Show Marvelous Celerity CeJer ty IN rn cF AMERICA Stirs Parr Paris A Admiration I A New Nen York correspondent has sent J I Ih the h following to Le Matin aUn of or Paris Not e east aast remarkable feature of the tha assassination was the be bc bewildering I lightning rapidity with which the American public was ap apprised apprised of f It Jt Less than an hour elapsed 1 after the two tiro fatal pistol shots rang through Buffalo before every last clerk and business man in New York and Brooklyn knew through the voice of oft the t e press the entire tragedy in its mi ml minutest minutest detail Were it not indecorous to use a term in connection with so tragic an event one might say that beat all aU rec records records records in the phenomenal speed of that news gathering The reader seeing In a paper little littlemore littlemore littlemore more than the results obtained does not guess by what heroic efforts by What feverish activity by b what mir miracles miracles miracles acles of energy he is at times Umes kept In Informed InI informed I formed of or Is passing It Is for this reason that we the reproduce as it was described by an eye witness and as It has bas recently been reported in one of the London papers the scene which trans transpired transpired transpired on the of last September In Inthe Inthe inthe the office of one of the greatest of the New York evening papers It was exactly 4 29 in the afternoon and the assistant managing editor was In the middle of some letter writing at athis atis athis his is desk when the telephone bell rang Hello Hello President McKInley has just keen been shot twice in the breast at Buffalo BufI I falo tale and Is mortally wounded The voice of the assistant managing editor trembled a little and his lips grew white under his blonde moustache but sut with admirable coolness he con controlled controlled controlled trolled himself and asked Who Vho are you ou The Associated Press Is that all aU you know Absolutely ly all alit Machinery of Paper Set in Motion The editor hung up the receiver and raised rai ed a speaking tube to t his lips Ups His voice was once more clear and cold His orders Tell the composing room to prepare an extra McKinley Assassinated in inthe inthe inthe the biggest type b pe and reddest Ink we have Heres Here your text The president h has s Just been shot hot at Buffalo Two bullets lodged in his breast He e is mor mortally mortally mortally tally wounded Seven minutes later at exactly 2 0 newsboys n s were xer rushing through the streets with bundles bandies of or papers under their arms bearing the red headline and the dispatch set sel In a black border Meanwhile the assistant managing editor had already dy called two messen messengers messengers messengers gers and given them their Instructions One was to summon the the other was war was io fo o find the proprietor The editor was three doors away awa in a p barber ba ber shop half haI shaved Needless to says say he came at once with one ont cheek shaved the other not The proprietor wa liat his club Six minI min minutes utes later he dismounted from a cab cabb cabat cabat cabbat 1 at the office door doer doerThe The went straight to the telephone without even asking his assistant for details The bell rang Hello I Give me a Buffalo news newspaper newspaper newspaper paper Any Anyone one of them Whichever you can get Then Hello You are the Buffalo Herald Very well weli I 1 am paying you a minute for talking Tell me all aU you know Then He dictated dicta e eIt It happened at af the Temple of Music The Th assassin held h Ja a handkerchief in his left hand ond Et c Public Gets More Details Quickly Twelve minutes later at a new edition was being sent out from the theoffice theoffice theoffice office of that paper It bord bor the legend McKinlay Extra No Ko 2 It gave half halfa a column of details of the assassination tion the portrait of f the president and anda a plan of the Buffalo exposition On the other hand the proprietor of the paper was nS also telephoning Is this the manager of the rail ran railroad road t I am the proprietor df 0 the Can you ou give me a special train for Buffalo How soon How much All Allright Allright Allright right And minutes later a special special cial elal train started for Buffalo with two photographers three artists and five reporters One of them the descriptive descriptive descriptive tive writer or the reporter charged more particularly with descriptions was waR in his shirt sleeves His march marching marching ing orders had found him quit unprepared unprepared unprepared pared Ho He was obliged to fling himself without wasting a second Int ina a l cab and had not even een had time to get his coat and vest which were on another floor of the building Nevertheless extra No 4 had long since taken the place of extra No 3 and at not quite an hour after the dread news was first telephoned into the paper extra No 5 was being sold on the streets It contained two whole pages on the assassination that is to say a column of telephone news a column of bi biography biography biography two of portraits plans and drawings interviews with senators governors members of the diplomatic and an consular corps politicians etc or telegrams messages of con condolence coni condolence i dolence indignation sympathy etc the professional opinions of two or three of the leading surgeons of New NewYork NewYork NewYork York a column of general Impressions the fluctuations of the principal stocks In Wall street on receipt of the news a biography of Mr Roosevelt who would succeed McKinley etc Shows What Can Cnn be Done in an nn Hour And all this be it remembered was accomplished In less than sixty min minutes minutes minutes utes The witness who watched this terrible spasm of activity this bewildering bewildering bewildering dering creation of a great edition says sa s that there was not a second of dis disorganization disorganization disorganization organization that it was all done without any fuss without clamor without even the murmur which ac accompanies accompanies accompanies companies every manifestation of hu human human human man activity Everyone was at his post and every one as if an electric current had suddenly been turned on an anin in him and had doubled aye cen ce his supply of energy They were no longer human beings they were machines revolving silently by byun unseen un en steam power It was no longer merely rely an exhibition of journalistic speed It was lightning journalism |