Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1921-12-08

many of these foreigners who now
have come to America ito help put
the war correspondents job on the
list of discarded occupations"
1t is pleasant to note that the ma
jority OF the writer's who have come
here to cover the conference is COM
posed of real newspaper men, men
trained to their business, There are
here in addition quite a number of
men and women who have made their
regulations by writing six best sell
ers, and other kindred things, but who
perhaps are not as competent to- find
news nor to write it as the men who
know the game and have staid with 1t
through the years.
Philippe Millet of France is here.
He is the correspondent of LIE Petit
! Parisien, journal which rejOices, or
at any rate, whose owner rejOices,
in a circulation of something over u
million every day in the year barring
only Sundays, which is something Of
a circulation for a daily paper.
Then we have with us NJ. Gerard,
otherwise known as "PertinaX."
France and the world pretty generally
know this pertinacious gentleman. He
is writer of rare merit, and, what
counts some, good fellow.
From British Empire and Orient.
From England has come Mr.. Steed
Of the London Times; Sir Arthur Will
lert, who will be a sort of helper
In publicity in behalf of the foreign
office of his government, and Wilmet
Lewis, who for years served a great
London newspaper in the Far East
There are other British newspaper men
here representing the papers of the
home island and of Canada, Australia
and the other lands beyond the seas
which look to England as the mother
country.
Japan has sent a round dozen of
writer's to cover the conference. With
them are several Chinese newspaper
men and perhaps it is almost needless
to say that their viewpoint of things
is somewhat different from that of
their Japanese brethren, but they get
along together with an Oriental ami
ability which makes for the general
grace of things in comradeship.
The arrival is expected shortly of
Henri POnsOt of Paris who in the early
days of the great war was the director
Of what the French called the bureau
de la. presse. Monsieur POnsOt will be
hailed joyfully by some twenty or
thirty Washington correspondents, and
some others who are here only tenn
pOrarily, 1t is probable that this early
war director of press activities In
France had as th9nkless job as ever
fell upon the shoulders of man to tote
along. His headquarters were in the
foreign Office of the French government
and there day by day all through 1915
and part Of 1915, appeared CORE
spondents from all over the world beg
ging permission to go to the front.
Ponsot, Friend Of Correspondents.
In April, 1915, only eight months af-
ter the war had started, l went to
France as correspondent. Arriving In
Paris, l went to Ponsot's office, made
myself known, presented my creden- !
tials, and asked for permission to 20
to the front as soon as possible. Mon
sieur POnsOt smiled at me, made me |
feel at home and then told me that |
the government was allowing FIVE |
newspaper men each month to 20 to |
the front and that there were seventy |
newspaper men all clamOring for the
privilege.
This meant that If things went along |
In the regular order of precedence a |
correspondent might have TO stay In |
Paris pretty near a year before he |
would get a chance to see q shell fall.
He would have to fight 1.-THE battle
of Paris" with his pen and try to salts
fy the home readers with accounts Of a
war which he was not allowed to wit.
ness.
Somehow or other Ponsot, Journal
istic genius of the bureau de la presse.
worked things out satisfactorily, The
foreign newspaper men saw the front
fairly quickly and were able to write
about 1t from a visualizing standpoint.
How he did 1t l don't know, but he
did 1t. know that had two extend
ed trips along the front within six
weeks of the time that l arrived at
Monsieur POnsOt's Office and was met
with the intimation that might have
to wait a year. think the other
newspaper men had like experiences.
1t may be that the conference in
many of its sessions will not be open
to the public, but with much more than
half a thousand newspaper men on the
spot, some Of whom know pretty near
~ every great one who Is in their
midst, and who are willing to interpret
the great ones intentions for his
brethren, there is little chance that
the public will not be kept we'll in
formed as to what's what in the great
on the Limitation of arma-
nents and Far East problems.