Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1917-11-02
A Letter From One OF Our Bows.

iocailty and are favorably known by our
ciuzens. They recently enlisted in the H.
D. Aviation Corps and are now preparing
10 engage in their country's foreign war
u D. NJ Aeronautic Station. Pensacola,
Florida, Oct 20. 1917.
i received your welcome letter TODAY
ana was glad to hear from all. have
Oeen so busy that have had hard time
getting around with my letters.
"our company has been studying hard
the last three weeks for examination for
our hrst rating. We had an examination
lew days ago and Reuben and got
through finely, am glad to say. We are
getting along nicely in everything. We
are taking advantage of everything in the
line OF duty and study. which is great in
every way. 1t is just like going to the
Naval Academy, and we are learning
something every minute. Here is our line
OF work daily. except Saturday and Sun
day:
I'VE roll out at six o'clock, sharp, in the
morning. have breakfast at seven, muster
and roll call at eight, drill and Swedish
exercise until nine. and that exercise is
great for keeping fellow in trim; then
from nine until ten we 60 to class for radio,
which am very much interested in.
can talk over the wire by dots and dashes
at the rate of twelve or fourteen words a
minute, and am getting better every week.
After radio we 90 to the classes for studies
pertaining to aviation until dinner, when
we have an hour to ourselves After din
ner we 60 back to classes until four o'clock,
then we are off until next morning.
I'VE are treated elegantly here, and get
all the liberty we want to 60 to shore. We
are situated on very pretty bay. which
is an inlet from the Gulf of Mexico. Swim
ming and fishing are fine.
I'VE are only forty minutes car ride
from the pretty little town of Pensacola,
and there is something doing over there
all the time. Lots Of pretty girls are over
there and they treat us very Hospitality.
They give parties and dances for US and
you know where there is any dancing
will be found on the job. got in several
prize waltzes and won three of them. The
last prize was the best. which was ten
dollars in gold. five for the lady and five
for me. We are only ten minutes ride
from an open-air dancing pavilion, which
is on the sandy beach. not more than a
hundred feet from the water. There is
always nice cool breeze passing over the
floor. 1t gets warm in the day. but at
night and early morning it is cold
"A sleeveless sweater and also watch
cap would surely be great. as we need
them after dark. The boys are wearing
sweaters and everything they can get by
inspection with. Some of the boys have
received sleeveless sweaters from the Red
Cross. but Reuben and have not. We
would appreciate them and make good use
of them also.
"As for eatables. why the gates are wide
open for you to send us anything you wish.
Some candy and cakes would be great
treat, as we hardly know what they are.
Surely would | like to be up there long
enough to 60 chestnut hunting and rabbit
hunting too. We have no chestnut trees
in this part of the country.
This is beautiful climate. | am feeling |
like another man. We are in fine shape |
and ready to put up good fight for Uncle |
Sam on short notice.
II would like to get furlough Christmas, |
but don't think they will grant me one
long enough to give me any time at home |
to amount to anything. But If they should |
call on us to 60 over to the other side,
which is liable to happen any time. then
shall take any time they hand out to come |
up to see everybody. if it is for only a |
minute.
did you read in the papers about the |
cyclone we had 2 Well, am going to tell |
you the experience had. 1t lasted all day |
and night and was travelling at the rate of
80 to $50 miles an hour. Early in the day
the wind thought it would have some fun.
so it got busy and took off the roof of our
building. and. as we are on the top floor.
of course we had to take up our belongings |
and bed and double-quick time down stairs.
Later on in the evening, when the storm
was at its worst. the captain came up and |
called us all out TO the dock. One of our |
steam boats had broken loose from one |
side and was about to be smashed up. We
all put on our bathing suits and life pre-
servers. with ropes tied to them and went |
out. And we surely did have a parrot and |
monkey time. believe me- When we got |
in the wind we could not walk. run or even
stand up. The wind just picked US up and |
made us fly And we would have been |
flying yet if we had not put on the pre-
servers with ropes tied to them. All we |
could do was to crawl around on our hands
and knees and hold on to the ropes. The |
waves were rolling in over the dock as
high as house.
"One of the boys was picked up by the
wind and gently dropped overheard. We
pulled him out by the ropes tied to him.
none the worse for his ducking.
There was great danger Of being hit by
something flying through the air. Every
thing that was loose. and a whole lot that
was not loose was soon pulled loose. was
flying from the gravel and sand Of the
beach to tin roofs boards and also logs
large ones at that. were rolling all over the
place. As luck would have it no one was
seriously hurt, but several were cut by fly
ine tin. Reuben and Tucked out with
only few bruises from the gravel that
was flying our way and every other way.
1T got so bad that the captain would
not take any more chances, so ordered us
to quarters.
That was when had the closest call.