davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1915-11-28

camps and trains. The largest type VIII
be armored and carry guns; It will be
the battleship Of the air squadron. and the
side which has the greater number oI
them ct given point will hold the su-
premacy of the air.
Before these decisions could be reached
the signal corps had to consider all sorts
of experimental machines-pushers, which
have the propelers behind; tractors,
which are pulled by propellers in front;
biplanes. monoplanes, those with one set.
those with two sets Of propellers. 1t
now seems that we should have biplane
two-seater tractors for general reconnais-
sance purposes.
American manufacturers are ingenious
and resourceful: they know a lot about
flying machines, which they can now
turn out at short notice in great num-
ber. Their product in all respects. except
possibly the motors. is excellent. That
the aviation motor is not entirely salts
factory is due to the lack Of demand up
to the outbreak of the present war for a
sufficiently large number to induce the
best engineering concerns to take up their
design and manufacture.
There are relatively few machines built
for private persons, as the expense and
uncertainty In the development of the art
has proved quite discouragtng to ANA
teurs. Nevertheless, 1t is known now that
in case OF need private concerns and gov
ernment factories can turn out as good
machines as any in the world. Although
this country invented the aeroplane and
it's manufacturers have helped to develop
1t, other nations have done more work In
bringing the flying craft to their present
high degree of speed, efficiency and
safety
There Is compensation in all things.
and If 1t be easy to put an aeroplane
out of commission IT Is not SO difficult
to repair a wreck. IL the more import
ant parts remain intact. always pro-
vided that there are skilled mscha-
nicians at hand, men who have natural
aptitude and good training. to repair
and restore the tangled mass into q
perfectly good aeroplane. There 10.
therefore, no reason for owning and
storing a large stock Of these ma
chimes beyond the number which our
aviation corps as constituted, can
handle-that Is, with q small reserve to
meet Losses. But the aviation corps
must be strengthened. for that and
not the number of machines is the true
test of the available strength tor war
purposes of this air cavalry.
Previous to 1914 no provision for in
thirty five officers had been detailed to
learn actual hying, but in July Of that
year Congress appropriated 100000
and established the aviation section of
the signal service. to consist OF sixty
officers and $50 enlisted men. The unit
of the organization Is the squadron,
which at present is composed Of twenty
officers. ninety men and eight ma
chimes; but It Is the expectation to in
Evening star., 1915-11-28

using surplus material. AS they re-
quired field repair truck, which, even
II the money had been available they
could not have bought. for there were
none on the market, they made one.
They bought the chassis and the tires
and the rest of the field repair shop
they made from material on hand
Such men. of course. are hard to
nnd. and they are not made individual
ly into good workmen in a few months
1t takes many months to organize them
into first-rate working body and a
still longer time to select and train thA
squads Of mechanicians which are at.
tached to each aviation company.
n
II is the plan of the department to
establish and broaden this aviation
school. 1t also expects to maintain .
squadron in the United States, a COM
pany at Corregidor. in this Philippines,
another at Hawaii and a third at PAN
anna. The department needs seven full
squadrons, each consisting of twenty
officers and 1873 men.
These squadrons will be thoroughly
trained to use aeroplanes for their four
great military functions, reconnaissance
OF the enemy's forces and movements,
artillery control. by which they indi-
cate the location of the objects of fire
and signal to the artillerists how their
shots are falling: the prevention OF the
enemy's use of his aeropIanes, which
involves the spectacular aerial battle:
and destructive operations, wherein
bombs are dropped upon cities, camps,
supply trains or other objects of at
tack.
The present test flight, to San An
tonic of the six machines'will contrib
ute little to the aviation sections
knowledge Of its capacity, but 1t will
go long way to demonstrate the value
Of the training which officers and msn
have had in the school at San Diego.
Evening star., 1915-11-28

