Evening star., 1944-12-26
| Task Of Reporter
with Pacific Fleet
Becoming Easier
BY KEITH WHEELER,
North American Newspaper Alliance.

ABOARD A UNITED STATES
CARRIER OFF LU7ON, Dec. 26.-
If it makes any difference to any
one outside the business, I'm sup
posed to report today that the life
of correspondent with the Pacific
Fleet is becoming easier.
There was time when a corre-
spondent, riding along on an attack
such as that just completed against
LuZon, had three choices about what
to do with the fine prose he COM
posed to commemorate the event.
He could wait until the ships re-
turn to port-sometimes matter |
of weeks or months. He could put it
aboard visiting tanker, in which |
case there was no guarantee that it |
wouldn't ride around the Pacific |
until, like the Flying Dutchman, 1t
became legend. Or he could carve
/ it on the back Of turtle and turn
the beastie loose on a course of 090. |
More than one reporter Of my
acquaintance considered the last
method an 8-to-5 choice for both |
speed and certainty. AS a matter |
of fact, I recall one occasion when
I, full of hope and piety, sent story
which thereafter disappeared and
stayed out of sight. 1t turned up
exactly year later and was then
/ printed, although could not
imagine why.
Times Retter Now
AS I remarked before, times are
better now. Here's the way 1t
works:
Twice a day, during action, the
reporter sits down and composes a
piece. Now, it used to be the case
that the actual composition of prose
was matter secondary to carbon
paper. Before he could give off a
line the author had to arrange a
6-to-8-ply sandwich of carbons and
copy paper, such being the require
ments of the curious censors. 1t was
a problem of sizable dimensions,
with portable typewriter that
couldn't handle more than four
copies in its prime.
But no more. Aboard this ship,
you simply slide a sheet of mimeo-
graph paper into the old mill and
cut a stencil. You then take off
80 feet down the psssageway and
lateral the stencil to an obliging
guy named Bill, who sprints to the
mimeograph machine and whips out
80 copies in 80 seconds.
Bill, Baltimorean with pictures
of two dozen girls, all beautiful,
above and on his desk, then makes
up six packages Of the story, each
carrying enough copies to satisfy
the censor, and stuffs them into air.
plane message bags. These are little
canvas sacks weighted with sand.
Fighter Takes OF With Copy.
The next fighter pilot to leave the
deck takes off with his lap full of
copy. Before climbing up to patrel
the high blue, he flies over a nearby
warShip and practices pitching your
copy at the guys on deck. Inas-
much as the bags weigh q pound
each and come down like a bomb,
Ilcic SOOQ CQdnCe ne IL Dean
somebody on the warship's deck.
Sometimes, of course, he misses.
That's why it's necessary to have
six sets of duplicates.
The first pilot to deliver our copy
was 1t. Comdr. Edward Bayers of
Compton, Calf. He reported that
he tried to plant one on the stern,
but missed five in row, all of them
going into the drink. With one bag
left, he dived across the bow and cut
loose like Dizzy Dean in his best
days
Il think I knocked a commander
but got it aboard" he said.
The idea is that the transmission
ship will then open her radio. since
the Japs know we are here anyway,
and will transmit the stuff to the
States, where. presumably, it is
printed the same way.
All this is wonderful, but it's pretty
complicated. I think I will keep a
turtle ", y,aeorua