Press Supplies Supplies- History Hot Off World Wires mands mand ou gl of or 4 If I live I t tells rI what at e- e war and defense hate hae meant to the nation a press and d radio By DON WHITEHEAD NEW YORK Aug 22 The Telegrams Telegram's Telegrams Telegram's Tele Tele- grams gram's Special News Service Service Service- The nations nation's press and radio are thundering out a penny serenade these hese days days days-a a penny serenade of life Ife and death hope and despair espair For a few cents daily and the flip of a dial the average citizen gets jets his history in the raw straight from rom the scenes of action a a blow- blow blow by-blow account of the greatest spectacle in modern times That is why the impact of this war abroad and our nations nation's defense defense de de- de- de program is leaving iU rte mark markon I on the people more swiftly than in the he past The tide of words mirroring the changing hanging story of our times sets the he course of public opinion and brings the people close to the problems problems lems ems of war and national defense with a row front-row seat An army marches in Europe and the he news is known here a few minutes later A nation falls under the he boot of an invader and the story is on Main street for all to read A city ity is bombed and before the embers have cooled the newspaper newspaper newspaper news news- paper readers of America read about it and see the conflagration in n pictures Newspapers' Newspapers Job But back of the headlines is an endless effort to get the story of national defense from every part of the country country and and to bring the true story of war through foreign propaganda and censorship to millions millions mil- mil lions ions who depend on their daily newspapers for an accurate honest honest honest hon hon- est accounting of the news Over the Associated Press' Press wires flows a daily total of words painting the picture of what is happening to the United States I in times of stress and what is taking taking taking tak tak- ing place abroad That's the equivalent equivalent equivalent equiv equiv- alent of columns of type More than full and time part-time correspondents cor- cor respondents in every state in the union feed this current of domestic domes domes- tic n news ws In the Associated Press' Press cable department in Rockefeller Center Centera a staff of 31 seasoned news men fights the battle of words around the clock sifting the he truth from propaganda and rationalizing the claims from the high commands of the belligerents The Associated Press alone has foreign correspondents at strategic strategic strategic stra stra- news centers Behind these men supplementing their work are more than resident and time part-time correspondents Cable Costs Heavy The cost of covering foreign news has been staggering The Associated Associated As As- Press currently is spending spending spending spend spend- ing approximately annually annually annually an an- to gather the news abroad On days of little activity in the theater of war the cable file runs to approximately words or 1 25 columns of news But when big news is breaking the output is stepped up to words daily The foreign correspondents must tell their stories in as few words as possible for cable tolls are high A dispatch from Hong Kong sent at urgent press rates costs 88 cents a word or a word if sent straight urgent News from Moscow runs from 4 cents to 95 cents a word depending depending depend depend- I ing on the speed of transmission and one word from Berlin costs from 8 to 82 cents The press rate from London is 5 cents a word Correspondents are moved about like chessmen across the changing world map following the themen men who make the news new Many of th them m brave hunger shattered health and even death to get their stories men like A A. Ps P.'s Robert St St. John who was swept up in the iron re revolts revolts revolts re- re volts in m Rumania and then the driven drien out before the German invasion of Yugoslavia and Greece It wasn't bravado or grandstand grandstand grandstand grand grand- stand stuff It was a job He came out of the nightmare with I machine gun wounds in his leg legand legand legand and a horror of the things h he had seen seen but but he brought with him some of the greatest stories to come from the theater of war warthe warthe warthe war war- the land of the dead he called it That's the theme o of the penny serenade these days sweeping across the land to the metallic clatter of machines And along with the stories come the pictures pictures flaming flaming cities shattered columns of men and materials sinking ships marching troops and dejected prisoners prisoners' London Berlin and Moscow are I Ithe the transmission points for the i war pictures sent by radio and cable From the theA A. A Ps P.'s New York office pictures are transmitted by network throughout the United States In a matter of minutes a picture sent from Berlin or Moscow or London ison ison is ison on the news stands in dozens of American cities From the front pages to the comic sections the martial influence influence influence ence is seen seen in the th daily papers Most of the comics have a theme of war or defense defense with soldiers G men secret operatives s and intrepid intrepid in intrepid in- in trepid children becoming involved in in harrowing adventures Some advertising experts are pessimistic about the future of advertising volume which is is running running running run run- ning only slightly slight ahead of last year despite the industrial upsurge upsurge upsurge up up- surge and they point to curtailed production in industries which normally do a heavy volume of advertising But others more op optimistic optimistic op- op foresee forese substantial gains ahead