Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-21
Escadrille Spad 3S,

SCSlCuI STVb
G. C. %,
Aug. 1, 1918.
Dear Mother:
It's been so almighty hot the la~t
few days that 1 had not the am
bition to write. Besides, l was pretty
busy flying, for after that attack on
the sausage" / told you about and
it's failure to burn 1 was wild to
try again-and see one burn. AS the
weather still continued bad and the
sky filed with clouds 1 finally got
permission to go after balloons
again. There sure were a bunch of
clouds in the air. all sizes and
shapes and 1 was hard put to keep
from getting lost, for no sooner had
gone in one and came out than
I bumped into another.
Arriving over the lines. l dove into
a big cloud and headed for Berlin.
1t seems though, my choice of clouds
was tires mauvois" because it was
a black one and began weeping"
as soon as / entered. Clouds are bad
enough as it is to keep ones dtrec-
ton and balance while in them, but
when they begin pouring rain when
you hit them-good night! 1 prompt
ly pushed on the stick" and came
out-lost.
OT StNtIdl
flew around in circles wondering
which side of. the line / was on.
Since no shrapnel was breaking
around me 1 knew l was still on the
French side and began looking for
landmarks. There did not seem to
be any familiar ones around and
while I continued looking / thought
of my comrade, Byers. and won
dered if the same thing would hap
pen to me-lost and landed in Ger
many. But these thoughts were
soon squelched when l discovered
the Argonne forest. 1 had general
idea where l was then, and getting
my direction by the aid of the COM
pass and the trenches l soon knew
whittier l was bound.
Hide-and-Seek in the Clouds
You can see how very safe I was
with so many clouds in the sky, for
no matter how many Huns jumped
me they sure would have lovely
time getting a shot in with me play
ing hide-and-seek among aforesaid
clouds.
But if it was safe for me the
Boches decided wisely it was some
what unsafe for balloons, for not
one could / find up. 1 had been
flying on my own side of the fence
up to this time, waiting to see some
thing to go after before letting
"Archie" display my presence. Rath-
er low, too, because the clouds were
at 500 meters, and kept at 1000,
lodging around clouds, sometimes
going through a small one. Finally,
thinking saw the big bulging belly
of a sausage" 1 jumped in cloud
and headed his way. Archie soon
found me, but since 1 was in clouds
three-fourths of the time 1 had little
fear of his craftsmanship.
The balloon, however, turned out
to be nothing but hole in the for
est, so 1 was out of luck" How
ever, being several miles in their
lines then, and knowing there was
Boche balloon stationed just ahead
of me, I kept going parallel to the
lines-only on the Hun side of the
fence, "Archie" yopping at my heels
ever ytime l stuck my nose out OF a
cloud.
A Big Blaze
But was looking for something
to try my gun on-balloon preferred.
It would make such big blaze, you
know-and kept going. The Huns
must have slept late that morning,
however, or forgot to OPEN the sta
ton because no sausage tugged at
its rope. This station happens to be
near Rheims, so l flew on around
Rheims, running into several patrols
of Spads as / came out, who were
coming a running to see what
"Archie" was talking about. Two of
these French machines even chased
me. a fact of which L was ignorant
until 1 came. out of a cloud and saw
them following. l ended the pursuit
by promptly standing on one wing,
thus showing my red, white ana
blue "cocarde" Gnsignia) on my
wings. AS a patrol that was rather
disappointing, but the next day l
saw a most interesting spectacle and
something 1 have often wanted to
watch-a fight in the air. and one
plane tumbling to the ground. OF
| course. I have been in a number
of fights, and been in both the chas-
| ing and tumbling end of the argu-
ment at that, but one Is two busily
engaged to get any pleasure out of
| the spectacle, and / wanted to be a
spectator-just once anyway.
| We had just arrived at the lines
when l had my wish, for an enor-
NOUS biplane (two-man plane) was
tumbling down head over heels with
two planes in hot pursuit. At first
| uC VIZ oOAiio -
and from the niUnner in which he
did it surely thought it was
his last one. But on looking more
carefully l saw he was really doing
n tight spiral, one of the tighest I
have ever seen, the like of which I
did not think such a big, clumsy
plane was capable of Either the
pilot was hit or he was a mighty
good flyer-and then, as he spun
around in a tight circle, the sun
shone full on his wings and showed
the red. white and blue insignia of
the French.
That put a different face on the
matter. 1t was one thing to watch a
Boche go tumbling down to a
CRASH" but French plane was en-
tirely another matter. 1t wasn't
spectacle anymore. 1t was a doggone
shame and some Hun was going to
pay for the show, too. And to think
that those two planes making that
poor Frenchman do all that aero