DIY History | Transcribe | World War I Diaries and Letters | Conger Reynolds newspaper clippings, 1916-1919 | 1918-01-03 Des Moines Register Clipping: ""Conger Reynolds Wielded Big Blue Pencil On War Reporters"" Page 1

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Conger Reynolds newspaper clippings, 1916-1919

1918-01-03 Des Moines Register Clipping: ""Conger Reynolds Wielded Big Blue Pencil On War Reporters"" Page 1

CONGER REYNOLDS WIELDED BIG BLUE PENCIL ON WAR REPORTERS

[Hand writing under the headline: from D *surname?* 3-18-1919]

Correspondent at Feast in Luxemburg Lets Out One of the Secrets of Censorship

In a recent issue of the New York Tribune there appeared a story by Wilbur Forrest describing the American Thanksgiving celebration at Luxemburg in which mention is made of the activities of Lieut. Conger Reynolds, formerly of The Register staff, who, it appears, was one of the assistants of Capt. Gerald Morgan, chief censor of the output of the American war correspondents at the front.
After describing some of the ceremonies of the Thanksgiving feast, Mr. Forrest goes on to say:
"At this stage an army captain confessed knowledge of the art of playing a violin, knowing not that the cook was also a violin artist and had been carrying a violin with him throughout the war. The instrument was produced, and the captain's bluff was called. He broke into that lively little tune known in Lincoln's time as 'Pig in the Parlor,' and admitted that before becoming an army captain he used to play for dances in the wilds of Saskatchewan.
"The violin then passed to Maj. Bozeman Bulger, once from Alabama, later a baseball writer on The New York World, later with a machine gun battalion of the New York Metropolitan division (Seventy-seventh, and later chief of field headquarters of the press section. Bulger's accomplishment on the old violin was 'Silver Threads Among the Gold,' and while the entire assemblage sang the 'Old Apple Tree' to the tune 'Silver Threads,' the contrast stirred the poetic soul of Grantland Rice, and he was seen to be silently busy with a pencil, writing on a scrap of paper. Bulger's 'Silver Threads' had to be saved somehow, and it was Rice to the rescue. This is the song he wrote on the tune of *Silver Threads Among the Gold,' sung by the entire Thanksgiving party as Bulger encored on the violin:

"Darling, I am coming back,
Silver threads among the black.
As at last the peace talk nears
I'll be home in seven years.

"I'll drop in on you some night.
With my whiskers long and white.
You can hear the censors curse,
'War is the h---" but peace is worse.

"When the next war comes around
In the front ranks I'll be found.
I'll rush in at once, pell mell, 
Yes, I will, like h---, like h---."

"This was sung three times over with great enthusiasm, the last verse being sung with more enthusiasm than the first two on each occasion.
"Among those singing this verse louder than all the rest was Capt. Gerald Morgan, of Hyde Park, N.Y., chief censor and former war correspondent himself. Morgan enjoys the distinction of having censored more American war stories than any other living American censor. He began before our troops entered their practice trenches in Lorraine, in 1917. He served the powerful blue pencil through the Toul sector, at Cantigny, Belleau Wood, Chateau Thierry, the Marne and Vesle, St. Mihiel, Argonne, and will doubtless finish at Coblenz-on-the-Rhine in Germany.
"At two other places about the banquet table there was noticed fervent singing. This fervor came from Captain Hertzell, former New York newspaperman, and Lieut. Conger Reynolds of Des Moines, Ia. who have long assisted Captain Morgan in dealing wth the output of American war correspondents at the front.
"This is the first time that the names of those sitting on the censorship 'lid' in France, dealing with the millions of words written about the war by American correspondents, have been mentoned. Proof of the accuracy of this story, therefore, if it finally appears in the columns of the New York Tribune, may be judged by the fact that it has been passed by the censor.
"The thanksgiving party broke up after the singing of every song that could possibly be remembered by anyone present. The 'Marseillaise' and 'The Star Spangled Banner' were the last. And as the thanksgivers filed out into the night it was as through a well developed crowd of Luxemburgers, who had heard the noise and come to see the strange celebration which some one had explained was done each year by those noisy Americans."

