davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21
,ecial Correspondence of The Star.

Special Correspondence of The Star.
PARIS, April II, 1918.
81 ~ URPHY of Boston is one Of the
MMI great f1iers in the war.
HNI| There are many such, prac-
tically anonymous, with French
squadrillas. high up, trusted all-round
men and silent. What Americans. in fact.
are fighting for glory? They fight for an
ideal. This Boston man comes from the
Castelgomberto aerodrome, back of Bas-
sano on the Brenta, where French and
British brought the Italian front up to
date geographically and ''held" the
same, in an aerial sense-which is every
thing.
Murphy. saw the last recent Gotha
bombings of Paris. He saw it from a
Paris hotel.
The great fighter of the battle front,
protector of artillery regulators, aerial
photographers and bombers against
armies felt what it is to be bombed in a
peaceful city of the rear, amid women and
children, old folks and sick people. He is
furious against the boche for inaugural
ing this new kind of war.
1.-The great and terrible war in the air.
foretold by Wells in 1907. has come at
last" he says. I'VE had hoped to avoid
it, but German rage and folly force it.
They threaten to destroy Paris, Tours,
Blois and the civilization of the rear-a
vile Matchmaking calculation. Well,
what will we be doing?"
The American squadrillas are forming.
They will be clouds and swarms. All,
hurry, hurry! The great war in the air
has begun, indeed. and who can foresee
the wonders of the next six months?
Young Americans. listen. Now you
know why Silent Murphy speaks. "Some
things a flying man should know in war"
He thinks it will be good to tell them.
Each tip may save young pilot and we
cannot have too many pilots.
The compass! Many are fooled by the
compass
81 was nearly lost by deviation over Mt.
Grappa," he says 1--WE were concentrat-
ing batteries on San Lorenzo valley had
made my allowance for drift and veer.
Side drift, you know. The compass gives
you your direction only through the air.
1t is very inaccurate as to the real course
you are taking over ground-it's due to
side drift the wind DETECTING you to right
or left. 1 had laid off my return course.
good enough, allowing for drift, veers and
magnetic variation, but almost landed in
the enemy's lines by deviation Of the COM
pass. :, 1t was a new air craft. and the
iron in it deviated the needle frfghtfully.
Going up, 1 had not noticed. but steering
by compass. down, in the rain. was all
wrong. 1 should have made sure before
hand. Every aeroplane's compass has Its
local deviation and you've got to use a
deviation card anyhow, because it varies
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

in loading and unloading ships and get
ting them ready for return trip So,
a loop system was built for big cars.
and arranged so that many ships con-
tinually are supplied with freight cars.
which roll away Immediately as soon as
burdened to be Immediately replaced
by empties.
X
In these docks and yards are several
of the sixty cranes which were ordered
in America several months ago and
which are now some of the reasons why
this port will be the biggest and best
equipped in France. From a distance
these cranes, with the old ones of be-
fore the war. resemble huge forest of
waving, swaying. giant trees. and the
putting and creaking and changing is
deafening chorus of American industry
the sound Of the great wind blowing
through their branches.
In the harbor the dredging is con-
tinuous. The two years accumulation
of mud and debris which was hindering
large ships has been cleared by the
American engineers. All along the
docks there are some minor works go
ing on.
AS we left them we motored along the
new railroad lines connecting with the
great yards the engineers are building
for the direct supply of the American
Army. We passed group of surveyors
and men putting in a new switch. The
captain got out of the car and looked
over the job.
Yes" he said. that's so. Right
through. Through that brick house.
You go right through"
1t was little red house on the out
skirts. the hearth and palace of some
French workman, and it had to go be-
cause the engineers cannot alter rail-
roads for sentimental reasons. But they
can and did pay for that red brick
house before running rails through its
ruin.
do you have many cases of this
sort?' l asked the captain.
We'll, no." he replied. but further up
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

water and garden hose out on the
farms where are grown the crops that
really count in the feeding of Amer
lea and her allies. The world would
be on pretty slim diet if it had to
depend on backyard war gardens for
it's sustenance. So we'll forgive the
weather mans past offending and per-
NIT him to send further rain when
ever, in his judgment, the farmers
need it.
And We'll go ahead, now that our
waiting has been rewarded by season
able weather, and plant and cultivate
our little patches. serene in the knowl-
edge that, if the harvest does seem
small return for our blistered hands
and aching muscles, the little each of
US grows will be tremendous lot in
the aggregate and that the several
millions of us will have done really
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

