OBIT 'PEDDLER' MOVES AT A FAST CLIP

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000401550001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 24, 2014
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 5, 1966
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/24: CIA-RDP73-00475R000401550001-2
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By Nona Cleland
Washington Post Staff Writer
A -few hburs after the
news was released of the
death in Vietnam of the son
of Merriman Smith, veteran
United Press International
White House correspondent,
the phone rang at Smith's
Alexandria home.
Smith's maid answered
the call and after hanging
up, informed Smith that a
man who identified himself
as a member of the press
would - like Smith to call
him at once.
. Smith immediately re-
turned the call and found
'himself talking to. Prescott
Dennett.
? Dennett told Smith the
, death of his son was tragic.
.But it was also historic,
Dennett said, and surely,
Smith would want to pre-
serve the public notices and
acclaim for later genera-
Dennctt then proceeded to
. quote prices to Smith of
$215 per thousand for clip-
pings about his son's death
from domestic news sources,.
$325 per thousand from for-
eign sources and $177.50 fpr
a dozen typed transcripts of
anything said over radio
and television.
Runs Five Agencies
Dennett, who says-he man-
ages five Clipping services
in Washington, confirmed
the incident yesterday.,
"As soon as Mrs. Dennett
and I heard of the death of
Smith's son, I grabbed the
phone,"- said Dennett.
"We felt like we knew
him. I used to watch him. on
Jack Parr. The wife and I
would pull up our chairs
and sit back and listen and
his stories about the White
House."
_
?
"Excuse me ? A. ',moment,"
said Dennett to a reportOr,
to whom he was talking on
the phone, "I have to .make
a phone call' at 4 o'clock. I
do have to 'make a 'nickel,
You know."
to the phone how he chose
whom to call, I):.11.nett said
that it depmdcd cdi the per-
son's- pi'ominence in . the
hews: ? .
'Prospect's a Prospect'
Just yesterday, he said, he
had put some clippings in
the mail to the widow of Al-
bert Thomas, a :member Of
the House of --Representa-
tives who died recently. He
had offered his service to
Mrs. Thomas as soon as he
heard of her husband's
death..
ciz, Feld
"But. a prospect's a pros-,
pect with. us," said Dennett.
"It could be a newspaper-
man, a plumber or the fellow
down the 'block."
Julius Frandsen, chief of
the .Washington bureau of
United Press International,
told a reporter that he had
been approached on the
phone by Dennett both on
the de at h 'of :Merriman
Smith's son_and on the death ,
of Hugh Baillie, former head
of the old United Press,.
.,Dennett, who is 58, -says he
has, been in the clipping
service business ,at least .25
yearS. He said he approaches
not only the family of a fa-
mous person who dies, but
anyone, who might have had
a c nection with him.
Nimes ,people call a
few weeks later and all of,
the paPers have been thrown
out and then it's too late,"
he said.
Dennett, who is listed in'
the phone . book as "corre-
spondent," lives and works
at 1868 Columbia rd. nw.
His wife, Ruth, is chi?f
reader for his -Congressic,...1:
Record Clipping Service. ,
? The five clipping busi-'
nesses he manages ?are list;
ed as Congressional Record
Clipping, Columbia News-
vertising, American Trade
Press Clipping Bureau, In-
ternational Press Clipping
Bureau Inc. (A Half. Cen-
tury' of Reputable Service),
and Radio TV Manuscripts.
Most of .the actual clip-
ping is done in New York.:
"I'm just a peddler," said
Dennett
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/03/24: CIA-RDP73-00475R000401550001-2