Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1917-08-31
HOW THEY DID IT
pierre Miller, in the New York Trib-
une.)

In what you are going to read there
actual experience. No fiction-no en-.
belishments. Only cruel and hard real
ity.
Major P. who has just inspect
ed the hospital units of q cantonment
was about to reenter his automobile.
He was walking along with his nose
in his notebook, dragging one of his
boots after the other out of the cling
ing mud of the roadway. He was
thinking of nothing in particular en-
cept the tedium of the trip back TO
general headquarters-over u familiar
route, against keen north wind
whose sting he could already feel in
his nostrils. Coming from depot for
the wounded behind the lines he was
to make his way to another point in
the rear. That was all.
His mind was not occupied with the
details of the inspection which he had
just made-and made in rather SUI
perficial fashion. There was nothing
out of the ordinary run to report. Ev-
erything was going along about as US
ual-not too well and yet not too bad
ly. The war would last. He didn't
even wish to guess how long it would
last, judging that problem to be in
soluble and any mental effort eXpend-
ed, on it to be uselessly disturbing.
One must do his best from day to day
and think as little as possible of things
not brought to ones attention. That
was the attitude of mind he sought to
cultivate, gratefully taking lessons
from the thousands of simple soldiers
with whom he came in contact, who
had acquired instinctively that pholos-
ophy of acceptance which he could Mt
tain only by powerful effort of the
will.
Suddenly the sound of cannonade,
very near him, made him lift his head
An artillery duel-so far from the
contact of the trenches, SO far from
the enemy? AT that moment his hand
touched the door of his auto. The
chauffeur, his nose in the air, deeply
interested, said to him:
"They are firing at German ac-
roplane, Major"
Then looking up in the sky which
was very clear that day because of
the north wind, in the same direction
in which the soldier was looking, he
saw an enemy observer. 1t was q
byplane flying ut hight of 1900 to
1900 meters, not seeming at all dis
quoted by the little feeces of white
smoke which, with faint far off
sound, burst into view about its in
aggtrated dragon fly. All the gun
ntrs at the eantonment and of the
surrounding district were firing in
cessantlv at that aerial target.
The major shrugged his shoulders.
n y, A.,
of times before and knew that Il hit
from the ground was rarc-ulmost
impossible. 1t was as if one was try
ing to shoot pigeon with rifle.
Such spcctacles were good for the
blues. But for himself he was blase.
He was skeptical, so far as results
went. 1t was good powder thrown
away-much, too much good powder.
Let the enemy fiiers spy on our lines,
SO long us our fliers also spie on
theirs.
Let us start" he said to the chau-
ffeur, 1--WE have forty kilometers to
go"
Wrapping himself in his great coat
he took his seat, and the chauffeur
got out to crank up. But the cranker
remained motionless in his hands.
Major" he said with shining eyes,
there's another machine Coming
u fight"
The cantonment, was situated In
a spreading valley. On one side the
hills which dominated it were wood
ed; on the other side they were bare.
On that side there had once been
titled fields-long ago, in an cpoch
which seemed indefinitely removed,
lost in the shadows of time-bcfore
the war The French machine had
mounted like a sparrow hawk from
some hiding place in the dark, mo-
tionless woods. 1t resembled a hawk,
a bird of prey, rapid and direct, in
trcpid and slender. So very SLENDER!
Much smaller than the enemy. who
had not seen it coming at first, and
now attempted to escape, like wild
duck or a heron which fees before
a falcon unhooded by the hunter.
1T is a new model" cried the
chauffeur, who was very excited. 81
saw it once before at X. They
showed it to me. 1t is driven by a
single operator, who maneuvres his
machine gun with a special device,
SO that he doesn't have to lose his
direction. All that is marvellous!
That. is marvellous! And how fast it
goes! He could give the Boche
handicap of thirty kilometers an
hour"
The frail machine, the man who
was its brain and the deadly mitrail-
leuse were all one beautiful welded
unit. They dashed ahead, filing the
with alost illimitable fc-
roclty. The persued bird knew now
that it was much too late to flee, that
there was not time left to escape. 1t
sought to defend itself. 1t also was
armed, and one could hear the crack
ing of its machine gun. But the pur
suer disdained to respond. 1t COM
menced to mount in great, sweeping
circles, to mount whirling, as does
his brother, the hawk, when it wish
es to dominate and swoop down upon
a sparrow. Not that the French ma
chine wished to swoop down. Simply
by taking advantage of it's superior
climbing power it avoided the fire of
its antagonist.
Look at the RnchnU shantad 4La