A short article written 99 years ago about Pathe News’ having to resort to hiring women for news coverage in France since all their male counterparts had been drafted into the war.

The statement has been widely circulated that genuine war pictures are impossible to get, that mobilization maneuvers and libraries furnish practically all off the war news in films. That this is contrary to the truth is proven every week in the Pathe projection room in Jersey City where the newly arrived negatives are shown. Some of the battlefield views are so horrible that it is impossible to make use of them. Piles of unburied dead ready to be cremated, long burial trenches filled with the mangled remains of what once were men and tangled heaps of the human flotsam and jetsam of the conflict are all shown. Such realism is, of course, unadaptable for public showing.

War pictures are, as is true, very difficult to get, but not so much as in the early days of the war. It is interesting to note that owning to the absence of most able-bodied Frenchmen on the firing line Pathe has been driven to the necessity of using women as cameramen. The sight of these Pathe “camerawomen,” trudging along with camera and helper, has become a fairly common sight in Paris. It is reported that they have proven themselves quick to learn, reliable and competent and certainly those who accompany the army for Pathe News have shown plenty of nerve as well. In several instances they have been able to get to places where cameramen were not allowed, which goes to show that human nature is the same everywhere, and that a pretty feminine face and pleasant smile have a wonderful potency in overcoming difficulties.