The Green Forest tribune., 1917-10-12
fcr like conduct when face to face with death.

Air Service Attracts Them.
 Army officers have noted one curious thing. Every time that there Is print ed Il detailed account of u particularly interesting fight above the front in France, the number of Americans who aspire to service in the aviation corps increases. There Is lure about the air service which some people per haps will find it hard to understand. but 1t exists and there Is seemingly no room left for doubt that America can secure as many volunteers as 1t wishes for the literally high service of fight ing in flying machines.
 It Is not permitted to tell, even if one should happen to know, how many aviators America already has sent to France. but 1t can be said that already some of Uncle Sam's nephews who have not been connected with the French aviation service, as some of their fellow cOuntrymen have, already are being trained to undergo their first Ordea. of battle. It is real ordeal and the fact that 1t is known to be such makes the Washington officials particularly gratitied that so many young Americans seem to prefer branch of the service in which they are to give battle with no foundation of earth under their feet"
 Statistics of casualties compiled by the French and British governments go to show that the aviation corps is At. T. ,l, % service. It is understood that more infantrymen and engineers are killed or wounded than aviatOrs, with of course due regard to the difference in numbers of men in the three branches of the service.
 Neutral Diplomats Uneasy.
 Ambassadors and ministers accred- ited to Washington by neutral coun- tries are having unpleasant days of it. The recent disclosures of correspon- dence from Argentine and Mexico transmitted for Germany by neutral diplomats have had their effect in this city. Every representative of neu- tral country here feels that he is un- der suspicion, whether he Is or not. and the whole thing makes for discom- fort.
 It probably is hard for persons liv- ing away from the sphere of Washing ton life to understand thoroughly just what it means to have suspicion stalk ing through the streets and sitting at some of the dinner boards in a war time capital. Washington essentially Is social place and as it's society largely Is of the official kind, the sus- pected and the suspicious must meet if not daily at least weekly in social way.
 It would be altogether wrong to say 1t is certain that the state department suspects the neutral diplomats of any acts which would violate their obliga- lions to America as a hostess country, but the feeling elsewhere throughout the city Is one of suspicion, and this known that the state department keeps a searching eye out for diplomatic vio- lations of neutrality.
 Makes Them Uncomfortable.
 It Is easy enough to see, therefore, how uncomfortable some of the diplo- mats representing neutral countries must be In these harsh days. It should be taken for granted that none of them Is guilty of having done the things which 1t has been proved one or two of their brethren serving in other countries did in behalf of Amer but CD n,tS6nn60 are done here and there. just so long, of course, it must be expected that suspicion even of the innocent will be kept alive.
 The hardest experiences which fall to the lot of some of these neutral dip lomats come when they are paying social calls. w1ch in effect are calls of official duty. in the afternoons, or attending dinners given by members of the residential society or by officials of the government living here tenn porarily.
 Since August, 1914. Washington of ficial or residential hosts never have Invited to the same gathering the dip lomats from any two of the warning countries. Therefore there never was any danger that at an afternoon tea or at dinner Germany's ambassador would meet the British ambassador; or that the ambassador from Austria would meet the ambassador from Italy; or that any other awkward meetings of like kind woulftake place.
 It always has been the custom, how ever, to invite neutral diplomats to functions attended by representatives of either the allied countries or the central powers. This custom has to be kept up because, as war does not exist between the United States and neutral countries nor between the al- lies and the same countries, it is supposed that the representatives of all can meet and be cordial one to an- other.
 Today the difficulty lies in the fact that the representatives of one neutral country in other lands have been shown to have been dealing with the enemy In a diplomatic way. When the mission of a neutral country in Ar genuine consented to do something for Germany that it ought not to have done, it hurt not only itself but its | .ft-FV fN,