The National tribune., 1901-06-13
PHOTOGRAPHY IN WAR.
By Means OF tie Camera Exact Reproductions
| Of Surrounding Country May Be Secured


In the past two years photography has
assumed an Importance on the battle
field never before imagined and the cam
ema in different forms will become
necessary adjunct of every well-Orgauized
War Department. When hostiliticS broke
out between this country and Spain the
camera was used mostly as an instrument
for newspaper and magazine work, and
every correspondent carried one with him.
1t was during this campaign that il was
raised from mere plaything to an in
Strumcnt of inestimable value to the army
officers. The daring correspondents who
passed through the lines of the enemy, or
venturcd close enough to them to snap pic
lures of the picllets, furnished the officers
with details and surroundings which
greatly facilitated future manuvcrS. 1t
was found that the camera was a more
faithful and reliable scout than the keen
est and bravest of the professional spies.
When the English army went to South
Africa they carried with them professional
army photographers. These We're provided
with compound telephotographic lenses,
which enabled the operator to bring
distant picture much nearer than by Ordi-
nary photography. The ''telephOtO at
tachment' was first applied to photo
graphing mountain passes b. explorers,
and by means of it distant, inaccessible
peaks could be reproduced as though they
this invention to the war cameras marked
n revolution in modern scouting and OBJ
servation. From balloons two or three
thousand feet in the air exact reprOduc-
tiOns of the surrounding country could be
made on a scale sufficiently large to en-
able the officers to make good use of
the knowledge The English army under
Lord Roberts prepared charts of the en-
emy's position and of the topography of
the mountainous country better than if
scouts had penetrated through the lines
Of the Beers and made rough diagrams.
1t completely revOlutiOniZed past methods
of studying the country, which at any
time might become bloody battlefield.
Through the Filipino war the camera
likewise proved of more actual service
than ever before, and it was constantly
developed as an instrument of daily serv-
ice to the officers. The modern electric
signals and telegraphy hardly assumed
more Importance in the Philippines than
the camera. But for that matter cleo
trical and Photographic development go
hand in hand, and the two have been
combined in many ways. Rapid electrical
photography has been used by our official
army photographers in both the Philip
pines and-in China. Photography under
water has also proved of service to our
navy. When the Oregon was grounded
on the rock in the Far Eastern waters,
a photograph under the water was taken
to show the exact location of the rock
and the nature of the wound to the ex-
ternal shell of the boat. 1t also revealed
the exact nature of her position, so that
it could be decided whether it would be
advisable to haul her off by the stern.
The pictures thus taken of the battleship
will prove of imperishable value to the
Navy Department and will serve as a
concrete study of marine accidents.
Every war correspondent and most Of
fcers carry a camera with them now, but
the official photographer of each eXpedi-
tiOn is the man who is held responsible
for a reproduction OF everything OF value.
When the present difficulties in and about
the Philippines end, the War Department
at Washington will have many thousand
official pictures to file away and preserve.
These photographs will eventually appear
in the official war reports of the whole
campaign.