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Show PRESS WRITERS DO GREAT WORK Associated Press Directors Make Public a Report of Exceptional Interest. EPOCH MAKING NEWS Men Abroad Brave Ail Dangers Dan-gers of War on Land and Sea. NEW ORK. April The report of the board of directors of The Asso-I Asso-I ciated Press this year is considered of such unusual interest as to war- rant publication It refers among Other things to the experienr es of some Associated Press men In the I foreign service and in making this part public the board authorized the insertion in parenthesis of the name; 'of the man concerned Thr Associated Press report: ; To the Members of The Associated Press- In earlier reports we nave en-deavored en-deavored to summarize briefly the most important news events f the v ar. We make no such attempt tills year There have been months during which more epoch making news has developed than during some previous years and all newspapermen must wonder whether we shall ever return to former standards of news values Nor do 'we enlarge in this respect upon up-on the news gathering achievements of the organization With those achievements have come many i n it able disappointments Overtaxed oKI Ul J . 1 1 . I l UUU J ' 1 1 r v ' I .111). 1 I1U vllll i ilar exigencies of war often have up 'sol our plans and frequently neutral Ized the resourcefulness of our Btafl Yet we have incomparably the mos i comprehensive machinery for collect ing and distributing news that th . world has ever known Great Work of Men Abroad. Of our men abroad we gratefull) acknowledge our appreciation. Tor-j" Tor-j" does and mines at sea and shot anc ! shell on land have held no fears for them. Their escapes amid danger have been countless. One (Frank M America) wis knocked down by a Zeppelm bomb in London but worked all that night as usual merely an incident in-cident of the day's work in an office building which has itself been hit by such shells, another (Robert T. Small) fell into the icy Somme, but rode 35 miles to cable the storv of the first American in Peronne; another (Charles T Thompson) was on the highest rampart of the castle of Gor-izia Gor-izia when a shell buried it and him under earth, but on that afternoon he I wrote a story which thrilled ihe press of Europe as well as of the United States; another (Walter Whiffen) was shot in the knee on a Russian observation obser-vation post; another (Charles S. Smith ( after a bayonet and fist encounter en-counter at Harbin escaped with painful pain-ful lacerations; another (James Hickey) was blown through a glass door by the Halifax explosion, but before be-fore dressing his wounds was resourceful re-sourceful enough to find in a de.mol ishe-d building the terminus of the cable to the West Indie-, and sent by way of Bermuda and Havana to New York the first direct messages out of Halifax. Such incidents are not unusual un-usual evidence of your organization Traditions of Journalism. Through the years The Associated Press has. by maintaining its standards stand-ards of accurate reporting, preserved the best traditions of journalism. The good name of The Associated Press has not been impaired The public confidence in our dispatches has steadily grown, until millions of readers now hesitate to give credence to many published reports until assured as-sured that they were carried by our association The sensational Zimmer man note with its report of diplomatic intrigue in Mexico was universally accepted ac-cepted as genuine because The Asso , ciated Press sinl it vsas. The bombardment bom-bardment of Paris at long range was ridiculed by other press associations and by ordnance experts but the Paris bureau of The Assoc i.'.led Tress which for two days alone reported this startling start-ling development of the war to American Amer-ican readers, convinced the skeptical quite as thoroughly as did the official confirmation of Its report. When the government's action in taking over the Dutch ships in American harbors was reported in Europe several chan j cellorles inquired in European capitals whether The Associated Press an nounced this fact. This reputation tor telling the truth on the part of The Associated Press is recognized now quite as generally throughout diplomatic diplo-matic and journalistic circles abroad as it is in the United States and it isj ,n a sel of membership In this or- ganization that is of the utmost value. War Draws on Staff. During the last year the war has naturally drawn heavily upon our staff. It has been the policy of the management not only not to seek exemption ex-emption from government service on behalf of its employes, but to m courage such service Men who a year ago were serving this organization are now by hundreds in the military and I naval or other service of the United States. Our operations in particular have been able to render valuable service for which their training has peculiarly fitted them. W ithin a year we have thus lost more than one - j fourth of our -faff, and many mor?i men are soon to leave us. In this period of war as the activi- j ties and responsibilities of our ser - ! vice have steadily increased, it is a source of great pride to know that! those upon whom the burden has fal-len fal-len have met their obligations with a measure of faithfulness and intelli- 1 gence for which the management is deeply grateful. By direction of the I board ol directors and as a partial recognition of the efficiency of the staff, the life of each employe, in thci United Slates, while in the service, has been insured for the benefit of his heirs or dependents in the sum of 11,000. Because of the greater risk I involved, established companies will hot accept Insurance upon the lives of our men in foreign service, but the j board has itself assumed liability on! their behalf. |