The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-09-04

low-countrymen who knew him and
his history, he will ever be one of
the great heroes of = the world.
When he rejoined the army it was
as a 3cyclist-he was in his day one of
the greatest men awheel in all France
but the comparative safety of his
work Jared upon him.. it did not fit
in with his temperament; and, though
he was getting beyond the age of the
Ideal fighting man, he insisted on 60
in g. into the infantry: - g. '.es-.-s-
When. decided to set out on fly
ing career L knew absolutely nothing
about an aeropIane or flying. All I
knew was that an aeroplane was a
machine in which one flew. But I
had been up in one, and, do you
know, that experience made me de-
! eide that I would go, in for aviation
as a recreation in between my fights
inIthe ring.
1t is quite impossible to tell in cold
print what a first flight isl mean
what it feels like. Any fear you may
have that the machine will topple
| over, and you will come crashing
down to earth, disappears to moment
you are taken in the air; only do you
feel exhilaration. Riding on air, to
feel, to know that you are conquering
something is the explanation I would
offer for the fascination and the popu-
larity of the air-servfce. You can,
perhaps, imagine my disappointment
when after telling the commanding
officer all about my hopes and de-
sires, he ustNsmiled
| ooh. yes" he said, "I have heard
about you, Carpenter! You are the
boxing-person. aren't you? Ugh:
Drive a carr"
':Yes,'''I replied, wondering vague
ly what on earth had the driving Of
an automobile to do with flying.
That's good!"j he said. 81 want a
driver for myself, and you. are the
very man for the job!"
| With that he sort of sfde-stepped
and was gone. leaving me to try and
4 realize that it was the role Of a chauf-
\ feur I would be asked TO play.
What come-downi What a
flop!" I thought.
! However, common-sense ;. told me
that it was no use protesting, and,
though L thought a great deal, I got
ready to be driver.
7 For several weeks I drove this Of
ficer ito and from st. Cyr to. Paris,
and were it not that itched to do
real soldering the job would have
been most agreeable.
It was. not long before I was made
to feel that the position of chauffeur
was an extremely difficult apd i'm
| possible one. One day, after I had
! taken my officer to Paris and was
i tuning up the car, a..roguish little
poilu came to look on. and, with a
meaning curl of his lips. addressed
me after this fashion,
so you are Georges Carpenter
the great fighting man! It's a; lot OF
i fighting you'll do. You'll never see
1.-THE front. I like you as a soldier
They'll keep you in COTTONWOOD, my
boy; YOU are too precious to be shot
lat. It's only the likes of me, my SON
who has to be shot at, not a cham
Il pion fighter"
What he said stung. The tempta.
, ton to lay him low got me hard. ]
could only smile a sick1y smile and
| bite my lip.
though not of my own seeking, in.
vited the jibe.@ But was hurt, and
), at the earliest opportunity pointed
out to my officer, who was good
friend, that unless I gave up my sjot
I should be put in a false position
, To him I;smade what. I shall Away.
t. consider the speech of my nfe.la I sur,
prised myself.
{ And then-at !, last!--orders, came
2 from the War office that men of the
young class. such as myself, must gc
to the front Oh, joy! Here was. m.
!, chance.
n Straight away I put in an applica
{ ton to- train fora pilot.
I had many days to wait before
received a reply, and those days wer,
/ the unhappiest I have experienced
: during the war. From my earlies
youth have trained myself. to bt
[ patient, and to accept whateve,
comes with resignation. That ha.
been part of my success as a boxer
But stones throw from here i.
} Monte Carlo. There I fought my frs
l championship fight with Jim Sullivan
/ Before we got into the ring there wa.
5 long wait, much fuss, and NOR,
than a probability of no fight. sulli
t vans people objected to this and tn,
j other I felt sorry for Sullivan, wht
the while -thinfs were being settled
: worked himself into fit of nerves
t For my part, got clear of tn,
3 bother, and FILTERED away the tim,
: by having a little game of pitch-and
ol toss. When we did stand face to fac,
l Sullivan was over-wrought; he ha.
not recovered from the effects O
8 waiting to see what the end of tn
D trouble would be- And I beat hin
easily anu quickly, as you know.
n 1t is very much the same witt
1 Bombardier Wells; he cannot wait
/ He must suffer agony during the in
t terval between getting ready for /.
i fight and getting into the ring. H
t fidgets.
I must confess that after had an
4 piled to be sent into the aviation sec
j ton proper I was very much lik
Q what I remembered Jim Sullivan an,
g Billy Wells were on the eve of M
i contests with them. I worried an,
i fretted so much that. reduced my
q self to a pulp.
t However, at the end of three O
e four days L received notification
! that my application had been grant
d ed, and that 1 was to proceed at ono
0 to special-training school, known a
: the Camp d'Avord, which is near LIE
mans.
|, 1t was on January Bird, 1915 that
!; arrived there, and, naturall
IS enough, burned with anxiety to be
8 gin my lessons. Here my first rea
: nard work in the army began I ha
y come to believe that I would q
e through my lessons very quickly. an
}, with entire satisfaction; but I foun
it no child's play
n The work was exacting, and it wa
g only after three months strict app1i
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