Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-10-27
Wonderful Guns of TeutOns
Are of No Use, for They
Can't Know What They Are
Shooting at, Flyers Declare

| O''NOb''S al y Wv - VIVA "
LONDON, Oct Correspondence
of the Associated Press.) tits all right
so long as you can't see 'em or hear
! EN-" said Tommy" Brennan, or the
royal fling corps, but any man who tells
you he can fly over an Archie and get
a flaming onion right ahead Of him
without ducking and wishing they would
not come so close or make so much
noise, has never been up in an aero
plane. Take it from me-
Yes" put in Gilray, "and every time
you duck your old wlnger ducks with
you. As Bren over there says, it
wouldn't be so bad If you couldn't see
and hear 'em. Generally speaking you
don't hear them unless one happens to
break within thirty yards or so of you.
/ It's when you get down close to them
and look right down at them splitting
fire at you, that's when you have got
to have every nerve, in your body tuned
| to the minute"
"Pll never forget the first time they
got close to me-" declared boy" Tylie.
"My only thought was that l would
never shoot a pheasant again. / knew
exactly how a bird must feel when
! hunter opens fire."
Brennan wore upon his left sleeve the
/ gold stripe of the wounded. "GiP' had
] DSen OH the OlllCldl llSl VI Vic hAAAON ia
action some weeks ago, but somehow
! or other came back to life. When Bren-
nan was hit" and finally came down
/ safely within his own lines, it was found
| there were no less than eighty perfora-
lions in his wings.
81 was so interested in looking over
| their trenches / guess / got little too
low" he explained.
There is nothing more interesting In
all London than to sit through long
autumn evening talking to the young
sters of the wonderful aviation service
Great Britain has almost miraculously
built up since the war began.
| a. GERMANS IN HOLE.
We've got the Germans now where
they have to fire blindly or shoot by the
map" these intrepid men of the air VIII
| tell you. "Of what use are their wonder
| full guns If they don't know what they
| are shooting at? They don't dare seno
| a plane over our lines. They don't even
dare approach. The minute they snow
| themselves we have an overwhelming
number Of machines to send after them
and they beat it for home again as
| fast as they can go. They can't take
n photograph of our new positions. Their
! batteries have been driven from the
heights and they can't observe. It's
big difference from the first days OF the
| war"
I ASSOcl0Llng muCH Will DAi11Ah
! ing men one will soon learn tina: an
"a rch,bald." usually called "Arcnie"
for short is an anti-aircraft gun.
| "'Archie' banks at you" said Bren-
man, HE goes wool, wool, wool. He
| isn't comfortable TO listen to, either, but
| its when you get down little nearer TO
earth and the machine guns get to work
ing that you feel you have got to DO
what you set out to do right quickly
and get started to some quieter spot
| lust as fast as the air will get out or
your way and let you through. You
can't imagine how much that old at
mosphere gets in your way when you
are really in a hurry"
When you get on speaking terms with
a machine gun you know that 1t talks
with a putt, putt, putt" The ordinary
hand rifle, which often takes, shot at
| YOU when you get too close to the
trenches, goes "crack, crack, crack, Just
as every one expects rifle to go.
"a flaming onion? Well, that looks
for all the world like an eight-candle-
power electric light bulb coming at you.
Then all Of a sudden it breaks into nice
little ribbons of fire that dart and hoat
| through the air like so many blazing
serpents They are very disagreeable'
these onions. Their one desire in life
| is to set you ablaze and explode your
petrol tank. One lHliiB the <AiiiSi AShii
! always has to remember over here is
| that gasoline, or just plain gas as the
motorists and flying men call II at
| home, has no place in the English lexi-
con. 1t is petrol just as Lieutenant,
although spelled lieutenant, is pro-
nounced Ieftenant.'"
Several of the young wing" subal-
terms were waiting for the "Hickeyboos"
| to come over the other night when they
fell into a heated discussion as to
whether you would rather have SMELL
break right ahead of you, right beneath
| you or right over you. There were
those who contended it was best to
| have il break right in front, for then
the explosion would spread the frag-
ments and let you pass safely through
! the spot where "the blooming beast
cracked"
: The others contended that shell
breaking on the level with you indicated
that Archie" had his fuses timed Just
A bit too accurately tor pleasure flying
and that il was SAFER to take chances
rom the fragments coming from be-
meath or ABOVE. This was one dis
cusslon In which the innocent bystander
mad no part. lie learned, however, that
shrapneI from an Archie" jumps at
you with a bang" that it looks like
a white puff-baH as 1t breaks in day
.lght and like the starry shower Of
rocket as il eXplodes by night
When a ''shrap" explodes beneath
| the tail OF your machine you feel as
# you were gong to loop the loop in
/ The wrong direction. When it breaks in
front, you feel as it you very much