Life, 1913-04-24 · page 39 of 48
Life — April 24, 1913 — page 39: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical article mocks how World War I correspondents report battles they don't actually witness. The piece contrasts the romantic notion of war correspondents as battlefield observers with the reality: they now write accounts while censored, absent from fighting, or relying on personal anecdotes rather than facts. The examples given—Lieutenant Wagner (whose Bulgarian Army accounts were edited by censors and he was rarely present) and Ashmead Bartlett (who saw only one battle but padded his book with self-aggrandizing adventure stories)—illustrate how these writers fabricate narratives about wars they barely understand. The satire's point: modern war correspondents are unreliable storytellers inventing dramatic tales from ignorance, yet their books still sell better than reality would. The final line cynically notes readers can "only guess the truth"—because the correspondents certainly aren't providing it.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Improved War Cor- respondent HERE was a time when the war cor- respondent was the biggest thing in a battle. When war was declared, the consent of the war correspondent was first obtained. After he had secured his outfit and was transported to the front, he gave the signal and the fight began Seated in his Morris chair on an cle- vation near the battlefield he telegraphed his reports, permitting the generals to consult him occasionally. All this, however, has been changed. War correspondents now write their ac- counts of the war without knowing what is actually happening. For example, let us take the two principal books about the Balkan War—Lieutenant Wagner's “With the Victorious Bulgarians ” (Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) and Mr Ashmead Bartlett's “ With the Turks in Thrace" (Geo. H. Doran Company). Lieutenant Wagner was with the Bul- garian Army, but his accounts of the battles were all edited by the Bulgarian censor. As a matter of fact, he was at the front only a part of the time. Mr. Bartlett managed to sce part of the bat- tle of Lule Burgas. The rest of his story is an account of his personal adventures in evading and fooling the Turkish offi- cials. Whatever else Mr. Bartlett is, no one would ever accuse him of modesty, but his book is more interesting than a dime novel. Both of these books illustrate the great act of writing about something about which you can only guess the Reed &, Barton productions exhibit the perfected art of the silversmith. In design they emphasize those subtle touches of dignity and refinement that ‘appeal to people of taste. For wed- wa : : ding or anniversary gifts here is the appropriate choice—the silver any woman will be proud to call in later years her “family” silver. Offered by Leading Jewelers Everywhere Reed & Barton IRON RAILING Entrance Gates WIRE FENCING of all designs and for all purposes. Heavy all-galvanized Unclimbable Fences for Estate Boundaries and In- dustrials Properties. Tennis Court Enclosures a specialty Correspondence solicited. Catalogues furnished. F. E. CARPENTER CO. 862 Postal Bailding NEW YORK TMM MTT S205 ema Underground Garbage Receiver| LINS "swe NO FLIES, NOLITTER. NOODORS (Opens with 3 Ieee tacth, the foot: clowraltzet. Clean and sanitary, | Silversmiths Represented at Sth Ave. and 32d £:., 4 Maiden Lane, New York Chicago San Francisco Taunton, Massachusetts The Fragrant Piece of Earth: From Saadi A fragrant piece of earth salutes Each passenger, and perfume. shoots, Unlike the common earth or sod, Around through all the air abroad. A Pilgrim near it once did rest, And took it up, and thus addressed : “Art thou a lump of musk? or art A ball of spice, this smell t' impart to all who chance to travel by The spot where thou, like earth, dost lie?” Humbly the clod replied: “I must Confess that I am only dust But once a rose within me grew: Its rootlets shot, its flowerets blew, And all the rose’s sweetness rolled Throughout the texture of my mold; And so it is that I impart Perfume to thee, whoe'er thou art!” —Poetry of the Orient,” by W. R. Alger. Copyright by Roberts Bros., Boston, Mass., through whose courtesy we republish the above. comicbooks.com