The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1917-03-06
Balloon Experience
Over Enemy Line
By VIM. PHILIP SIMMS
Omitted Press Staff Correspondent

With the British Armies il the Field,
Feb 4-(By MaiD-You remember the
county fair2 Remember the tremor Of
expectancy i'll the crowd gathered a
round the dingy old hot-air balloon as
she sweiled, oh, SO slowly, with the
smoke and fumes OF the barrel-stave
fire?
VIII you ever forget the thrill she
gave yea as she lazily lurcAed into the
air, dragging with her the fellow in
the darned but spangled purple tights,
the parachute jump man with oiled hair
plastercd down on his forehead? You
secretly half hoped he would fall and
hale feared he would.
And then, at about fifteen hundred
feet, the aeronaut s mad leap, his
dead drop Of 300 or 500 feet, the slow
opening Of the parachute and the
swinging drift to the ground: Remem-
Der?
Suppose you had to leave your Job
in the office, shop or on the farm, and
begin such performances tomorrow
Suppose you had to go up in balloon,
in any and all sorts Of weather, to be
shot at by by artillery and lunged at
by hostile aircraft? Suppose you had
to leap from burning balloons, or get
tossed out Of the basket Of one while
passing through the clouds?
What if America should suddenly
find herself in a war and the billboards
should say: "Your Country Needs
You:0 Think you could do these
things for her? British boys are do
ing the little trick every day. Yes
terday they were clerking in stores,
working in shops, bookkeeping in Of
fees or going to school. Today they
are making p rachute-leaps from bal
looms and other more thrilling things
still.
Yesterday that Lieutenant you find
yourself talking to, was a pink and
white youth at Elton preparing to 90
uup to Cambridge. Today he consid-
ers fighting duels above the clouds with
Germans as much part of his lob as
yesterday he considered calculus to be.
yesterday he was a school kid writing
essays about flowers. Now he handles
machine-gun like a demon as he hur-
ties through the sky two miles a min
ute, or nose-dives after a war-hard-
ened youth like himself whom he is
trying to kill.
Here s an example. The incident oc-
cured III the observation balloon sec
ton. Two youngsters carrying out OBJ
servations over the German defenses.
suddenly got a shell through their bal
loon. It began to fall slowly at first.
then faster. They were about a mile
high.
We re hit and falling!' one Of the
observers phoned down to the ground.
"Tho hostile gun is at X-22-DD62,u
A moment later the second observer
phoned down the position Of the hostile
battery which had punctured them. bu+
gave the position slightly different,
Then both boys jumped Their para
chutes opened about the same distance
down and, not more than fifty feet a
part, they were waited earthvard TO-
gether.
"The blighters!' one youth called
over to the other as they dangled half
mile above the earth sEThev could
not &c that again in million shots. u
FUNNY lot Of stale cheeses,, said
the other, waving an arm in the direc- !
ton Of the Germans "pure accident,
me. cou7dn = hit bread WAGON if +.
they tried.''
Thus chatting they landed in 6 field
ABOUT mile from their winch, and pa
tlentlv trudged back.
II sorry to note,' said the com
pany commander as they entered the
nut serving as balloon section telenhone