Evening star., 1948-10-17
BY w. H. Shippen, Jr.

By W. H. shippen. Jr.
The cold war" correspondent!
who cover Berlin for the German
press find the assignment rather
rugged these days.
| In fact none of the Is German
newsmen who are guests in Wash.
ington today and tomorrow have
had much time to take it easy since
/ the end of the war in Europe.
They're in the middle of a big
squeeze, and come what may thei:
lot and that of their families and
friends has been cast irrevocably on
the side of democratic way OF life
The tension shows on their faces,
although most have taken enough
punishment to blind the edge OF
fear. -,
Yes, I'm public enemy number
three on the Soviet list, I think, "
remarked Helmut Meyer-Dietrich,
80, chief editor of Berlins biggest
newspaper, Der Taggesspiegel.
His paper clings to 100000 daily
circulation despite strong-arm tao
tics in the Red sector and could
triple that, his competitors admit, if
given the rewsprint.
Congratulations exclaimed Wer-
ner Friedman, whose daily, the Die
Abendzeitung at Munich, was the
first to be licensed in the American
zone after We Day. Il hope you
do not boast. Who are the two
gentlemen ahead of you?"
Talk Is Bantering.
The Berlin editor grinned, shook
his head and puffed away at his
pipe. Maybe he had an idea of
the two men the Soviets would
rather have before they got their
hands on him, but he did not name
them. Both men had seen concen-
tration camps from inside the
barbed wire, and their talk remained
on bantering level.
Neither of them had known me
before. I was accepted in thei1
group because I had been intro
duced by ]. Montgomery Curtis,
assistant director of Columbia Uni
versity's American Press Institute
which had arranged the visit of the
editors and publishers to this coun-
try. They chatted freely with me as
fellow newspaperman, but kept
certain reserve.
The visitors arrived here late last
night for q full round of activities
as guests of the four Washington
newspapers-the Times Herald, the
Post, the Daily News and The Star
For several weeks the Germans
have been attending q seminar at
the Press Institute at Columbia
consisting of morning and afternoon
lectures, discussions, luncheons,
tours of publishing plants in the
New York area, cocktail parties,
dinners and receptions.
Press Conference Baffling.
One Of the things the Germans
had hard time grasping at the
seminar discussions was the me-
chanics of an American press con-
ference. They couldn't believe, for
instance, that Washington reporters
habitually fire broadsides at their
interviewers with little regard for
rank or position.
That was the main reason two
such conferences were arranged for
tomorrow with the German news
men invited to sit in on typical
news sessions The first will be
with Howard Bruce, a deputy ad-
ministrator for Economic Cooper
alton Administration, from $50 to
II 80 am.
After luncheon at the National
Press Club, a second conference at
3 pm. will feature Assistant Sec
retary Of the Army Tracy Voorhees,
Today's program consists of sight,
seeing and S pm. cocktail party
given by Mrs. Gilbert Hitchcock
widow of Senator Hitchcock, who
was an Omaha publisher and chair.
man of the Senate Foreign Rela
tions Committee during the Wilson
administration.
/ Tomorrow evening the visitors
will be guests at private dinner
at the Statler Hotel.
Editors Appear Tired.
From informal talks I had with
the newsmen at Columbia befor.
they left for Washington I gath.
cred that they are a bit tuckeree
out. New ideas have been fun,
at them from lecture, lunch ane
dinner platforms with all the i'm.
pact Of the New York skyline, ane
the hospitality of this area is al
most too much for men long &C.
customed to an austerity diet.
You are my friend, I know,
one visitor told me, 80 pleas,
neither mention the source nor mis-.
quote me. 1t is a wonderful expe.
rience Wonderful. But I have t,
let my trousers out, not once bu
three times. And good trousers ar,
hard to get in Germany.
AT first we eat too much. Nov
we wish to diet. But how can ",
without hurting the feelings Of oul
good friends in America. NY wifi,
don't like it when I 60 home Will
my trousers altered 80 many times
She will have to cut them dowr