Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1915-08-26
AVIATOR LIVES
TO DESCRIBE FALL
Tells Of Drop to Ground Amid
Fire of Fierce Conflict.
MACHINE SMASHED BY SHOT


Consciousness as His AeropIane Drop
ped Through Clouds to a Battlefield
Thousands Of Feet Below.
Paris.-The following account consti'
tutes a record of an experience out or
which few come alive. 1t is the story
told by an air man Of his fall and his
instinct with the terror Of the air.
Scarcely had 1 burst through the
curtain of Clouds" the aviator writes,
"when / saw long tongues Of flame
and the lightning Of explosions, while
the air was full of little puffs of
shrapnel I was over a battlefield.
Without thinking, in automatic fash
ion making the necessary maneuvers,
I attempted to turn about. But i'm
mediately | saw large enemy's bi-
plane making straight for me. 1t was
lost sight Of the enemy that the irrep-
arabic happened. There was a ter
rife crash. The machine was hit by
q she'll
'It tilted forward, pushed me from
behind, and the left wing was she'd
ding it's remains to the winds. My
levers slackened, the machine rocked.
and in spite Of my efforts with the
elevator and rudder pitched forward
and began to fall. The earth rose up
to meet me with terrific speed, and in
stantly the thought of the fire after
70 hxyf hn n
thing but that! With inconceivable
rapidity cut the ignition, and leaving
my levers l struggled to undo my
straps. / had no time, though, as we
were down already. First the screw
went into a hundred splinters, and
an indescribable confusion of noises
and movements assailed me.
"My straps cut me cruelty, then burst,
and l fell crouched amid the wreck,
still with the illusion of a mad race
through space. In despite of all |
made desperate efforts to free myself
from the tangle Of cords and wires.
Then ] heard a voice shouting, Lie
down, in the name Of God-they are
firing at your 1t was only then, to my
intense astOnishment, that | grasped
the fact that the battle was filling the
air with its tumult and that the earth
was trembling with reverberation.
Mechanically | tried to raise myself
on an elbow, but at that instant on the
stone that protected my head came the
smack of bullet, which went rico
cheting on in the midst of shower OF
sparks. My giddiness increased, and
felt that | was gradually losing con-
sciouSneSS; then coma. | do not know
how long it lasted, but gradually con-
sciousness came back, and the tumult
of the battle seemed to fade away In
the distance. A confused sound of
voices reached me, and l felt that
was being dragged along by the feet
Suddenly l fell into hole. Four or
five soldiers were standing round me-
looking with pity at me. A great stu
pOr was over me and prevented me
from moving or speaking
"The voices of the men seemed to
come to me from afar, but | could cas-
lily make out their sense and even no
tice the queer phraseology Of some of
the remarks, such as, He is we'll touch
ed up He is not altogether done for,
but his face is Il jelly and SO on. Then
q commanding tone from some invisi-
air man? Yes, lieutenant answered
one, and in reply to a query as to how
I was, We cannot see; his head is all
bloody, and he does not move, but one
would say that he looks at u.s. Take
him to the hiding hole
"The men replied that it was not
possible because the enemy was pour
ing a curtain of fire with noXious gases
so that not field mouse could pass.
To the captains hut, then, and | was
taken very carefully up and carried
along the passage trench, while over
head the noise of tearing metal and
roaring shells was unceaSing. Sud-
denly my bearers threw me against the
side and slipped into the corners just
as a tremendous report burst over our
heads, followed by a shower of sliding
earth and stones. The force of the
shock seemed to Danish my torpor and
set me on my feet. to the intense as
tonishment of my bearers, who then led
me the rest of the way till was in the
presence of the captain, a grizzled fell
low, smoking a pipe leaning against
the sand bags, with his kept tied with
handkerchief under his china peace
full and jovial looking figure.
''He was extraordinarily calm and
held out his hand with a kind smile and
the remark, You had devil of a
tumble; thought you were done for
Just at this moment q great German
biplane in distress came sliding toward
us in an oblique fall. The captain i'm
mediately gave the order to fire, and
from all sides rang out fusillade from
invisible soldiers. The machine came
to ground like a thunderbolt, passing
a few yards above our heads. There
were three men on board, two of whom
were dead, lying over the edge, and the
pilot was stolidly maneuvering in des-
peration to fall within his own lines"