house chimneys. but never trust the
smoke from a moving train or boat"
The chief danger apart from being
shot is that the aeroplane.s engine
may fail when you are over ground on
which it is impossible to land. When
the engine gives up the ghost you
got to come down somewhere inside
circle whose radius is about five times
will have an area of about sixty square
miles in which to choose landing
place. while at 1000 feet, on calm day,
the machine has less than ten square
miles to choose from. So. before start
ing, make sure that the engine is run
ming to your personal satisfaction. You
are the pilot. If volplaning from a
great height. switch on your engine for
a few seconds every 1000 feet. 1t will
clear them of surplus petrol and oil and
eliminate the danger of choking"
Il watch European weather reports"
he says. 1T is good to have table of
equivalents of 'centibars' and 'milibars
pressure. An English manual by Flight
Lieut.. Munday has several useful tables.
A pressure under 1.010 milibars, or 2S.S
inches, represents cycionic depression I'M
favorable for flying. Above 1.010 mill
bars it is ant-cyclone. with light winds
blowing clockwise, fine weather and often
the wind stationary for days.
European heap-cloudS, he says, are
queer The worst are the cumulus or
woolpack heaps. with fiat base. great
vertical height and caulifiower-shaped
tops: They extend between $500 and
5000 feet and are caps of ascension
currents Pilots experience violent dis
turbances while passing through them
or just above or below them The tower
ing cululo-nimbus, or anvil' thunder or
shower clouds have rain at their base
and spread in vast SOFT tops as hlSh as
$4,000 feet
I'm Europe clouds tell lot. Cirrus. or
mares tails. at $1,000 to $4,000 feet pre-
dict wind and cyclonic depression. Cirro-
stratus. thin. tangled web. often cover
ing the whole sky at $4,000 feet, mean
bad weather. And SO on French flying
manuals contain lists and tips"
Don't fy by instruments. he says. but
by flying sense or feel; nevertheless.
the instruments are of vital Importance.
The altimeter is a barometer showing
height instead of pressure. graduated in
ures the force of the wind at the earth's
surface The aneroid barometer shows
the pressure of the atmosphere. The in
clinometer is kind of spirit level. but
placed vertically, SO as to indicate in
degrees, any slight change in angle Of
the fore-and-aft line Of the aeroplane.
Zero or level. is the flying position. The
laterometer is similar. but set horizontally.
to indicate any change Of angle in the
lateral position of the aircaft. When a
turn is being made-if there be no side
slip-zero is registered, but If turn
without bank Is attempted the side
slip which is sure to occur is Immediately
registered The evolution counter tells the
turns of the engine. The speed indicator
marks the speed of the machine through
the air, not over the ground.
Every ambitious pilot should know the
elementary principles of wireless teleg-
raphy,'' says Murphy. be able to read
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

eat it I'll just swing in on those onions
and radishes.
I've something Of a grudge against
Turner. anyhow. He's younger than
I am, isn't fat, and is something of an
athlete. Work that nearly broke my
back and made me limp and groan for
week seemed to him merely pleasant
exercise. / know / can't beat him at
the muscular end of the game, but
agriculture has it's scientific side, and
I'm banking lot on the advice I'll
get from Capt. Thompson, who knows
gardening from A to lizard and has
volunteered to act as next friend and
counselor to my adventure.
There are several other gardens on
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

