Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-26

Some Stunt
/ was flying another pilots zang,
the engine of mine being broken,
number 13 by the way and she was
sure an old bird too, the paint having
scaled off in numerous places. But
although, l thought of these things,
it was only in n vague way, for up
1 climbed and began trying stunts
also. Gee! it was great sport! and
/ felt quite licked with myself when
l mastered the REQUIREMENT, which
stunt 1 never could get at Pau. To
turn over on ones back, finish the
loop and come right side up again
and know you had control all the
time is great sensation and l had
the time of my life for several min
utes-and then landed and discov-
cred I had stretched a wire some
two inches with the terrific strains
l had put on it. So yesterday when
! l went up to play around again the
| sergeant mechanic told me not to
do any acrobatics as it might break
the zang, and bhowing he was right,
l refrained from acrobatics, but en-
joyed myself immensely by attack
ing different zangs in the air, driving
| down on them, you know, with one
eye glued to the sight and getting
real close, swooping up again for
another dive. 1t was also our esca-
from the air and had my first try
at that. The gunsmith told me to
come very close before shooting, as
the sights were regulated for short
| distance only, so three times | dove
at the white target on the ground,
shooting as ] dove and getting so IN
terested in watching the bullets go
ing in and near the target that
nearly ran into it several times, so
| n1nGn did T IN the ground.
How About 1t. Dad?
Now don't laugh, Dad, you who
are the crack shot of the Shaffer
family, for out of 70 shots fired
hit the target times. Laugh IL you
want to, but that is considered good
shooting from a plane. Why, do you
know that my roommate who has
two Boches to his credit, in practice
such as this never hit it at all? It's
quite different from shooting rifle
from the shoulder, for the gun is
fixed and one must point his zang
to shoot straight, and that is not two
sights on a target as one comes
hurtling toward the ground one be-
gins to notice how sensitive his con-
| trolls are. Just touch of the foot
or hand and your sights are out of
line.
The cold wave had blown over for
the present and now it's raining, and
to make matters worse several
Erenchmen in nearby rooms are try
| ing to sing. I'm not kicking, you
know, simply telling you of the aw-
full suffering I have to endure. Time
enough to kick when the inhabitants
in the adjoining room return with
their. Moranes. Ten ] will really
know the hardships of war, for one
! has a flute and the other n cello
4 and they are both learning to play
Their respective instruments at that.
| So you can imagine how much Put
man and / suffered the few nights
they were here. You know the aw-
full wall one can extract from a cello,
and the weird notes made by a
flute-especiallY if the aspiring musl-
clans are only learning. And then
they tried a duet with do, ra, me"
as the privileged title-such mix
ture of sound you could never imag-
inc, and we had to listen to 1t.
Freeze While You Sleep
Do you wonder we soldiers re-
quire so much sympathy? Since 1t
wasn't possible to ruin the melody,
my roommate broke in with his
mandolin, which, by the way, he can
play. His music didn't quite drown
the adjoining attempts but it surely
| knocked them off the key, for they
fell down on IRA" with an awful
wall. Fortunately, it was so cold
| that ambition soon died, and they
changed the tune to that of a person
who enjoys his sleep, not quietly but
too well. Speaking about sleeping, L
will say these rooms are cold, al
though ] have covered all means or
ventilation with heavy paper, but
still one nearly freezes at night. One
don't undress and crawl into pajam-
as here. Oh, dear no! he takes Off
one of four shirts and a sweater and
puts on his fur coat and fur-lined
/ shoes. Too bad I haven't got a night
cap, for it sure is necessary.
Bombing of Paris ...
! I suppose you have heard more
of the raid on Paris by this time
than l, but I'm willing to bet the
story was not as amusing as it was
told to me by pilot, who recently
returned from his permission there.
He is a very amusing Frenchman at
all times, and you have heard me
speak of him at the chateau surely
OF course, I cannot pass the anus
ing part on to you, as he used the
French language, which is so express
sive and which this particular
Frenchman makes very amusing. His
account of how the people fiocked
out on the streets to witness the
/ spectacle of 40 Boches bombardig
! them was amusing as to give the
stomach ache, for he illustrated their
looking up with mouth agape so
well-and then the bomb tombi'
and every one scuttled for the cell
lar. AS he. put it, there was beau
coup amusement" as all classes and
types of people piled into the nearest
cellar.
Do Airmen Like Chocolate?
The box of chocolate arrived
from the State Printery, pretty well
banged up as to wrapping, but the
chocolate was all there and that was
the point 1t isn't all there now,
though, for have put an awful hole
in it, since ] don't believe in putting
off until tomorrow what one can eat
to-day. Sure, know it! L am an
awful pig!
Just finished dinner with baked
apples as dessert. Yes, indeed, we
eat very well. Incidentally, that's
where about three-fourths of my sal
ary goes for so much we devoted
by each pilot for the "poupourrie."
Il think that's the way it is spelled)
AS for breakfast, we have that
brought to us in bed. OF course 1t
only consists of toast and coffee, but
with plenty of butter and condensed
milk, a king could not ask for more!
Yes, mother, I'm acquiring lot of
lazy habits, such as sleeping until 10
A. M, taking breakfast in bed and
only one bath month. Just think
what you will have to put up with
when the prodigal returns. l often
think of how dramatic l could make
that Homecoming If 1 could arrange