Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-06-09
FAIR
ENOUGH
-ByWestbrook
PegIer

~ and United Press men lunch
together, play cards together
and, for all l know, may even
room together. But in the days
that ! am telling you about. the
United Press was an underdog
and the AP was the aristocracy
and this feeling extended even
TO the wage slaves out on as
signments. The AP had plenty
of money and its salaries and
expense accounts were larger
and the AP men generally were
older. for the UPS staff was
largely composed of unmarried
kids who lived out of suitcases
and made up for their mex
perience with enthusiasm and
ambition.
You may have noticed how
polite the UP and its relatives
have been to the AP in its re-
cent embarrassment over the
false flash from London on the
invasion.
TT WASN'T that way in 1918
Il when Roy Howard fired in
his flash from Brest on the
armistice after Adm. Wilson
had received the word by tele-
phone from the embassy in
Paris and gave Roy full permits
sion TO send it along. as any
alert reporter would have done.
That, at least, had every mark
of authenticity, whereas, in the
present case, the AP seems 10
have been the victim of one of
those dumb, unavoidable acct
dents. A girl operator, practic-
ing on a telegraphic printer in
London punched out the flash
on the tape, contrary to stand
ing orders against cold-deck
matter and forgot to tear 1t up.
Twenty-Five years ago /
wouldn't have believed the APPS
explanation. would have said
they had punched out some
canned flashes to save a few
seconds in transmission, and the
APP would have said the same
had il happened TO US.
DACK in 1914, the UP gave
ID the AP a licking on the
death of Pope Plus X and, so far
as the record shows. the AP still
insists that the UP had false
tin or figured that he couldn't
live more than a few hours and
took a chance.
The APP never did find out
how it happened, nor can tell
you entirely; but l can tell you
that His Holiness really was
dead when the flash was filed
and the AP was very badly
beaten.
Melville Stone, the general
manager of the AP, was very
pure and more than slightly Of
ficious about that for he even
let il be known that he had
checked the incoming cables
from Rome and elsewhere in
Europe and was able 10 say that
no flash had been received IN
the United States announcing
that the Pope was dead.
Can you imagine that?
Checked other peoples mes
Sages. Therefore, the flash must
have been faxed up in the UPS
office in the old World building
"a dastardly proceeding, no
less.
MR.. STONE had not canvaSSed
wi all private messages re-
ceived that day, however, and
even if he had he might have
passed over the one that car
ried the news without recogniz-
ing II.
For il was just an innocent
personal communication from a
man in Rome 10 man in New
York, asking him TO deposit a
sum of money, say 81 ,537, TO his
account.
That would mean that Pope
Plus X had died at 1897 that
afternoon or 1887 o'clock Con-
tinental time.
The Vatican's official an
nouncement, on which the AP
relied. came many hours later
because the Pope was not Off
cially dead until the papal sec
rotary of state had been able
10 get back to Rome from
Naples or wherever he was, and
perform the solmen rites by
which the death of the Pontiff
is formally established as his
torical fact.
So indignant was the APP and
so confident of its own infalli-
bility. that you would have
thought that the Associated
Press, itself. and not the Vati-
can was the authority in this
matter.
Until the APP said it was so, 1t
wasn't so. But a short while
later. the APP jumped the gun
by several years and killed off
the Pope's sister; and for long
afterward when AP men would
pull shoots at UP men over the
premature death of Pope Plus,
the UP men would say that,
well. anyway. he died whereas
his sister wasn't dead yet.
1T WAS rough and tumble
l. business. with no holds
barred, and the APPS main
trouble was its over-confidence
and a too high opinion of itself.
1t had no respect for COMPETE