Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1915-09-08


with it eat bread very lightly spread
with butter. No cake is served. be-
cause cake is an extravaganza as they
view ii, and moreover to leave it alone
is to practice self-denial. Anything
that the French woman cyn do to save
money she does, and the money she
saves she gives to the cause OF her
country.
The readers of correspondence from
Paris will remember the tragic death
by a fall from an aeroplane of Henry
Beach Needham, the weIl-known writ
er for American magazines. Needham
was my close friend. He was a man.
and a writer of sterling stuff. he al
ways was keen for story, and when
he got it he knew how to write it.
He stuck to the truth ami he always
made the truth attractive.
Just before Needham was Killed
dined with him and he discussed with
me the aeroplane trip which he hoped
to take. His plan was, and the milf
tary authorities had assented to il, TO
make a trip over Paris at night in
military machine with a militar- avn
ator. II was his wish to write a de-
scription of a view of a great city
partially hidden under the blanket of
night.
Tribute to Henry Beach Needham.
He wanted to determine whether or
not 1t was possible for an enemy avn
ator to pick out specific objects upon
which to throw his bombs. OF course.
ii was not Needham's intention TO tell
what buildings could be diseerned, and
separated from their fellows by the
eye of the soarer. His thought simply
was to answer the disputed question
as to whether or not an aviator could
tell hospital or a military barracks
from the peaceful residence of a CT
william.
Needham was full Of his project.
He knew absolutely nothing of fear.
He had been at the front where the
bullets were flying and the shells were
falling. His courage was proof. His
whole plan was changed by the ar
rival in Paris of Lieutenant Warne-
ford, an aviator of the British army.
Warneford had won fame, the Vic
toria cross, and the cross of the Legion
Of Honor by his daring flying exploit,
when he destroyed a Zeppelin in mid.
air.
Henry Beach Needham asked the
military authorities to let him go up
in new aeroplane on a trial trip with
Lieutenant Warneford. He rose from
the gror1d waving his hand to the
bystand l. In less than two minutes
the machine collapsed and both its oc-
cupants were hurled to the ground and
killed. This newspaper man had gone
through almost every form Of danger
that Europe's war field holds. He met
his death in what was believed to be
an absolutely safe adventure. He ex-
pected TO return TO America imme-
diately after this, his last wartime
story-getting assignment He was a
close friend and loved companion.
Censors Are Helpful.
The French censors are not very
hard on a core spondent When you
go to the front gu always are accom-
panied by an army officer who almost
invariably also acts as censor OF what
you write. He gives you some words
OF advice concerning what you may
say and what you may not say, and
thus makes your writing very easy.
He gives you great dea! of liberty
and the only thing that he requests, is
that nothing shall be put in your ar.
ticles that may be Of assistance to the
enemy.
The censor has been painted as a
very formidable and frequently very
grouchy dictatorial person. He is not
More than half the time a correspond
ent is allowed to sit by the censor
and to watch him while he goes over
the manuscript with a blue pencil.
The pencil is infrequently used.
The military officers who go to the
front with the correspondent all speak
English and everyone of them has
keen curiosity concerning things
American.