The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-03-29
Tells Story Of How the Earth
Sank Away From Him
SAW THINGS FROM ABOVE
Thermometer Showed Drop Of
Twenty Degrees; TeIephon-
ing From On High
From Saturdays Tally.

From Saturdays 1aiIy.
Behind British Lines in France,
FEBRUARY Correspondence of The
Associated Press. ]-"Would you care
to go up" asked the polite British
| officer in charge Of the big kite bal
| loon, one CT the long line of cap
/ tive sausages, the eyes of the
Army" which swing as though pend
ant from the clouds all UP and down
the fighting line from the British
channel to the Swiss border.
Certainly" replied the cores
!rondent.
| So an extra warm Overco2t and E1uf
\ fer were brought out and donned,
and most important of all, the para
chute harness was fitted on.
BY this time the balloon had been
lccnnected UP to the winch and every
thing was ready. The officer hoisted
himself into the car with an agility
born of long practice while the Wis
|itor was assisted to his place by the
''car men," who then hooked the
parachute harness to the parachute
which hung just outside the little
wicker car.
Trench Map on Car.
| Jutting out from one side of the
car was board on which was pasted
o large scale trench map of the dis
trict. In pockets inside the car were
maps, air photographs, and field
| glasses. On the rigging of the car
was a dial to show the altitude and
an indicator registering the force
/ of the wind in miles per hour. Just
above, dominating all, was the huge
bag of floating fabric, only kept In
pace by the crowd of soldiers hold
ing the handling guys. The slender
cable and it's sister telephone wires
stretched lazily across the grass to
the winch on big motor nearby.
/ The observer fixed the telephone re-
ceiver to his head. He tested the line
by calling up the winch party. the ex-
change. and the chart room at the bal
| loon section headquarters. Satisfied that
to the fight sergeant on the ground.
band n,iU and then: walk forward the
| winch"
| Ground Began to Sink.
! The ground began to sink away. The
first impression was that the bottom of
| the basket was going to fall out For
/ few minutes this impression was so
strong that it was nhyiscally impossible
to look over the side. The view was
excellent but the mood to appreciate it
was absent. The officers enthusiasm ST =: as
| terest in the land scape seemed some
Gradnally this first impression of in
! security passed. The altitude dial COM
! fortably close at hand, now indicated
that tho haIlcor bod REACHED $500 feet.
The thermometer already showed a drop
&c twnntv Ieg~cre BIT the balloon was
| eff
| mist" explained the officer ''and ex-
| perience proves that under such circum-
higher attitudes So it was not until
! the pointer signifed 1920 feet that he
te'onhnned down the order "stoD the
WINCH and the business of the day be-
| gan.
OFFICERS Appointed Task.
/; Artillery observation was thes officers
/ appointed task. A British battery was
and the observer made his. preparations
accordingly. He had the positions of the
/ two hattnr'es r"arked on his mad hut
| he wanted to make sure of the position
Of tho balloon So he lc"ned over the
J side of the car, verified his landmarks.
and telephoned the results to the chart
/ room.
LET me know when they are ready"
! said he. There was a pause. Then
! short monosyllahlic conservation. and
! the balloon officer gave the order Fire"
and adjusted his glasses to his eyes
I For the next fifteen minutes the Off
/ Ger was too busy to pay any attention
/ to his passenger. He was engaged in
passed down remark which showed
/ that he was not configlng his attention
| to ranging guns. but had also an alert
| eye for flashes of enemy guns anywhere
within his range of observe ton The
rarge of vision was roughly twenty
miles.
Boom in the Distance
After the first order to fire" boom
| in the distance indicated that the order
| had been obeyed. The balloon officer
| frowned slightly, and telephoned cor
| announced again that it Yves ready, and
| this time the result was better. The
: process continued. Once the observer
asked to be put into direct communica-
| arranged accordingly. Apparently the
result of this conference was satisfac-
| tory. for soon the observation came
| through as correct
few more rounds and the balloon
/ requested the battery to start firing for
! effect. While this was being done. an
done on another target, the balloon OBJ
server occasionally switching his glasses
to the old target 70 see that the guns
were SHOOTING CORRECTLY.
Another Hostile Battery.
| Now and again the observer passed
J down message to the effect that
| BLANK Blank is active Blank Blank
was another hostile battery. not at pres
ent engaging attention. Sometimes he
irternolated = little message for the
chart-room such as:
Flash observed two five minutes left
of Blank Blank Blank Blank being
landmark easily found on the map, so
that the fash position could be marked
on the chart-room for attention later.
There were four hours of this work
before the officer gave the order Haul
down." A slight jerk showed that the
descent had begun and fifteen minutes
later terra firn,a was reached and the
balloon was off upward again with a
fresh crew.
Down in the chart-room, the report of
the days work so far showed that three
German batteries had been "neutralized"
and two new battery positions discov-
cred. In due course. the latter two
would be cared for in a manner that
would place them also in the list of
neutralizations.
| Not everv balloon ascent is SO smooth
and peaceful as this. The enemy is
active and ingenious and the parachute
is not there for nothing. The German
airinan sweeping like a hawk from a
I cloud, is always a possibility.
Auto Shop Burned
L. L. Fillman of 401 Fulton street,
received telegram from his son