The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1917-05-02
AIRSHIPS BECOME RAPIDLY
 RARER ON FRONT
Battle Sky Filled With Al lied Flyers Drives Enc 
 my Behind Lines.

British Headquarters in France Out of the high thin air., where the fighting birdmen fly in a sort of dreamworld of adventure, have come within the last few days still more wondrous stories of dauntless deeds and feats of aerial tilting to spread the welcome glamor of romance over the more sordid side of the war. Above the British lines and far with in the enemy territory the blue spring skies have been filled with daring planes that seem to flash in and out among the bits of floating cloud with the speed of the very sunbeams that sparkle and play upon their silver sides and all but transparent wings. Practically all the visible machines bear the red, white, and blue target markings of the Allies. It is seldom that hostile battle birds with the maltese cross upon their spreading wings venture across the fighting lines. The British aviators report that 1t is very difficult just now to get the German aviators into close fighting. They say that the Germans appear unwilling to engage in that sort of warfare and continually at tempt to break off the combats.e
 Two fast British machines far in the enemy's domain saw what ap- peared to be a flock of German planes headed toward. the British lines. The two British airmen climb ed a couple of thousand feet to have a better look at the strangers. They then saw that it was. a formation of fourteen machines composed of fight ing scouts and heavier two-seaters, probably intent upon a bombing raid. | The odds were rather heavy against them, but the British f1iers decided to have a go at the hostile airmen. For three-quarterS of an hour there fol- followed an extraordinary battle. | Having faster and better maneuv- ering machines than anything in the German formation, the young Britons played about their fourteen enemies
 like a pair of giant hornets. They
 dived at them time and again, firing bursts of machine gun bullets as they passed. With superiod speed and
 climb the British machines were able to adopt such tactics as suited their
 purpose, and from the moment of the first attack the formation of the Ger
 man machines began to break up.
 After two of their machines had
 been set on fire and destroyed and a
 third sent spinning down to an un-
 doubted fatal crash, the hostile squadron was completely disorganiz- ed, the surviving machines turning
 about and making for home.
 Another storyshas to do with the marrow escape of young British na- val airman who sallied forth on g
 recent bright afternoon to ''strafe'' g German balloon he saw in the ail
 some distance back of their fighting lines Nowadays whenever a British
 plane crosses the lines within mile or two of a German balloon station
 s. o. S. signs ascend and the balloon
 Is hauled down as fast as the motor. , driven winches can drag it. The pi- lot was not to be thus foiled, how
 ever. When he got near the balloon it was only 20 feet from the ground but he dived for it, despite the pro- tecting machine guns which were sending up perfect fountains of steel
 jacketed bullets.
 The balloon began to smoke in sev. eral places, and the British airmar
 was diving at it again when his en.
 zine was hit The navy chap managed
 to get himself home like a wounded pigeon, nevertheless, crossing the
 fighting lines at less than fifty feet
 Being a naval man he officially des.
 cribed his homecoming as "limpins
 into port"
 |, l g .oSVOIdl OlHGT dVldCOTS TeC0uIly dI tackled German balloons on the , ground. The correspondent spent
 most of Sunday on the battle front but saw no German balloons up after , British airmen had destroyed two P early in the morning.
 On Saturday afternoon British
 fighting scout was just taking the at1
 when he saw an Archie" battery fir ing at a German machine high in tn,
 clouds. The Briton deliberately be
 gan to climb through this fire to en , gage the enemy, but the latter say
 him coming and streaked for home 5 The British followed him for severa ' miles, firing all the while, but final D ly ran out of ammunition.
 y One pilot described the sensation Q of passing through a firing zone a l similar to that received in a smal 3 boat rocking upon the swell of a fas
 passing steamer. Often the pilots 0