Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1917 — SNAP'GUNS’UNDER THE ENEMY’S FIRE [ARTICLE]

SNAP'GUNS’UNDER THE ENEMY’S FIRE

-•iO DANGER LOOMS SO LARGE A 8 THE DANGER OF MISSING’A GOOD PHOTOGRAPH." REAL PICTURES OF THE WAR

British Correspondent in France Tells of Risks the “Almost Soldiers’’ Run. s London —No danger looms so large in the nature of the war photographer as the danger of missing a good photograph, says W. Beach Thomas, a London correspondent with the British army in France, in expressing admiration for ‘‘those almost soldiers” who spend their days not in fighting but in taking picture* of those who fight They run a soldier’s risk, if not daily, at any rate once a week; and on occasion the risk is very great indeed. Sometimes this is the fault as well as the virtue of the photographer. “He tells of the preparations made f. r taking a photograph of th* destruction of a German blockhouse. “An offleer-turaed- his ingenuity, learned in shooting big game in India, tc the work of finding and organizing a hiding place for the photographer. A loophole was punctured at night in the front parapet, which was perhaps iDO yards trom the target. This hole •vas then carefully blocked so as to be invisible; and the photographer installed behind it was ordered not to oj.en it till after, the first heavy shell was fired and the energy were taking shelter. But photographers, in my experience, are not made quite like other people. No danger looms so jarge in their nature as the danger of missing a good photograph. “So it was with the artist on this occasion. A nervous terror possessed trim that the first shell from the 9J would do the deed and render further shots unnecessary.- His photograph ■ ef’s nature gave him no alternative, and he opened the loophole at once. Of course the enemy saw, and, of course, turned guns onto the spot. Happily, our 9.2 was punctual. The photographer was forgotten in bigger " things and he got an excellent picture of the dissolution of the blockhouse, which shot up in dust and ashes under the stimulus of the eighth shell. “Often on such occasions the nervousness of the photographer’s work has been increased by the complete clearance of the trench. There is always the danger of a mine or shell Kicking back, so for a short period in certain circumstances the front tiench may be cleared. But the soldier's withdrawal is occasion for the photographer’s advance. To miss taking the explosion of a big mine, such as that of the Hawthorn Redoubt on July 1, would be as serious as a soldier’s failure to take a strong place. It was while holding such a trench alone that the garrison of two photographers had one of their machines crippled. A fragment of a high-explo-sive shell ent the leg of the camera, off.

“One of the most disagreeable facts of the war for photographers and some others is the enemy’s unpleasant habit of sniping with artillery, even heavy artillery. I have seen a shell pitched within 10 yards of two observers who had exposed themselves on a hilltop In Flanders. At least as good shooting was made at a camera el own above the parapet in the neighborhood of Hebuterne. Possibly the Germans thought they had discovered’ Svine new mortar or infernal machine. • At any rate, they began almost at □nee to snipe with their 5.9. The excellence of the shooting suggests that the spot had been already registered. The first shell, fell just in front It was followed by another within a few yards, and the third hit the parapet just as the two were packing up their : I paratus. Like wise men, thtey fell on their faces at the first sound of the whistle; but even a recumbent position has its dangers. One of them was covered up with mud and needed his friend’s help to get clear. "I have met the official photographers in many places. There is nothing hi or behind that escapes 't'eir ministrations. Indeed, one is tnclined'to feel that the future history of the war should be photographs as to a good half of its contents. But the most vivid picture I have is of a buoyant figure, equipped, of course, with shrapnel helmet and gas mask, picking his way between German prisoners and our wounded in the neighborhood of Mametz. He was, I think, on the track of captured guns in the wood, but on his way was busy with prisoners. He had a great way with prisoners. His refusal to speak GerI tan Impressed them and did not seem to interfere with' the crisp clarity oi his instructions, which'were obeved tc the letter. ■ All the official photography, k’ne matograph or other, is done by men who fly about with extreme activity Iroih on e pri rt bf the front to the ot ner. One of them has been up In a<.ro planes over the enemy lines and all if..them have enduced almost the worst thing in war, a trench nude/ heavy •' bombardment, besides, ot course, the common danger of whistling and other far. flung shells,"