
less from Washington. who covered
the Wright brothers initial airplane
flight, who forwarded the only in
auguration story that got out OF the
Capital the day President Taft took
Office.
j. Fred Essary, one of Washing"
tons best-knoWn correspondents.
steps down today as chief OF the
Baltimore Suns Washington Bureau.
a post he has held for nearly 81
years. He is succeeded by Dewey
L. Fleming, his associate for the last
10 years. the Sun announced today.
The change was asked by Mr..
Essary himself because of his recent
i'll health. He will continue, how
ever, as Washington correspondent
of the Sun. writing less frequently
than in the past.
Without the cares and peSponSl-
bilities of bureau chief, Mr.. ESsary
will have more time to think back
over the nearly half century he has
been close to the Nations pulse and
the stories he has covered-that
story. for instance, he wrote on
Taft's Inauguration was the break
of lifetime.
I've traded on that story ever
since" he said today.
Snow Up to His Knees.
Taft's Inauguration came IN l9O9,
and Mr.. ESsary was picked up OF
the city staff of the Baltimore Amer
ican and Star and sent here to
cover it.
Cad. what an inauguration" he
says of it now
Snow was up to the knees that
day, aftermath of one of the worst
storms of the century. Wires were
down, transportation was at
standstill and the National Capital
had bowed to conditions which shut
1t off from most of the rest of the
world.
But not so submissive was Re-
porter Essary of the American.
Wireless had begun to be talked
about in those days and it came
to his mind. From the newspapers
bureau in the old G. A. R. Building
he made inquiries and learned that
the only set in Washington was on
top the Willard Hotel. just across
the street That was all he wanted
to know. In little cubby hole atop
the elevator shaft at the Willard,
he found WashingtonS wireless sta
ton and laid his proposition before
the operator. The man at the key
said he could send a message pro-
vided it was not too long. The first
draft brought loud protests from the
operator Way too longi" he yelled.
The correspondent wrote and re-
wrote. At last he had a story of
no more than $50 words-on the
biggest news event of that day
Enough to Scoop World, Though.
The American made capital of
his feat. His story appeared under
his first Baltimore byline in a box
on the front page. The newspaper
played up the article as the only
one on the Inauguration to be pub
llshed outside Washington.
"As a beat, it was grand" Mr..
Essary remembers of that 250-word
scoop, but as news story, it was
rotten"
Six years before he had made a
bid for journalistic distinction that
had died on an editors desk. Young
Mr. Essary then was a reporter on
the Norfolk Landmark and cor
respondent for the New York
Herald. padding the streets and in
close contact with news sources. In
a conversation with a railroad man
one day he learned that two
brothers named Wright had been
shipping lot of crates through to
Kitty Hawk, N c.
They say those fellows are going
to try to fly down there most any
day now" assured the railroader in
ali seriousness.
Mr., Essary figured there was
news story at Kitty Hawk whether
any flight took place or not, so he
began to make ARRANGEMENTS. A