The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1917-02-28
PLAYING 1lG WITH DEATH
IN 4 SAUSAGE BALLOON.
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS
United Press staff Correspondent

WITH THE BRITISH ARMIES IN
THE FIELD, Feb. l.t By Mail -
To find out what It is like UP. there,
siangsing for hours in tiny basket
swung under an observation bal
loon, a mile above the snow-and-ice-
covered earth while forty mile gale
cuts ~. fresh from the pole, I was
today allowed to make the ascent
do net care TO make another.
Enough's enough.
Midwinter. Four inches of snow,
Thermometer lowering down around
zero. The trees crack and crack IN
agony as the gronnd-breeze sways
their stiffened limbs, As You climb
'unt Of your motor car. in which you
more than half froze. your nose Is
red. your eyes are watering and your
feet twin appenaages OF path. hands
horrible hurting things; fingers
about to snap off
Your 'ssalisag sc 'as observation
balloons are known throughout the
.arniesis being held down BY the
side of the road, In the edge OF a
wheat field II is Of tho new French
type, shaped like a short link OF q
pig sausage, ard does not need the
kite-taiI of its predecessors 70 keep
at headed into the wind. Despite the
fcfty-odd troopers holding on to its
teGlferia. ropes now. it swings slowly
heck and forth like a titanic elephant
20 which a schoolhoy has just fed a
plug OF tobacco. It looks baleful.
even murderous in a mild, concealed
sort OF way, and seems TO be glazing
angrily at the little basket in the
snow in front of it.
Thirty yards away, in the road, is
its winchthe heavy auto-trnck
with It's motor-driven drum for let
ting OUT and drawing in the slender
wire cable controlling the height Of
the balloon. One needle tells the
altitude, another the exact pull. or
wsnd-pressure against the bag at
any given moment The cable is
made to stand four-ton strain and
as a fifty-rnile wind exerts pull OF
about a ton, the string seems pretty
safe.
Come with me- says dapper
young lieutenant, and I'll find
you something to wear. Blessed
cold up there You follow the boy
ish-looking officer to his billet-a
#Gipsy wagon-home brought up to
date; motor vehicle of the "deliy-
cry" sort, in which he lives summer
and winter. Later you discover three
things about this Young man: First,
that he is very much on the job; sec
ond. that he is fearless; third, that
be is really an American, his father
coming from Cincinnati.
Get into these he says, handing
YOU a lot of clothes built for polar
exploration. AS well as your numb
ness from the cold permits you stag
ger out OF your own overcoat and
boots and with the lieutenants aid,
muddie into the new kit. First, you
put on a canvas and rope harness
broad band about each leg and
one under the arms. a loop of stout
rope sticking up past your chin.
Next come the thigh boots, made of
sheepskin with the wool inside. the
bottoms being of rubber and leather
IN layers. a huge leather ulster is
nut on now. this too, being fur-lined
md 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
reat. This fits the head snugly down
10 the eyes, drapes down over the fur
collar OF the ulster and leaves only
eyes, nose and mouth exposed. Al
the ears are perforations--for one
must be able TO hear as vel! as to
See Huge faflined gauntleted
gloves complete your costume and
ONT OF the yeAicle YOU climb. nim6le
AZ an iafant hipQopotamus.
The balloon looks more menaeiug
than egeg now. They have lei The
Beast Fise 3 littia ard it is swaylns
over TIC BASKET as though ia a telli-
bic temper. Soldiers give the young
lieutenant q leg and into the basket
he goes. You follow.
Here says tie lieutenant, hand
ing yea stout stick about FOOT
long and about the middle of which
a rope has been neatly spliced.
What's this fore" you ask, ae-
cepting the Offering,
Slip the stick through the ropes
loop sticking out the top of your
oyercoat there. he replies. THAT
attaches YOU TO the parachute" To
the parachute, Ell? you think to your
self. Which means thai mayhe