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CONGER REYNOLDS WIELDED BIG BLUE PENCIL ON WAR REPORTERS [Hand writing under the headline: from D *surname?* 3-18-1919] Correspondent at Feast in Luxemburg Lets Out One of the Secrets of Censorship In a recent issue of the New York Tribune there appeared a story by Wilbur Forrest describing the American Thanksgiving celebration at Luxemburg in which mention is made of the activities of Lieut. Conger Reynolds, formerly of The Register staff, who, it appears, was one of the assistants of Capt. Gerald Morgan, chief censor of the output of the American war correspondents at the front. After describing some of the ceremonies of the Thanksgiving feast, Mr. Forrest goes on to say: "At this stage an army captain confessed knowledge of the art of playing a violin, knowing not that the cook was also a violin artist and had been carrying a violin with him throughout the war. The instrument was produced, and the captain's bluff was called. He broke into that lively little tune known in Lincoln's time as 'Pig in the Parlor,' and admitted that before becoming an army captain he used to play for dances in the wilds of Saskatchewan. "The violin then passed to Maj. Bozeman Bulger, once from Alabama, later a baseball writer on The New York World, later with a machine gun battalion of the New York Metropolitan division (Seventy-seventh, and later chief of field headquarters of the press section. Bulger's accomplishment on the old violin was 'Silver Threads Among the Gold,' and while the entire assemblage sang the 'Old Apple Tree' to the tune 'Silver Threads,' the contrast stirred the poetic soul of Grantland Rice, and he was seen to be silently busy with a pencil, writing on a scrap of paper. Bulger's 'Silver Threads' had to be saved somehow, and it was Rice to the rescue. This is the song he wrote on the tune of *Silver Threads Among the Gold,' sung by the entire Thanksgiving party as Bulger encored on the violin: "Darling, I am coming back, Silver threads among the black. As at last the peace talk nears I'll be home in seven years. "I'll drop in on you some night. With my whiskers long and white. You can hear the censors curse, 'War is the h---" but peace is worse. "When the next war comes around In the front ranks I'll be found. I'll rush in at once, pell mell, Yes, I will, like h---, like h---." "This was sung three times over with great enthusiasm, the last verse being sung with more enthusiasm than the first two on each occasion. "Among those singing this verse louder than all the rest was Capt. Gerald Morgan, of Hyde Park, N.Y., chief censor and former war correspondent himself. Morgan enjoys the distinction of having censored more American war stories than any other living American censor. He began before our troops entered their practice trenches in Lorraine, in 1917. He served the powerful blue pencil through the Toul sector, at Cantigny, Belleau Wood, Chateau Thierry, the Marne and Vesle, St. Mihiel, Argonne, and will doubtless finish at Coblenz-on-the-Rhine in Germany. "At two other places about the banquet table there was noticed fervent singing. This fervor came from Captain Hertzell, former New York newspaperman, and Lieut. Conger Reynolds of Des Moines, Ia. who have long assisted Captain Morgan in dealing wth the output of American war correspondents at the front. "This is the first time that the names of those sitting on the censorship 'lid' in France, dealing with the millions of words written about the war by American correspondents, have been mentoned. Proof of the accuracy of this story, therefore, if it finally appears in the columns of the New York Tribune, may be judged by the fact that it has been passed by the censor. "The thanksgiving party broke up after the singing of every song that could possibly be remembered by anyone present. The 'Marseillaise' and 'The Star Spangled Banner' were the last. And as the thanksgivers filed out into the night it was as through a well developed crowd of Luxemburgers, who had heard the noise and come to see the strange celebration which some one had explained was done each year by those noisy Americans."