immigrants to Virginia and Maryland,
were artisans and laborers from the
crowded cities of England. there being
a widespread belief that the early i'm
migrants to Maryland and Virginia
were all noblemen, or distinguished
political exiles. or something of that
sort, who came over to the new world
in great state to take possession Of
vast tracts of land patented to them
with manorial rights. ETC., by King
This or King That.
In the imperfect list of the first pill
grims who came to Virginia in the
Susan Constance. the Discovery and
the Godspeed and who finally settled
at the place which they called James
Towne, one finds the names of two
brickiayers, John Herd and William
Garret. A mason named Edward Brinto
was also in the first jamestown party.
Various other trades were represented
and there were many men classified
as 'labourers."
In the Conditions of Plantation" as
"Propounded by Lord Baltimore to
Such as Shall Goe, or Adventure Into
Maryland"-1633-one may read this:
Evening star., 1915-11-28

crease the number by four machines
and thirty-nine enlisted men.
This act made aviation attractive to
young and unmarried officers, for 1t
opened to them a field Of great activity
with increased pay and advanced rank.
1t was rather hard on married officers.
for they might not be detailed to this
service. 1t created three classes-avia-
tion students. junior military aviators
and military aviators.
The first government aviation school
was at Fort Myer. It was transferred
thence to College Park, Md. then to
Augusta, Ca, and In 1913 1t settled as
a squatter at Coronado Beach, near
San Diego, where 1t has remained. The
student detailed to this work. like the
submarine officer, must have peculiar
fitness. and his selection calls for great
care and insight.
The school" has two departments,
one especially for training the officers
and men, the other for experimental
work and instruction in repair and con-
struction. The student officers take
courses in meteorology. aerial naviga-
tion, the art of flying, the construction,
operation and repair of aeropianes and
Evening star., 1915-11-28

motors. These are not taken as in
teresting courses in the lecture rooms
of a popular professor. but as stin
courses under specialists, and hard.
which they or their associates may as
cend thousands of feet above the earth,
when an error. whether made careless
ly, ignorantly or negligently, may
mean a fall.
At this school the mechanicians take
a thorough shop course. SO that they
know how to repair. no matter how
badly broken, an aeroplane OF which
any part remains intact. The officers
assigned as instructors. an aerOnauti-
cal and mechanical engineer from
civil life, and two expert pilots con-
stitute the faculty of this school,
The future aviator is taken up for his
first flight beside an experienced flyer
During the third or fourth trip he is
allowed to handle the controls and at
last he Is driving an aeroplane. At
first they sail over the bay, to inspire
confidence. as ducking in the water
is decidedly preferable to smashup
on land.
The mechanicians become very high
ly trained in all the work about fly
ing machine. They can make all new
frames and wings, or repair those which
are broken, set new wires or straighten
of tension. They become SO skillful
that they can make from what an or
dinary man would call tangled mass
of wires. broken wood and steel an
aeroplane, just as good as new. No
one is allowed to use a machine un-
less inspected and tested. and so rigid
ly is this rule carried out that nova
days there is really no accident which
can be attributed to a discoverable de-
feet in the machine.
Their efforts. however, are not con-
fined to aercplanes, but extend to many
things which the station requires.
Thus, funds hsing low and a motor
boat being needed, these men built one,
Evening star., 1915-11-28
"Brick From England" Houses.

THE house that was built Of brick
brought from England as ballast
will not fall down. ALI other houses
crumble and decay. or at least get very
much out of repair, but the house that
was built of brick brought from Eng
land holds its own and stands its
ground. Fire is powerless to reduce 1t
to ruins.
The Importation Of brick into the COL
onies. especially into Maryland and Vir-
ginia, must have been the leading in
dustry of the colonial period. and the
records must be very much out of joint,
because they do not contain references
to this stupendous trade. After the
lapse of all these years the houses
built of brick that came from England
are as numerous as the houses George
Washington slept in and the houses in
which a reception was given to Lafay-
ette.
In many cases the same house enjoy
ed all three distinctions. To some per-
sons it has seemed curious circum-
stance that George Washington was
always sleeping around in strange
houses, but never got any receptions in
them, while Lafayette was always get
ing receptions In houses. but seems
never to have been given lodging in
them. If Washington slept In all the
Evening star., 1915-11-28

