Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-12-20

tracted by a general trying to cut
some wood" off the yard" with a
dull knife. The amusing part of 1t
is that we could talk so freely with
out hurting anybody's feelings. AT
least, no one gave any signs of un-
derstanding us. Changed cars at
Bordeaux and also got some break
fast there, consisting of some more
wood" and hot chocolate, and then
it was on the train again and Off
for Pau.
Scenery Interesting
The scenery only interested us in
somuch as it offered such poor land
ing places for airplanes. Pine trees
seemed to make up the most of the
forests, and what was not pine was
scrub bushes and marshes. They
must make a lot of turpentine and
rosin heA, because nearly every pine
tree had it's wooden cup with the
sap running from a slit in the tree
into it. When we got near the city
of Pau the scenery became very
beautiful, the railroad running along
the Pau river q think that's the
name), / stopped figuring on land
ing places for airplanes then and
changed to canoes. wondering
whether it was possible to run the
eral dams. L decided it would be
quite possible and even enjoyable to
take n girl along, as cozy hooks were
numerous and commissioning
enough to suit the most eXacting
girl.
Sometime when have no war on
my hands I'll take you and Ruth oil
the trip. Why Ruth? Oh, because
I'll need ballast to balance the boat.
When we arrived at Pau it was
pouring rain. Honestly, l never saw
it rain so hard. Seems as if some
one was wringing the whole sky out,
Anyway, we got our baggage fixed
up for the special train which goes
to the aviation field and then climbed
aboard a baby street car to get to a
hotel for something to eat.
Reminded of Home
Found a good hotel, but the sad
part of it was that we had to hurry
through the meal, having only
thirty minutes to catch our special
train for camp. The fellow that
named that a special sure had a
sense of humor, for it was sure
built on a small scale, reminding me
of the lumber railroad which runs
into Dauphin. At least, it had the
same type of engine, only about two
like these petite" railroads that
give kids joyrides in the parks-ano
someone called it a special"
Cheap Carfare
There is one thing they have here,
though, that makes the American
public envious. and that is two-cent
fares on street cars; but the cars are
nothing to compare to those at
home. Hanging onto a strap while
we climbed the long hill and more
patrons crowded on made me feel
quite at home-New York was my
last home, you know. 1t was not Il
racing along overhead made things
interesting. We did not envy him
up there, for, having flown Cau-
dron through the rain, a Nieuport
with its tremendous speed must be
rather painful.
We were soon at camp and into
red tape up to our necks. 1 have
been through lot before, but this
one takes the cake. They actually
took down the address where l
wished my body shipped in case of
enough to make one wonder, but
when one of the fellows comes into
the barracks that night with the
story that he had discovered a
whole hangar full of collins all tag
ged and ready, that was too much.
After investigation, however, they
proved to be boxes in which pro-
pellers are shipped.
Since you will receive this letter
long after / finish here-either in
coffin or otherwise will write
quite freely of the dangers.
Big Aviation Field
There are three fields from which
we fly and, incidentally, they are the
only fields in the whole country fit
to land safely on. Everywhere else
is swamp, hedges and trees. Forced
landings, or "pannes," as they are
called, are quite frequent and al
most invariably disastrous to the
machine. The pilot generally es7
Capes injury, though. In fact, pilots
are advised by officials in charge to
pick out tree and dive into it in
case of motor trouble. Yesterday an
American went for his altitude and
when he got through (6,000 meters)
his motor stopped. He came down
in a turnip patch, having lost the
field on account of mist when he
got that high.
The machine, of course, was
smashed completely, and he, crawl
ing out. felt himself over and find
ing nothing broken began to con-
gratulate himself for a lucky dog,
when his tongue discovered two
missing front teeth-and now he
can't whistle his favorite love song
Another fellow sent up to do q
"vrille" Ga tail spin, during which