THE WAH tfKVER.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10922, 23 May 1898, Page 3

THE WAR FEVER.

Very loßbrnctlve find amusing |c the, ' reading provided by an ooi&klotiil conttlbntor to the London Daily Mail, wrl*. lug lij reference to thti war tevet in the States and h6w It was worked np. He describes (be extraordinary size of the newspaper!, particularly the "Yellow" journals, m they are called, and adds :— Ono editor broke down under the strain, and; actually leaned ad edition declaring war. fie has been taken from the office of the World to the madhot»e--a merciful ohange of scene, because, ho will Dot nottoe the difference and the pabllo will, He wan the editor of an evening edition, It Is the evening editions of the great yellow morning paperfc that are bßpplng the Climax of sensationalism and audacity. They are coining money oat of the war toare, which they themßelves have manniaotnred, and may yet sea brought to a hldeona reall'v. The yellowest of all theio papers, the Journal, aotnally printed 30 extra editions la d ■pace of 12 or l 4 honra, and Bold a million and a half copies to the shop girls, store porten, errand bays, oonnter jumpers, and bar-room loungers, who get their dally cdnoatlou oat of this sort of mental pabalnm. I bonght the 24th edition for a oarloilty, as I went into a theatre at- 8 o'olook. After the second aot I went oat and got the 26th edition, and at 11 o'clook, when 1 was on my Way home, I boogbt the 29th extra, Every day this Is repeated in a greater or less d»gree. Tbe Dews oartß, whloh race madly aboab ibe town, clearing the streets like fire-engines, have hnge placards on their sides, announcing " Latest) Wnr News !" The newu-bojH now always yell " Extry 1 All about do war I" preoliely as If we were In tha midst of hostilities. The recipe for m&kicf? a war extra is to get a line of fact or rnmor and obatgo It with tbe oarbonia add gas of Imagination, until It fiils three columns, half made up of headlinet in poster type, Here are some actual titles of recent articles :— "The Pope la with America," "Bis. marok says Germany Favors oar Side," ••8U Now Warships Bonght," "Spaniards nail oar Senators Dirty Figs," "A Journal Woman Hides on a Dynamite Torpedo," " United States Rejets International Arbitration," "Bill, am's Minister calls on the President to make an Anglo Saxon Alliance." The minor articles and pictures deal with the Btarving Cubans, contemptuous cartooLs about Spain, accounts of crnel Spanish bull> fights, or pictures of Sullivan, Corbett, Fltzilmmons, and Peter Jackson, the prlzs-figbters, dressed in soldier olothes, each with a patriotic sentiment underneath, like, "You bet your bottom dollar 111 fight," credited to tbn exchampion of tbe eminent, Jnbn L, Sulll« van. One paper has arranged for & corretpondent to accompany each American regiment that Invades Cuba, and give vivid ncoouutn of their respective vlotorlee over the Spanish forces, A rival journal keeps three steam-yaohts at soa loaded to tbe gunwales with war co-respondents, paoclls ready sharpened to punotnre tbo Spanish oause, The efTeot of exposing tbe pnbio to dally elcotrio shock, sncti as these papers give, oan soarcely be exaggerated. The people read that their Pieildent is a coward, and that the Aißlstßot • Ssaretary of the Navy dealarcs, " We should wipe tbe Spanish navy from tbe high sens. 1 ' ibe poets are ■aid to be hard at work trying to produce a new national battle bymn, and tbe ballad writers aro tnrnlng out patriotic ■ongs by the ream. 000 that I have Just seen is entitled, " It Takes a Man to be v Soldier." A theatre manager, trying to Imitate patrlotlsmfortneßakeof notoriety, spread an immenco Spanish flag in tbe foyer uf his theatre In a German and Jewish neighborhood, fixpeotlng his audlencoto walkover it. Before the doors bad been opened raacy minutes the banner was torn in shreds by an angry orowd, and the pieces carried off as trophies of war, This bit of savagery humiliated millions of American!, who yet cannot deny that it shows what Yellow Journalism oan do. Ayonng woman who essayed to sing tbe delightful ballad " In Old Madrid." was booted off the stage of one of our mu<lc balls, and when, In another theatre, •ho orohestra played a lively Spanish fantasia, tbe people stormed the mm lolans with yells and missiles until they retreated nnder tbe stage. In all the theatres now It Is considered essential to an evening's reorestion for the orchestra, after eaoh act, to play "The Star-spangled Banner," whereupon the entire audience, rise, and ring and oheer until their patrlotlim finds relief. These patriotic onlbnme are nob confined to theatres, A business mm entered a Broadway restaurant the ocbnr day and ordered a Spanltb omelette. Tbe waiter took hli order, but soon OHum book and told him he would have lo take his d?rd some ojher way, n» the cooks absolutely rulnntid 'tn make nuy mure SpaulsU omelettes until Spain apolo» y-Ue» to tbo Uulttid Stutos, The guest hfiJitily endorsed, tiia c&oka' poiltloo, and

changed his order, the fcroprleloi: of the reitauiant, not fa be outdone In patriotism, Immediately atrnck "SpaoUb omelette" from all bla bills of fare. "Spanish." has, In foot, become the most unpopular word la the Snglfah language from an Amotloan point of view. Daring the poit two months a New York firm that Bdrortlsea a special brand of Spanish Hqoorloe hftn lost half ! a trade. rt We have to iwallo* Bpanfe'h lnanlts,' 1 said one lndlßnsnt oltffesn, " but l'jl be darned I If we Bwsllofp Bpanleh lNjuorloe."