New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-05-28


NIGHT. flew across London and, at
height of 1000 feet, looped the loop over
Hyde Park.
was permitted to make this flight, to
start from one of Britains finest aero
dromes and see. spread in clear colored
nanorams one mile and half below me,
tbe houses and the streets of the great
est city in the world.
In the great field from which | started
the turf was broken by patches of black
mud and the grass was beaten down by
the heavy rain of the morning. Over
head a light mist hung above the roofs
If the hangers. 1t was not an auspici-
Gus day for flying.
But. on the wooden runway, with her
wheels blocked and her black planes Sill
houetted against the sky, biplane was
waiting. She was beautiful-this ma
chine. There was power in the sweep OF
her wings there was power in the shin
ING blades of her propeller. She rested,
motionless. with the light on her wires
and the black oval of her fusilage, with
her nose facing toward the white circle
which marked the centre of the field.
But she had been built for preying, for
spolation. for that lawful destruction
which is war.
Her two Lewis guns, of blue steel
were mounted on galvanized brackets;
they we're particularly businesslike-
those guns. But it was not her black,
compact fusilage, it was not her machine
guns. which set her apart irrevocably
for the purposes of war, for the pur-
poses of DEATH 1t was, instead, an
emblem painted on the under side OF her
upper surface. It was painted in pure
white, this emblem. The lines Of it
we're clean and broad. 1t was deaths
head. Skull and crossbones.
It was a bit startling, this. l knew
that in five minutes / was going to be
sitting staring up at this pleasant SYM
Dol. with several thousand feet of good
country air below me, and was not con-
soled.
I looked at it. I had to.
"Oh that" said the major, and ne
made large and eloquent gesture tow
ard the dozen or more machines marked
in like fashion, means that she's
brought down Zeppelin on her own"
And so in one moment plumbed the
significance of official statements. And
this by the smile of one major, r. +. I.
+ Then | climbed aboard and was
strapped in. The observers seat, where
sat. was a wide seat, and the fusllage
formed nv arm rest. There was plenty
of foot space. Captain X, who was my
pilot, got into his seat behind me. 10
nv right and above me the deaths head
looked on
We circled the field, headed into the
wind and were off.
mean. we dived up into the sky.
Now. | have seen getaways; that is, |
have watched the smooth and tranquil
lifting of machines from the earth and
the steady, upward climbing into the
clouds.
But we didn't do this. When we left
the ground we left it. 1t was good
climbing. 1t was good and stiff. The
black nose of the biplane pointed
straight to the sun. | saw, swiftly
visions of a stalled motor, of rapid
backward slide. But this was because l
didn't know the true quality of our mo-
tor. Running steadily and smoothly,
she pulled us up toward the white bank
of cloud above the sheds. Then. after
a slow, circular climb, Captain X turned
her toward London.
Below us the roofs of the hangers
dropped away, and saw, over the whir-
ring propeller, the great curve OF the
Thames-the wide, splendid sweep OF
gray water, spanned by bridges. On
one side were green fields and trees; on
the other | could see the gray roots OF
scattered houses. | saw even the WIN
dows-small, dark squares. In road