Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1915-08-20
MEN WHO GO Up IN AIR TO FIGHT
ARE REAL HEROES Of THIS WAR
Two Astounding Facts Noticed Battle Lines by Edward g. Clark
Are That It Is Almost Impossible for Artiemen to Hit an
AeropIane and Almost Equally Impossible for an AVA.
tor to Hit Selected Target With Bomb.

half an hour while the machine circled
above her head Finally she started
back to her hotel and had just reached
1t when the supposed French biplane
dropped eight bombs, one after anoth-
er, in fairly rapid succession.
The E1fel Tower resTs its head one
thousand feet above the plane Of
Paris. 1t is used as a wireless tele-
graph station and on the platform at
its top are mounted several antiair-
craft guns. The German biplane
which was disguised as Frenchman
was attempting to take the life" Of
the Eiffel tower. The eight bombs
which the German let fall were aimed
at the tower, but the bomb nearest to
the mark fell nearly half mile
away from it.
One Of the Maryels.
The poor success which aviators
have in hitting the things they aim
at is one of the marvels of the pres
ent warfare.
Not long ago there was an account
of an attack made through the air on
a German depot at Bruges, Belgium.
French and English aviators in con-
siderable numbers flew over the place
and succeeded in dropping bombs in
to shipyard and on freight depot
and in doing considerable damage to
both. This exploit was hailed as
great triumph Of craftsmanship.
Nothing was said about the fact that
before the successful raid, ten at
tempts had been made by many avi-
ators acting together to hit the same
mark and all had failed To hit a
thing once in ten times Is not con-
sidered particularly high average
of workmanship on land or sea, but
it seems that the man who can ring
the bell' once in ten times from the
air is considered a sharpshooter.
don't want to get away from this
craftsmanship subject until I tell the
story of something which happened
in an English coast town which l Wis
tied but whose name l am not per-
mitted to disclose. Some weeks ago
the English authorities published the
names Of the towns and villages which
had suffered from German aeroplane
or Zeppelin attacks, but recently they
have suppressed the names of the
towns which have received the bap-
tism Of fire from above.
ek>nL ~,,.>> n.rzIu.i.
went into one English village
which had been visited the night be-
fore by a Zeppelin. Bombs had been
dropped haphazard because it was i'm.
possible to pick out a mark in the
inky blackness of the night. One
bomb fell on a hospital in which there
were about one hundred wounded
English soldiers. Not one of them
was hurt, but all of them except the
legless ones made a hurried escape
from the wrecked building, wounded
and sick though they were. One sol.
der who had disappeared was
searched for hurriedly by the nurses.
He was found half mile up the road.
This man had been taken to the hos
pital completely paralyzed from the
waist down. He had been unable to
move either leg and yet under the
shock of the explosion and the result
ing excitement he found the use of his
legs and made good half mile before
he fell down exhausted.
At the front in France the noise OF
the cannonading Is almost continuous.
The big guns roar away all through
the days and sometimes through the
nights when not small rifle is be-
ing fired, and no charges of infantry
are being made. OF course, the can
non have an objective for their shots.
usually some battery Of the enemy or
some wood in which large forces OF
men are supposed to be assembled.
Occasionally a battery is put out of
commission by dropping shell and
also occasionally score or so of men
will be blown to fragments by the