Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-04-22
A FLYING SQUADRON.


toward him.
mo. thank you." he replied; ''but
with your permission, I'll All my pip
from yOcr bowl Indeed, when cam
up to your room it was only for q littl,
tobacco-ran out myself-cigars al
gone. And here it is already IL o'clock
Myi my! how time flies when one get,
notwithstanding. But, to continue
Now. when my good friend Lieuten
ant Swash takes possession Of me and
my room at IL p. m., l do not always
consider it my duty to listen to him
He has been such frequent visitor OF
mine since he has been staying Mt OuI
boarding house. and, then, he Is one OF
those individuals who SO lose them
selves in their own variations that they
even forget they have an audience. So
when the lieutenant said: "NOw, to
continue" i sank deeper into by big
chair and gazed absently into the fire
He was talking warfare Of the future
What cared l for that, who possessed
neither stocks that would 60 down nor
food products that would 60 up. My
eyelids closed wearily; how l wished
he would 60. Then he made q state.
nent so absurd that laughed.
1T took place on July 16. 1896"
heard him say.
Eighteen forty SIX" I corrected.
"Now, see here" said the naval man.
testify. How old do you think am
so? Pshaw! l was 80 then. 1t was
1916, and please don't contradict me.
1t was fifty years hence it all hap
pened."
IF you will have 1t SO, all WELL"
said.
Now the date is settled and you
thoroughly understand the cause of the
war. Great Britain claimed the at
mospheric covering of the earth to a
height of 10000 feet, basing the claim
on the fact that as far back as 1899 an
English baloonist had disappeared from
view at that height-he was never seen
again. Such claim as this, had 1t been
recognized by other nations, would
have given her too great n control over
mankind's supply of breath. We claim
ed up to altitude of 900 over the Unit
ed States, but she would not recognize
this and refused to arbitrate. The
result was war-terrible war;"
1 took my pipe from between my
teeth and fixed a cold eye on the
speaker.
Lieutenant Swash," / said in n low
but distinct tone. you have explained
one cause of the war five times.
have swallowed your dates and may
be able TO gulp down your facts. but ]
ask that you desist from repetition"
well, well, if you'll have it SO. I'll
go ahead. Having the cause straight
In your mind, you will remember that
1t was July 16, 1916. that the fight Oc
CURED. There were three battle ships
I'm our fleet: Admiral Wad's flag ship.
the Swallow, carrying fifteen tons of
dynamite end two machine guns; the
Lightning, Captain Blower, ten tons ot
dynamite and two six-inch rifles; the
Hawk, Captain Wind, eleven tons of
dynamite and one pneumatic gun, used
for throwing explosives at the enemy
IN case she got above us. We were ac-
companied by two small torpedo boats
and the swift unarmOred cruiser kala
mazoo, which we expected to be of lit
tie service, since a bullet could have
forever. We lay about 800 miles east
of New York for four days, awaiting
the approach of the enemy's flying
SQUADRON. 1t was 10 o'clock on the
morning of July 16 when we sighted
them, about 200 miles away, running
toward us at n rapid rate. They must
have seen us at about the same time.
for they sheered off n little toward the
north and began to rise.
Admiral Wad, at whose side 1 was
standing on the quarter deck Of the
Swallow, at once understood their
maneuver. In modern warfare it's the
fellow who gets above the other and
drops dynamite on him that wins in
yariably. We were then at an alti-
tude of about 5000 feet and did not lose
any time getting higher. 1 can see the
grand old admiral now as he stood at
the switch board coOlly putting his
cigar as If lie was at his club down In
New York. There was not a tremOr
observable in his long thin finger rs he
pushed the button marked up Then
We began to ascend.
THE two other battle ships followed,
and as we arose we cleared for action.
The kalamazoo and the torpedo boats
were left behind, As 1t was not deemed
advisable to expose their frail struc-
lures to the enemy's fire.
Il confess, as | stood beside my brave
leader and felt our ship mounting
higlrr and higher and shooting on to-
ward the enemy at a speed of ninety
miles an hour; watched the crew of ten
men coolly placing dynamite bombs In
the most convenient places; saw the
three great steel balloons of our Ell
emy's squadron glistening in the sun
light as they shot toward us, felt thai
strange inward sensa ton that here
tofore l believed could only be caused
by Welsh rabbit at Il. m."
"You must drink good deal OF Gla
with your Welsh rabbits, lieutenant"
I v.rsured. mildly.
Pm total abstainer, sir" he re-
piled, quietly. And never did l have
more cause to be thankful for 1t than
Oil that day. i was in full possession
of my mental faculties; otherwise l
would never have been able to have
lived through those awful two hours
And the crew, tool never sa W q braver
Set of fellows in my life; not moist
eye or trembling lip among them.
The enery had two first-class bat
tie ships aEd two second-class. Ihey
advanced in a line parallel to ours Ad-
miral Wad sigHaled Commodore Blower
to engage the two second-class ships on
the left. to Wind to take the right, leav-
Ing us the nag ship in the center. This
vessel, / saw through my glasses, was
q little larger. but of almost the same
construction as the Swallow. There
was great cylindrical balloon or steel,
fully 500 feet in length, with the car
swung beneath ii: an armOred turret |
Of, hpr 1f /