Star Reporter, 

 In Argentina, Gives 

 Interview— and How! 



Shippen Finds Himself 

 On Receiving End of 

 Journalistic Coup 



(No. 27 of a Series.) 



By W/fiT SHIPPEN, Jr., 



Star Staff Correspondent. 

 CORDOBA, Argentina.— A lot of 

 people have been interviewed, I'm 

 sure. Having spent about 12 years 

 asking questions, I ought to know! 



But I had to travel 7,000 miles to 

 get caught on the sharp end of a 

 repertorial pencil— -an old interviewer 

 being interviewed; no pretty sight, 

 however just the retribution! 



For the first time I felt a real sym- 

 pathy for the innocents and other- 

 wise whose affairs, enthusiasms, 

 prejudices, pet theories and personal 

 peculiarities I had aired in the pub- 

 lic prints— too often those of a pri- 

 vate nature. 



To say that I squirmed would be 

 putting it mildly. For one thing, the 

 reporter who got me at last spoke 

 English on a par with my Spanish- 

 otherwise, I might have fallen back 

 on such stand-bys as "off the rec- 

 ord," "just background, you urder- 

 gtand," or "this is strictly between 

 us boys— don't tie it to me." 

 Tries to Explain. 

 In desperation I produced my press 

 card and tried to explain— by waving 

 my hands— that he and I were just 

 a couple of working newspapermen 

 whose opinions were of no impor- 

 tance compared with those of people 

 we wrote about— like Dr. William 

 M. Mann, director of the National 

 Zoological Park in Washington, for 

 example. But Dr. Mann was walk- 

 ing far ahead of us, absorbed in the 

 wonders of the local zoo. He had 

 rather ^ see new forms of wild life 

 1 first and reporters later on. 



My contemporary overlooked my 

 . jlice press card, but his gaze fast- 

 ened on that of the White House 

 Correspondents' Association, with its 

 ~ golden American emblem above an 

 engraving of the White House. (The 

 ; boys had been good enough to let me 



Unidos Interesa Todo lo 

 ere a America del Sud 



Visitantes 



Norteamericanos 



DEI 



SR. 1 1PPEN 



Es un periodista de Was- 

 hington, que realiza 

 viaje de estudio 



Han vieitado 

 an el dia de 

 da* perso 

 na»v interes 

 puestras eo 

 toria y to pecu 

 Se trata del D 

 profesor jubilad 

 la Universidad d 

 nor William M. f> 

 Jardi'n Zoologico 

 y tl aenor Will' 

 redactor del di 

 Star" de Washir, 

 times vienen acorn 

 tsposas. 



La finalidad da e 

 hacer efectivo at pa" 

 mo por intermedio t 

 profundo conocimient 

 sea latinoa del Nuevo 

 Hace una aemana que 

 Buenos Aires, permanece 

 di'as en Cordoba y lueg 

 nuaran t ,viaje » otrat pro 

 argentinaa. 



Hemos entrevistado a 

 visitantes, mientraa recd'rn^ 

 Jardin Zooi6gico, acompan 

 del Ing. Abraham Villalba. si 

 rector de Agropecuaria de la p 

 vincia, e! senor Alejandro Per 

 ra, encarrjad-. del estableeimiel 

 y de otroa empleados del Mirf 

 terio de Obraa Publicas. 



Etonian el Zoologico 



El senor William M. Mann, en 

 calidad de director del Jardin Zo 

 16gico de Washington, ha vjsitac 

 diversos establecimientos analo? 

 en varias naciones. Ka un intell 

 gente conocedor de las especies de 

 animates que ae euardan en los 

 mismos, Le preguntamos que )m- 

 presi6n tiene de nuestro Jardin 

 Zool6gico: 



—La ubicacion de este Jardfn, su 

 exuberant© vegelacion y el acierto 

 con que se ha procedido en, propor- 

 cionar a los animates un fondo 



noa replica 

 |« dari una 



que esta to* 

 sdo ol lati- 

 ^uier libro o 

 tos de cen« 

 Icne exito se- 

 A castellan© 

 f a ae ha roto 

 jferencia 

 la~parte del 

 ,„ amerieano que habla 

 ...lano. Nos hemos alejad* 

 de ol europeo, preocupAndonoa da 

 lo que esta mas cerca de noso- 

 Iros: centro y audamerica. 



/ Est© es el tltulo adecuado pari 

 L\ Dr. John H. Gray, profesor Jubt- 

 flado d© Economia d© la Unlversl- 

 dad de Harvard. Ha yi'ajado por la 

 mayoria de las naciones europeas; 

 ha visitado gran parte -de Asia, 

 centro anierica y sudam^rica . Tie- 



While it's spring up here, it's fall in the Argentine. And 

 while newspapermen do the interviewing here; in the Argentine 

 they're liable to be interviewed, as Correspondent Shippen (lew 

 is being interviewed above by a reporter in Cordoba. And, judg- 

 ing from the headline in the Cordoba paper, what a news- 

 paperman says is pretty important. 



modalidadea propias er» 

 los 6rdenea de la vida. Et 

 precisament* estos aspectos loa 

 que yo reflejo en loa articulos 

 que mando, cada tres dias, al dia- 

 rio a que pertenezco. 



—Que concepto se ha formado 

 de nosotros? . , 



—El argentine es amable y sinv .. 

 pitico. El extranjero que visita ; 



embargo on the beef of the Ar- 

 gentine?" (Or words to that effect.) 

 "What is your opinion of the pres- 

 ent relations between our republics? 

 What have you observed of our in- 

 ternal economics?" 



The reporter knew just enough 

 English and I Spanish to get a rough 

 (a very rough!) idea of what we were 

 saying. Only he could wave his 

 hands faster. "No, no," I said, "no, 

 no! No, no! I am no politicio jour- 

 nalist, no economic observer— I only 

 write features for The Star." 



"Ah, you are featured— the star 

 periodisto of Washington, yes?" 

 "No." 



"Oh, yes, yes, yes— si, senor, your 

 are modest!" 



Enchanted With Country. 

 The reporter's pencil was going 

 faster than he talked. Meanwhile, 

 I paid in English— although he didn't 

 catch a word— that I was enchanted 

 with the Argentine, thought the 

 women the most beautiful in the 

 world, the beefsteaks supreme, the 

 mate (or native tea) excellent, and 

 the cities superb, especially the in- 

 land metropolis of Cordoba, with its 

 300,000 popula Ion, its magnificent 

 skyline, etc. 



I also mentioned the fact that he 

 might get something really worth 

 while by talking to Dr. Mann. 



"Ah," he said, "is Meester Mann in ! 

 your party?" 



"No, no," I said, waving my hands 

 and feet, "No, no! No, no! I'm 

 only tagging along!" 



"Si, senor," he said, and bowed 

 himself away. 



Tonight the reporter's newspaper 

 rfad me in the headline. Dr. Mann, 

 however, was mentioned— in an in- 

 side paragraph! 



Tomorrow: An Unofficial Diplomat. 



into their association in case the 

 card should be useful down here. 

 The only assignments I ever had at 

 the White House were the Easter egg 

 rollings.) 



"Ah," exclaimed the Latin Amer- 

 ican reporter, "your are assigned to 

 the Presidente! A r*>liticio journal- 

 ist when will the Presidente* and the 

 Congress of North America lift the 



* 



