The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-07-19
UNDER FIRE WITH A
MOVING PICTURE CAMERA,
Dangers and Adventures Operator Recalled
by William Sparks Who Accompanied War Correspondent
n NJ. Dickson to the Front.
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.

WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
OF all those people who sit in comfortable
| seats at the theater and lock upon stirring
cinematograph pictures OF the field OF bat
tie, few pause to reflect at what an awful
risk Of human life they have been secured.
In the history OF these pictures are stories
| that would make the hearts OF tho specta-
tors thrill. could they have seen them as
they were made.
When ordered to the front the cinemato-
graph mans task Is moro perilous than that
OF him who carries a gun. It Is filled with
adventures that few veterans have ever
seen. The most exposed part of the battle
field is left for the cinematograph man.
There, with his cumbersome machine. he
cannot hide from the eyes of those he is
| taking. Staff officers, cavalrymen. regulars
and the sharpshooters OF both sides spot
| him in an instant
Sometimes he is looked upon as an inno-
cent noncombatant; at others he is singled
| out as an enemy even more to be feared
| than any member Of the army he is accom-
of the most exposed officer in the line is TO
be envled compared with that Of the man
who Is taking animated pictures for the
amusement of millions who scarcely realize
what the pictures mean. When l signed IN
Ger contract during the Boer war with n.
NJ. Dickson, the war correspondent, must
confess that did not know that he had the
reputation Of being the most daring cine
matosrapher in the world. He had been
sent out BY big English syndicate, and
unless within four weeks after q battle or
an important event the picture Of 1t Should
be shown in the Crystal Palace, London, he
| was Bound to forfeiture.
FROM Cape Town we fastened to the
'front.'. travelling almost night and day, and
reached Bloenfoutein in time to make a
picture OF the unfurling OF the royal stand
arc arc ,r wnsn the Orange Free State was pre-
, cameo colony OF Britain. But the real
. "oTk and its perils began for me when we
TOOK the picture that set London wild-the
famous charge of the Seventeenth Lancers
at kopjes Station.
HEADQUARTERS. / had been in the saddle for
SSosGething Ike eighteen hours, carrying
b pack some of our films to the nearest irati
mead. or point of railroad communication
anu was sleeping when Dickson aroused
me. l could see by the excited lool, in bs
race ese that something big was in the wind.
Roberts Is just writing q dtspatch IN
Soionel Strens of the Lancers, to cream nm
on Erasmus, said Dickson. I'VE haven't a
moment to lose "
A CAMERA CHARGE.
Inc kafitrs were awakened in a iifrv.
Usually we only had four horses to orr
heaVy cart. but this time we took six. AL
together the outfit with which We made mic
lures weighed 1880 pounds. We know whers
the Boer General Erasmus was located.
ana away We galoped across the yeIdt in
mat direction, blu! il was not long before
the dispatch rider passed US on his way to
Streng. This changed our course. Accord
Ing to Dickson. there was only enc Way in
which the English could attack, and that
was by coming along dried up river bed
and IN his retreat Erasmus would have Ia
pass hatiir kraal which we had previously
located. From that kraal we would GET a
picture II the English were victorious II
they were not We would fail. For two miles
We kept our horses at a gallop. while the
from jolting too much, At the kraal We
sought the most commanding view OF the
surrounding veldt and began setting up our
camera.
The first thing that we did was to fix
hrmiy in the ground a powerful steel frame
work. in which was hung an ordinary bicy-
axle of this wheel a flexible shaft led to the
three-foot square box of the camera, which
was set up on steel tripod few feet from
picture taking.
The inside Of cinematograph is built
much like a film camera. The lens of the
behind it. and between 1t and the films. is
round disk filled with tiny Sits like a
pan with slices taken out. 1t is to this disk
that the flexible shaft is connected and lust
as swiftly as the man on the wheel makes
this shaft revolve the disk will whirl also
This shaft also controls the rolls of films.
slits comes In front of the lens an exposure
Is made. The films themselves are four
inches square. from go to 500 of than in a
single roll and as many as from 800 TO 500
exposures can be made In a minute.
We had hardly prepared ourselves when
the rear Of the Boer forces appeared around
the edge Of the hill that shut out our view
of the approach of the English. In a mo-
ment We knew that the Beers knew of the
approach of their enemies: and my heart
fairly leaped into my mouth as they stead
lily retreated toward our kraal,
Seated on the wheel. ready for work. I
could see every move they made. Hundreds
Of horsemen came around the hills at
brisk canter less than third Of a milo
away. Then we could see them form. and
knew that Erasmus was ready to fight Re
fore they oamo in sight We could hear the
cheering of the LanceTs.
UNDER HEAVY FIRE.
No one but who has seen the picture of
this fight thrown on canvas can imagine
with what suddenness the whole scene burst
into view. Like torrent the Lancers came
r.