Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-03-12

trenches. The second time he went
down L noticed a peculiar smell to
the air, which made my nose smart
and L could not imagine what it was
until we got down closer. Then the
odor was more noticeable, and l
knew it was gun powder was smell
ing. For the first time in my life
the smoke of battle was literally
rolling over me. And then we were
down to 200 meters, and | could see
the infantry crossing mo Mans
Land" and particularly the men at
tacking with liquid fire, who re-
minded me of a lot of lighting bugs
as they lodged hither and yon. But
1 had little time to make compari-
sons, one never has in this game,
for everything happens too quickly,
for the Captain was turning and
using his speed gained on the dive
to climb up again. Funny thing
about that trip, 1 never had the
least fear, regarding the whole thing
as a lark, and naturally, l had the
time of my life.
A Breath of Big Bertha
OF course, there was the usual
artillery duel going on, and it just
occurred to me to wonder why so
many planes could sail all around
through that leaden hail and never
get hit, for they are not like shrap-
mel, which one can see and dodge.
Thinking it over now l can distinctly
remember when we got down real
low that l got some awful bumps"
that were not caused by the wind.
It's quite possible one of those "big
Berthas" gave me a breezy welcome
as he sped past. I'm getting used
to shrapnel now and regarding it
with more contempt every day, al
though L will confess that l still
unconsciously duck when one goes
off real close. And it's so absolutely
foolish, because after the explosion
there is no danger. 1t probably is
the noise, for they go off with a
clap og thunder and the hollow
boom they let out sounds like the
knell of doomsday.
One Last Swoop
Well, to come back to the front
line trenches where 1 left the Cap
tain, we continued to circle and dive
around the attacked sector for over
an hour, at least, so my watch said,
which hangs near me, with the alti-
meter, tachometer and compass, and
then making one last swoop at the
trenches, we started for home at
a low altitude. When we landed,
the Captain said his gun had jammed
also, and that made me glad that
| had stuck with him instead of
going back when my gun was out
of order. He is a wonderful Captain,
with plenty of nerve, and speaks
English very fluently. / believe he
likes to fly as well as I do, because
he always leads a patrol out when
ever there is flying weather. He also
designed the escadrille. emblem,
which is two martins on a diamond
shaped background of gold, and very
beautiful, since the birds are blue
with. white throats and a little red
also, so we have the red, white and
blue right on the emblem. Not sat
isfied with that, the number of the
machine is painted in red with a
white border. Yes ma'am, we sure
are some ,classy-looking escadrille.
Dodghg Thunder Claps
The same afternoon of the above
attack, the Captain led us out again,
and since the clouds were-low we
flew above them. They were not
very thick, one could see right
through them, and the scenery was
very beautiful to look upon, al
though nothing like the experience
lldu Will CLOUDS dJ Gdu. CnlIIOn
would best express their texture,
for they were very fleecy, and look
ing down on my Captains green
plane as he was outlined against this
white background made a very
beautiful picture-and then two
claps of thunder made me duck, one
going under me and the other be-
side me and put a stop to my mus
ingS on the beauties of nature, and
I applied myself to. lodging those
black puffs and claps of thunder.
1t was pretty late in the after
noon-about 4 p. M.-so the Cap
tain starts down from his altitude
of 5000 meters and heads for camp,
arriving there just about dark. /
like the way he always brings us
home, as he always flies low, which
is much more interesting, as one
can see the country and look down
patronizingly on those poor mortals
who have to walk. In the morn
ing when we came back from the
attack we followed an important
road which led to the attacked part
of the front, and it sure was one
continuous stream of trucks laden
with ammunition and supplies, I
guess.
An American in our escadrille
just got his first Boche, the first for
this escadrille, and / certainly envy
him, as well as admire his courage,