treme mishap, the motor repair shops,
made by the men themselves, are SO
complete, and the mechanicians so
carefully selected and trained in the
San Diego aviation school, that there
would be very little delay in making
all needed repairs. 1t has been the
attempt Of the Signal Service Corps to
build perfectly trained body of
aviators and mechanicans rather than
to accumulate large number OF ma
chimes
When Gen. Joffre, before Paris, was
opposing the German army driving
stand. it was the information brought
TO him by his flying squadrons that
enabled him to mass his artillery with
disastrous effect upon the vulnerable
points of the oncoming German armies.
But matters were evened up when the
German taubes, rushing back from
their flight of reconnaissance, took the
news that Gallieni's army. whose ex-
istence had been unsuspected. was
bearing down exultingly upon the
flank and rear of Won Kluck's attack
ing column. threatening it with utter
destruction.
With but two scant hours warning.
he. with most brilliant celerity, began
the retreat which, yielding all along
the line to French pressure directed
upon points determined upon the re-
ports of the French aviators, could not
be stopped until the German forces had
retired across the Aisne. Thus aviators
Of one side won the battle for the
French, and on the other saved Won
Kluck's army from destruction.
The Russians were, at the outbreak of
hostilities, very deficient in aeroplanes
but far more deficient in trained avia-
tors and observers. The Teutons, more
abundantly equipped in this. as in many
other respects, attacked with conf
dence, throwing IN forces always suffi-
cient to carry the opposition, for In
variably their air scouts had inform ed
them what they were up against"
hiie the Russians remained ignorant
OF how the forces Of their enemy were
disposed.
In the Russian-Japanese war, at Lao
Evening star., 1915-11-28

infinitely less difficult to build thou
sand airships than to select and train
a hundred men fit to operate them.
Without discussing the details, 1t may
be declared positively that in Europe.
at the outset. neither side had any
thing like a sufficient number of skilled
men to handle their air scouting serv-
Ice. to say nothing of the other uses OF
these cranky ships Of the air.
Plenty of flying machines for practice
are on the market and an abundant
supply can be constructed in short
time. but 1t takes months to train the
men to handle them. and years to weld
the SQUADRON into a perfectly drilled
plain that the thing to do is to develop
the aviation corps rather than to put
thousands. or hundreds. or dozens of
machines and appliances in hangers or
storehouses.
The heavier -than-air machine is an
American invention. At least the
Wrights were the first to make the ma
chimes which made flights and carried
men. 1t is not so well known. but it is
the fact, that the United States was the
hrst nation to encourage and adopt
dying into the army service. Realizing
the latent potentialities Of the aero
plane. in 1907 the War Department is
sued specifications and proposals cover
ing the construction OF one. In 1908.
during the well remembered trials at
Fort Myer, Lieut.. Selfridge was killed
and Orville Wright severely injured in
an unfortunate accident. whereupon ac-
tivitiea were suspended until the fol-
lowing year. Then the Wrights pro-
duced their machine which was accept
ed by the government.
1t was March. 1911, before the first
appropriation. $125.000, was available.
a few machines were purchased and a
few officers placed under instruction.
In 1911 small aviation detachment
sent to the concentration camp found
practice in reconnoitering along the
Mexican frontier. The next year there
was little increase In the strength Of the
detachment, but at Fort Riley they
were tried to some extent in one Of the
most important of their functions, the
observation and direction OF artillery
fire.
In 1913 the school detachment was
moved and established at San Diego,
Cal, where 1t remains.
In the earlier stages experimentation
was very necessary to determine the gem
eral types Of machines suited to mill
tary requirements. The needs. as far as
little fellow that can go like the wind
and climb like a rocket, to go scurrying
on q reconnaissance into hostile terri
tory. TO attack an enemy's dirigibles or
planes by darting from above like king
bird upon a crow. Then there must Be
one large enough to carry an observer and
radio outfit, suitable for general OBJ
servation work. the regulation Of artil-
lery are and the bombardment Of hostile
Evening star., 1915-11-28

