Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-09-18

So 1 asked him, fell me I1gc
Are you Pole or Russian 1ea,
Englilh, Scotch, Italian, Russian.
Belgium, Spanish. Swiss MoTavisH,
Dutch Grees or Scandinavian"
Then he raised his head On high
As he gave this reply;
What ! IS naGEht TO me,
In this land Of Liberty.
In my soul man 60 man,
I am Just AMERICAN"
THE CRITICAL TEST OF ONE WHO FLIES
IN TIE WAR
IBy Aviator Ora Rabbit. Ellington Field
Houston, Texas August 2.
Dear Father have been confined 20 the
barracks the past few DAYS on account of q
severe case cf sun burn which ! received
while I'm bathing at Galveston Sunday. H.
seems a great deal cooler and during the even
ings we have breeze from the gulf. I has
become cool during The night lately that 1
have had to blanket
So far l have spent very little time in H0us-.
ton. We prefer Galveston, because Of Che
bathing which we can get there. A. lar a.
that goes J don't like either place As vel as
! do Dallas because Dallas reminds me m9re Of
our northern cities, while these places arc the
typical southern city As for the people, all
southern people are the same. They are very
hOspiiable. and especially to the officers
and cadets in the dying service. One soon
learns that if there Is anything he wants shat
the people help him with all he has 20 do
IL ask. also that he must not offer pay for
any services rendered unless he wants 70 ell
feud the people. Therefore IL never takes
is perfectly at home. That must BE- lhe Tea-
very seldom get hUnesIeil
This Geld is advance training field for
"bomhers" ard bombing pilots. a pilot FeTy
seldom drops his own bombs. hut has bomber
for thss purpGse and Ter helping IN pfAtertiaR
the machiHc from enemy aircraft. fae entire
course here takes ar0uHd three months iif8e.
| was very fortunate, and Hhe0 I came here
as pat in the middle Of the course they
needed men in that stage. Tae eeek came
they put all men = no had had VCrE IA cross
country. acrebatic and formation flying IN that
particular stage. Speaking OF formation 6y-
ing reminds me that wheH a bombing pilot
and bomber starts 0vef the lines in day tirnc
h. is never alone but flies IN Is formation o.
from ten to seysntg-five machines. In that
way each plane IS protected ~ the machine
in froat Of him and the machine behind him
Also the formation is always escorted across
the lines BY q squadron Of lighting or combat
machines. This is necessary because the bomb
ing planes mach larger and usually slower
when loaded With bombs and a bomber than
the fighting machines Of the enemy. However,
in night bCmbiag each machine goes alone.
This is necessary IN order to avoid accidents
| in the air. The darkness is quite protection
enough There is Ganger from evening
airplanes. but a little from anti-aircraft guns.
OF course there Is no danger from them ii one
DOESN'T happen to get cnugkt in a search-iight.
A Frenchnan told that IL was easy TO get
out Of Of those after a little practice.
I had another physical examination today
. along with altitude test If there is any
thing wrong with me they certainly ought 10
find il very soon, but then Z can see why Ii
I Is very important, especially The attitude
test, which viii receive once month y men
go across. / suppose penple lninlz that
when one flies Ouiy three OF faar hours a day
that il shouldn't affect him greatly. HaHeger,
] know Of the case OF instructor at one Of
the fields. who tive different occasions LOST
that re had o cadet 81 ~ him both times b.
more Than likely would have resulted badly,
However, it be had been given the a4lIiede fest
he would probably been ordered 20 res. los r.
time and tnen return FOR another c1amira sen
before Tying. BY the way. he probably never
weut up over seven ei%h. thousand 4eet
and all the work the front is done from
nine thousand 10 twenty-five Thousand feet.
The physical examination Hhich J received to-
day q very close eVamiHati0D Of the eyes,
heart and lungs / will aNempt 90 explain
how they conduct this altitude test: The Fl fs3
thing one must do is to sit down IN front q
machine which looks though it should be in
a lumber mill, or some place similar. Next
they explain to him what he must DO. Before
him sort Of table are twelve or sixteen
lights in two rows. At the extreme left Of
these lights two mere lights. one OF which
Is green and one Of which is red. In front
of these FIRST mentioned lights are Two rows
Of screws, each OF which is screw ed down onto
a washer which comes out beyond the screw
head. One side of electric current Is con-
nected from the screw to the green light.
The other side is connected TO stylus which
is held by the being examined, that
when he puts the stylus on screw head II
completes the circuit and lights the grenn light.
The washer the side is connected in Ike
manner 10 the red light and the stylus. So
you must put the stylus exactly the
head of the screw in order to light the green
light. The lights are most important and must
be tended To first. They regulated auto
matieally and stay lighted only second and
a half.
Just above the lights is disc on which are
marked every ten degrees. The disc can be
turned by one Of the examiners. In front of
the disc Is a pointer which the one being eK-
amined must keep at zero, by turning a little
knob in front of him. He has to tend TO both
the lights and the disc because doctor is
continuously taking his blood pressure his
left Then there is little motor which
has two speeds. The being examined
with his left foot. which rests a pedal which
I rssemb,es an orRan pedal. Sarpose he had
Ef4 heel Down and the motor speeaed up
al lie has 10 do Is TO push his zoe down and
that puts the motor into low again and il the
examiner puts It in high he puts his heel
dow again, which puts IL in low. New in
ease the examiner moved the disc and changed
the speed II the motor st the same time a
light vas turned on. the one being examined
would Bra; tend 10 the Ugh. and then the
other two. hen they put a clamp on his
nose that It will make II necessary for him
to breathe through his mouth Then they
place a rubber fixture in his mouth, side Of
" hjch is connected by rubber tube to a tank
con aiming n given auoE. Of air. The other
side h connected with a chemical purifier
which 81 IN turn connected with the air tank.
Therefore De bTeathes pure air all the time,
bat IL is thc air all the time. ard Of
course contesrs lesa and less oxygen all the
time. TheTcfcre when the test is stopped they
annlyEe the air ia determine the per cent of
oxygen in the ais and then they can tell at
what altitude ii afe fog the plot TO fly.
Every few minute aring the test doctor
tests the eyes OF the ere being examined and
another doctor tests .ae heart. Wheaever the
patient II you can cal sim that, skows signs
of fainting they stop tas .est.