The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1917-02-27
United Press Man Describes Terrible Suf
fering EntaiIed by Daily Visits TO
The Clouds
CPy William Philip simms, United


(By William Philip Simms. United
Press Staff Correspondent
with the British Armies in the Field,
Feb. 1 tBy mail)-To find out what
It IS like up there. dangling for hours
III tiny basket swung under an obser-
walton balloon mile above the snow
undiscovered earth while forty
mile gale cuts by, fresh from the pole,
was today allowed TO make the as
cent do not care TO make another
Mid-winter Four inches Of SNOW,
Thermometer lowering down around
zero The trees crack and crack in ag-
ony as the ground breeze sways their
stiffened limbs AS you climb out Of
your motor car in which you more
than half froze, your nose is red, your
eyes are watering and your feet twin
appendages Of pain; hands horrible
hurting things; fingers about to snap
or
Your sausage as observation bal
looms are known throughout the armies
lis being held down by the side of the
road in the edge of wheat field It
is OF the new French type,shaped liltt
a shcrt link Of pig sausage and does
not need the kite tail Of It's predeces-
sors to keep it headed into the wind.
Despite the forty-odd troopers holding
on to its lettering ropes now, it swings
slowly back and forth like titanic
elephant to which schoolboy has just
fed plug of tobacco II looks baleful,
even murderous in a mild, concealed
sort of way, and seems to be glaring
angrily at the little basket IN the snow
in front OF it,
Thirty yards away, in the road, is its
winch--the heavy auto-truck with its
rnotcrdriven drum for letting out and
drawing IN the slender wire cable con-
trolling the height Of the balloon One
needle tells the altitude. another the
exact pull or wind pressure against
the bag at any slgen moment. The
cable is made to stand o four-ton stain
and as a fifty-mile wind exerts a pull
Of about ton. the string seems pretty
saec,
Come with me" says dapper
young lieutenant. "and I'n find you
-naA,.ti,fpr ~ t,aor TIo,ead ooId -,
there" You follow the boyish-looking
officer to his billet--a Gypsy wagon
home brought ap 70 date; a motor We
hicle Of the delivery sort in which
he lives summer and winter. Later
you discover three things about this
young man; First that he is very
much on to his job; second, that he is
fearless; third, that he is really an
American, his father coming from Gin
cinnati
Get into these he says handing
you lot Of clothes built for polar ex-
ploration AS well as your numbness
from the cold permits you stagger out
of your own overeoat and boots and |
with the lieutenant's aid. muddle into
the new kit First you put on a canvas
and rope harness--a broad band about |
each lex and one under the arms loop
Of stout rope sticking up past your
chin Next come the thigh boots made
of sheepskn with the wool inside the !
bottoms being of rubber and leather in
layers. A huge leather ulster is put on /
now. this too, being fur-lned and fur
collared the sleeves having elastic at
the wrists to retain the heat OF the
body over the head goes a leather
hood fur lined like the rest This fits !
the head snugly down to the eyes
drapes down over the fur collar Of the !
ulstor and leaves only eyes, nose and !
mouth exposed Al the ears are per.
forations for one must be able to /
hear as well as to see Huge fur-lined |
gauntleted gloves complete your cos
tune and out of the vehicle YOU climb.
nimble as an infant hippopotamus
The balloon looks more menacing /
than ever now. They have let the
beast rise little and II is swaying |
over the basket as though in terrible !
temper Soldiers give the Young lieu
tenant leg and into the basket he
goes. You follow
eHere7 says the lieutenant handing
you stout stick about foot long and
about the middle OF which rope has
been neatly spliced
whats this for27 you ask. accpet
ing the offering
slip the stick through the rope loop
sticking out the top Of your overeoat
there. he replies. "That attaches you
to the parachute To the parachute
eh2 you think to yourself Which
u,oopu thot ,,,as-f,e ,.,r,sll ha,., g., Iono,, I