young able man. that is willing to Iabour and
take paines, although he have particular
trade, will be beneficial to his Master.
With the knowledge that bricklayers
were with the jamestown settlers and
with later parties of settlers in Vir-
ginia, and that Lord Baltimore. in Of
fering inducements to people to emf
crate to Maryland. pointed out the
usefulness of brickmakers and brick
layers, with brick clay handy on nearly
every farm, and with brick churches
and houses being set up with native
brick from somewhere about 1928. II
would seem especially curious that SO
many houses from about 1850 to 1900.
and even later. should have been built
with brick brought from England"
In volume eight Of the general re-
ports issued by the Maryland geologic
al survey there is an interesting chap
ter on clays and clay products. and one
may read this: ''Clays suitable for the
manufacture of common and front
brick. particularly, the former. are
widely distributed throughout the
state. Brickmaking began in southern
MARYLAND In colonial days. scattered
references to the industry being found
in the earliest records. 1t is evident
that practically all of the common
brick employed for building purpose in
colonial days was made at the local
brick yards"
Evening star., 1915-11-28

believes that houses should keep them
selves spick and span and always look
ing young and new would probably
say that this old house is not rapidly
becoming a ruin, but that it arrived
some time ago.
1t was built of native rock dug close
by. Above its shingle roof opened
three dormer windows. and at each end
rose tall. square topped brick CHM
ney, built inside the walls. Now the
walls are broken in many places, part
of the roof has fallen, carrying with 1t
into the deep cellar the floors of the
house. and the windows are without
glass or castings.
Around the house are the relics OF a
garden and the trace of a road long
disused. The ancient road is bordered
with rough but friendly old locust trees
which. when the Rambler strayed that
way. were nearly bare of foliage, and,
of course, are now denuded.
An abandoned house is always a sad
and lonely place. but this old house
seemed particularly sad and lonely.
Thousands of men and women pass
close to it In great fast trains, but none
Evening star., 1915-11-28

URING the past week the at
III " tention of the War Department
III W has been centered upon a
~ squadron Of United States
Army aeroplanes nying 500 miles from
Fort Sill to San Antonio Can they do
II, Have we real aviation squad?"
was asked each day.
For an aeropiane to fly 500 miles is
not a feat at which to marvel. The
real point of the test is: Can the mo-
tor repair trucks and the repair squad
keep UP their proportionate pace on
land and SO be of service to the fiers
when needed?
In the flying squadron are six aero
planes, with two men in each plane.
The fiers are commanded by Capt.
Fullois. In the auxiliary fleet.
meaning thereby the motors which fol-
low the route of the hiers. are eight
trucks, two trailers and an automo-
bile, with ten officers and forty men.
The full squadron has eight aeroplanes,
twenty officers and ninety men. be-
sides the attendant trucks for making
repairs. but two Of them are on de-
tailed service at the Mexican border
The repair motors are very prominent
IN this fight made under campaigning 9
conditions.
~
The FIRST day cut the flying squadron
e ran into a storm OF wind and rain. but
passed through II without a mishap
and made the distance expected OF
It. reaching Wichita Falls. Tex
The next day they made Waco. Tex, In
~
so choppy they let the earth drop 1000
feet below them SO that they could
soar where the air was calm.
But should there be any but an ex-
Evening star., 1915-11-28

F1HoUSANDS of commuters and
other travellers in and out of
Ill Washington over one of the
steam railroads have noticed by
the trackside between Forest Glen and
Kensington an abandoned quarry that
Is full of water, or that is as full of
water as the railroad cut will allow.
High rock walls rise on three sides,
while the fourth side is open on the
railroad track. These rock walls, until
the coming of the frosts, were partly
covered with green vines. but this ef-
fective combination is now dry and
shriveled. Its beauty has been winter
blighted.
The quarry up to the level OF the
railroad grade is full of water which is
maintained at a reasonable degree OF
purity by springs and evaporation 1t
is a big quarry, but the drill and the
blast are no longer heard there The
rock walls with their trailing vines,
the placid pool apparently of great
depth and in reality of considerable
depth. and the greenery of cat-tails
and willows growing between the
quarry walls and the water wherever
they can find a foothold make a sum-
Evening star., 1915-11-28

