The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-11-02
THE TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INTERPRETATIONS BUREAU
By FREDERIC J. HAsKIN, Director.
washington, ID. c.
Our NEW CAMERA CORES.

Wherever American soldiers and sail
ors go, they will be followed by the
faithful moving picture man, ready at
any minute to grind out, u. S. troops
go over the top or Heavy gunfire
on the firing line" Other members
of the photographic division will take
stills" and yet others attached to
the aviation section are preparing to
secure photographs of enemy trenches
and Notifications in the face OF hos
tile fire.
Our photographic divi S o n was
planned and built up almost over
night. 1t is only a few weeks old, but
already it is one of the most impor-
tant branches of the service. There
are no raw recruits in the division.
Every man is there because he can do
some particular thing, and do it wen.
When the war department decided
that the time had come to organize
the staff of camera men and labora-
tory workers it did not wait for cas-
ual volunteers. 1t got in touch with
the committee on public information,
and the committee Immediately pro-
duced data on the best available
photo-scientists, moving picture men,
and still-camera men in the country.
Two months later, the Photographic
Division of the Signal Corps was oc-
cupying four rooms of Washington S
priceless office space, and four majors,
a captain, two or three dozen l1euten-
ants, and a number of enlisted men
were directing, studying, and expert
menting in laboratory, office, and
training camp. Just exactly how
many men are, or will be, in the di-
vision cannot be made public, as this
information would indirectly disclose
the number of men aboard.
Importance of War Photography.
All the best features of the allied
war photography systems are being
adapted to fit our particular needs,
and we are profiting by the expert
ence of all the warning nations.
At the beginning of the war un-
on all the war fronts by the foreign
army authorities. The belIigerents
quickly learned that this was an I'M
wise procedure, for it resulted IN a
leakage of valuable military informa-
ton. Today the official photographer
has the field to himself, working as a
part of the military machine. The
British government has three official
camera men to take war news pictures
for the public. All of our war pic
lures Will also be official, but our
news camera force will run into the
hundreds.
From abroad we secure the :dea
of releasing the pictures for the bene-
fit of the war relief societies. The
Russian war news pictures are in the
hands of the Skobeleff Committee, an
organization for the relief of Russian
wounded in the hands of the enemy.
This committee is authorized by the
Russian government and headed by a
Russian army officer. 1t sends out
its official photographers on assign
ments, and then manufactures and
sells the pictures taken, the proceeds
going for benefit of the relief work.
Our use of the Red Cross in this mat
ter will be limited to the distribution
of the pictures to picture companies
through the nation. A special Red
Cross committee will distribute the Of
neal pictures that are turned over
to it by the Committee on Public In
formation, and the net profit will be
added to the Red Cross fund. This
method of release will give the various
moving picture corporations an equal
chance at the pictures. The alterna-
tive would be to display all pictures
thru one company, an arrangement
which would involve less work but
would give one concern an advantage
over the others:
The Photographic division is so
new that it seems natural to refer to
It's activities as affairs of the future.
The fact is, that even now it's pictures
are being printed in the newly created
signal corps photo laboratory in
Washington, and results of its work
are ready for use. Lenses, paper and
Photographic apparatus of all kinds
are being studied and improved, tho
the most up-to-date and 1abor-savine
equipment is in use.
Camera Men Face Dangers.
Many of the officers in charge of
the photo laboratory are news nbo-
tographers who have seen service on
every European front The enlisted
man faces the same dangers and hard
SHIPS as the soldier in the front line
OF trenches; but the civilian war pho
tographer has a few extra WORRIES
such as being continually taken for a
spy ana OFTEN nearly shot and having
MS pest pictures held up by the CEN
sor' diplomacy is more essential tn
MN than passport, for by diplomacy
general may be induced to trot ont
battalion or so and stage an attack
or shoot on few four-inch guns He
may even, If properly approached
send his army out of a city aIrea an
taken and let the camera record fhe
trlumphal entry for the benefit Of Aha
pubic Such pictures are not pron-
erly takes, because they represent true
conditions, and merely have the adj
vantage of being taken under favor
aole circumstances. Most war mic
lures however, are snapped without
special preparation
our ohctal photographers will he
attached entirely to the American di-
VISIONS and staff headquarters. and
tnelr ofhcial status will remove for
tueln many of the difficulties faced by
ll4e cIViIlan photographer after news
official Pictures at the Movies.
Pictures by our men. slammed with
the seal of approval of the Committee
on public Information, will soon be
featured at local moving picture
theaters; already they are being dis
played in newspapers and magazines
| Ihese and other pictures of a more
technical or confidential character viii
! be studied in training camps and al
/ the war college. Representative pic
lures will be laid aside for historical
purposes; so that Americas share in
the great war will be wildly preserved
| for future generations of Americans
The camera as a weapon of war is
| far from new 1t appeared in warfare
as far back as 1869, when Napoleon
| II used this method of locating the
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