The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1917-08-10
GIVE us
SPRUCE
IS PLEA

Der OF the ltallhn MISSION 10
America, one of the three great
army filters who spoke at the Sta
dunn high school Thursday even
ing, thus plainly put the appeal of
Europe to America.
Il come to you very directly
from the British government, to
tell you that it is really very nee
essary that we should have
spruce. Even a few days may
make a great difference" said
Col. l.. w. B. Rees of the British
royal flying corps, wearer OF the
Victoria cross. and still hmping
from a wound received in an air
battle.
I Great Air Battle Coming.
"The next big battle will be,
entirely led by the aviation
This was the statement of Capt.
Henry Dourif of the French flying
corps.
At the close of the talks OF the
three aviation experts, Il. 7. Allen
of the national council of defense,
member of the u. S. aircraft
commission, stated briefly the sig
nificance of the visit of the party
to the northwest.
"The side that first gets the
mastery of the air is going to win
this war" he said.
Challenge to Everybody.
Everything depends on spruce,
most of it from Washington and
Oregon. This is challenge to
the owners, the operators, the
logger who logs the lumber, the
llumberman who cuts it, the Ia
borer in the woods and the gem
eral population whose sentiment
must get behind the work If 1t Is
to be done and done in time.
at has got to be done quickly,
for If we don't do it before the
other fellow does it, that is the
end of this war for us
The evening was full of thrills.
In addition to remarkable moving
pictures of the work of the allied
ayiators, the personal charm ana
earnestness of the three men VINO
told the story held the big audi
ence breathless.
"At the beginning of the war,
said Col. ices, England was
very ill-prepared with air pines.
We had only 100 of them on pa
per, and so of those wouldn't fly.
But we have done great deal,
not only in building and improv-
ing the machines, but also In
knowledge of what can be done
with them.
"Instead of fighting, as we did
at first, at 1000 feet, we now go
right up, and we fight at any
height from 300 to $4,000 feet.
I'm fact, wherever we meet a
German we fight him.
This statement drew storm
of approval from the audience.
Go In Groups.
Machines are very seldom
brought down by anyti-aircraft
fire." Rees went on. But it isn't
nice to be among the firing, tho,
because you never know when
your luck's going to be out.
"In fact, II you get down low
enough. you can fly all around an
anti-aircraft gun and it can't do
you any damage at all. It's rather
nice to know that when you are
down there.
Instead of fighting singly, as
we used to, we now go in groups.
The biggest battle / have heard of
was when 2S of our machines
took on Sc of the Germans and
beat them. In fact, the Germans
went away altogether.
1--WE are holding the Germans
now, and every machine that goes
! in tips the balance on our side
and helps that much"
| Mai. Perfetti, in English that
seemed to gain in force because of
its difficulty, said the entrance of
America into the war reminded
him OF that of Italy.
Italy has been peaceful
country. She was out of the war,
but the people of Italy wanted to
go into the war and the Obliged
the country to go into the war be-
cause they felt the world must
have liberty.
"War is a terrible thing, and
we are enduring all that for an
idea, the same idea which belongs
to the country Of Washington and
Lincoln.
/ "We Are Not Tired"
81 have just seen your glorious
mountain with its glaciers. Our
front is made of an interlocked
line Of glorious peaks Just like
that for hundreds of miles. We
have soldiers fighting at 10000
feet since three years, and they
are still fighting and they don't
want to leave their place.
I'VE OF the aviation started
with machines of 100 horse pow
er. Now we have them of TOO
horse power, we are building
them of 1000 horse power and
we have them under design of g.
500 horse power. These big ones
can cross the Atlantic IL neces-
'sary.
1--WE are not tired In Europe.
We are fighting against terrible
odds, but we are cheerful and WEI
believe ir victory.
40 Miles An Hour.
"War is terrible, I hope you
- ~ arorad ha vfnu a. tu yaur