mer picture that for the moment at
tracts many persons who speed by in
trains. The winter picture does not
make such a general appeal, but the
combination of Ice and rock makes a
spectacle which, although 1t may seem
a trife cold, is effective.
Just beyond the station at Forest
Glen the railroad crosses a high fill
under which, through a stone culvert,
flows a busy little branch that is one
of the feeders OF Rock creek, which
at that point is only few hundred
yards away. The traveller passes above
the tops of very tall trees that grow
in the glade through which the busy
little branch tirelessly but noisily rolls
A little farther along, after crossing
that NIL, the steel tracks, describing
nearly an IS" reversed. enter a deep
cut 1t was largely the "spoif' from
thi. cut with which the deep ravine
was hlled across. In making this cut
Evening star., 1915-11-28
ABANDONED HOUSE ON ROCK CREEK.

fire. Evidently at one time a stone
crushing plant was there. The Rambler
was told that several years ago the
District government either worked this
quarry or bought stone from it, but
found the rock too friable for road
building purposes.
On the railroad side and the souther-
~ side rock dust and small bits of
stone have slipped down the sides of
the quarry. forming hard and steeply
sloping beaches by means of which
one may enter the water without
plunging in. From the top of the
quarry and far down into the water
runs a pipe, and through this pipe
water was pumped for roadmaking
purposes during the building of the
Forest Glen and Kensingron road
1t was a quiet and sunny afternoon
when the Rambler sat there. 1t was a
noisy and extremely busy place as a
train rushed by, but then the place
became exceedingly quiet both compar-
Evening star., 1915-11-28

stops Though so close to a well trav-
eled way. it is. in fact. far removed.
No other house stands near this old ruin
in the bottomlands along Rock creek.
and among the dwellers on the hills
above the valley the Rambler found no
person who could tell whom the old
house had sheltered. A house that is
so utterly abandoned that people living
not far away do not know the names
of those beings who had habitation
there Is very sad and lonely house.
Evening star., 1915-11-28

houses tradition says he slept in he
could have spent very few evenings at
home, and he must also have been re-
markably free from insomnia and also
have had the happy faculty of making
himself perfectly at home in a strange
bed.
Now. to the English brick question
The Rambler seldom comes across a
house that is fifty years old that was
not built of brick from England. In
the minds of many persons it seems to
be the most important thing that could
happen to a house, and yet 1t Is difficult
to see very high distinction in It,
because nearly all the old houses seem
brought from England. When a man
begins to tell the Rambler about an
old house the first statement is not
who built it, who lived in 1T, who died
in it and what memories and ghosts
haunt it, but it is that the house was
built of brick brought from England
There seems to be a charm about these
old English brick that no other brick
possess and which few persons can re-
Sist.
AS these thoughts come to the RAM
bier he recalls that a long while ago
he received an unsigned letter on this
brick subject, and, digging 1t from the
bottom of his table drawer, he pre-
sents it:
Every little while and at least three time.
within the last few weeks l have seen references
TO old houses in this city and elsewhere In Mary
land and Virginia which said to have beer
of brick brought from England statement oil
this kind appeared in The sunday Star in letter ct,
Rambler to the effect that the old kalorama
mansion, near the present Intersection of 22d
and $ streets, originally constructed was
built of such brick.
Some time ago a Philadelphia writer. l think
showed that hut very few brick were brought
from England in colonial days, and that not one
in a hundred Of the houses reported to be q
constructed was really built Of imported brick. :.
Will the Rambler kindly ascertain whether II
is a fact that the kalorama mansion or any
Evening star., 1915-11-28

Further along in the document. under
the heading "A Direction for Choice OF
Servants" is this:
In the taking Of servants he may do well to
furnish himself with many he OF
useful and necessary arts:-a Carpenter. OF all
others the most necessary; a Miilwrieht, Ship
wright. Boatewrtght wheelewright. Brick
Maker, Brick Layer. Potter that cleave
Lath and Pale and make Slaves. q Jayner
Cooper Turner. Sawyer, Smith. Cutler. Leather
Dresser, Miller. Fisherman and Gardiner.
These will be OF most use. but any lusty