a bit we had to cancel village because
we had to have that ground for part of
the main yards. and these villages In
France are so thick you can't build any
thing without humping into one or
two"
The village is no longer there. In its
place are miles of new tracks and cars
and material for war.
mile or two out we came to a
junction of two new rail lines, one
leading to the inlet which before very
long will be the site of four large docks
where sixteen Of the largest ships afloat
may rest at ease at any time while
they unload their stores, made doubly
precious by the submarine menace they
have escaped.
All about this inlet there is prepara-
ton. Here barracks are going up;
nearby barges are being built. There
is the pile driver resting idly now on
the earth, but soon to journey out into
the water for the simple purpose of
forcing $4,000 piles into the earth as a
foundation for the docks. The railroad
men are at work. Tracks are being
laid. Long trains filled with sand are
their fine cargo. / asked what the sand
was for.
1--WE are raising this country eighteen
inches" said my guide. Further on
we are removing mountains of sand for
this purpose. I will show you that
work later"
How much sand are you bringing?'
six million cubic yards" was the
reply.
We climbed the barges. One. to house
the pile driver is 20 by 100 feet, and
the cargo barges are 20 by 140 feet,
solidly built of great timbers which
came from the forests of northwestern
United States and from Russia.
These barges are worth their weight
in gold,' said the captain.
From this point on the country for
miles about is covered with American
work. From the top of the barges we
could see yards and warehouses, some
only in skeleton form, cranes moving
and locomotives putting, trains coming
in with materials and groups of men
as far as the eye could see, all en-
gagged in the erection of this central
terminal and warehouse system. When
these yards are completed there will
be enough rails in this one place to lay
a direct road from here to Paris.
There will be $50 warehouses. each so
by 400 feet long. each built on con-
crete piles and with concrete floors and
steel roofs and sides-seventy re
kilometers of metaled roofs. sight
to amaze the birds and the aviators.
Railroad yards are railroad yards the
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

assuring the Army of fresh foodstuffs at
all times.
number of huge storage houses for
ammunition and other inf1ammable ma
terials, and the buildings are of hol-
low f1reproof brick, all made in Ameri-
ca and a f1reproof system is being
built safeguarding the munitions and
involving a pipe system of hundreds
of miles.
All this work has been and is being
done by one regiment of engineers, one
regiment of foresters and companies
detailed from regular regiments. No
boom munitions town in America ever
grew faster. And. of course. there are
other ports and other inland towns in
which similar progress has been made.
At these things the captain who was
conducting me on his round only
limited, for he was too busy with his
own work even to speak of his neigh
boris. So We climbed into his auto and,
leaving the main yards behind US, rode
by the reservoir.
Again we passed dumps with mate
rails. There was structural steel that
must have kept the mills at Pittsburgh
busy for many week, piled neatly on
the ground or lying on fiat cars. There
were all sorts of tools and machinery
with the names of companies in C1eve-
land Chicago. Bucyrus, Ohio. and little
out America. Parts of cranes and
railroad hand cars, boilers, wheels,
chains, framework were here-a be-
wildering array of metal covering the
countryside.
All through the trip we were stopped
by liuetenants and sergeants. each boss
ing his afflicted job. and each time the
conversation was brief and American.
Right, that's right" Capt. c.
would say. You bring that train
through here" Or, Yes. Well place
the next warehouse there. Begin on
the concrete today" Or. again, We
would meet French officer and talk
over the occupation of many more
acres to the east or west of here
We stopped at granite quarry. re-
Gently taken over. where new machin-
cry was being installed to lift out the
great slabs of stone which are needed
for road and other building. Then we
came to the sand operation.
Here were rolling hills with pine
trees clinging to the silver sand for
subsistence. the soil covered with
finely patterned carpet of needles. and
in the distance the blue water. The
sun shone with a dazzle on the ripples.
and 1t was a scene of beauty and peace.
But suddenly whistle sounded and
an empty train pulled up on the sid
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

- isn't true that 1t requires longer
for watched pot to boil-it just
seems longer. And I suppose 1t
& isn't true that spring is any longer
in coming when you have things all
ready for your first war garden and
are just itching to get seeds in the
ground. But there isn't any doubt that
1t seems everlastingly longer.
1 never noticed before that old Father
Time. in his role as starter. had so
much trouble getting the seasons away
from the post. 1t has seemed to me
this year that the barrier never would
go up for the war garden handicap
And I can't understand why he per-
mitted winter. which ran wild in his
own race, to remain on the track and
interfere with spring. crowding her
into the rail and doing a lot of other
unsportsmanlike things. Worst man
agement ] ever saw, They ought to
rule doc" Garfield, under whose col
ors winter runs, off the track and set
Jack" Weaver, his jockey, down for
life.
1 forget now just how many millions
there are of US war gardeners. but
we are sufficiently numerous to be en-
titled to some showing of respect for
our rights and wishes. But it is no
use Srumbling. l suppose. Besides,
good weather now shows some dispo-
sition to abide with us. and so. as old
Omar didn't say. Into the fire of
spring our winter garment of discon-
tent we'll fling" and proceed to get
busy.
All dark clouds are supposed to have
a silver lining. and garden experts tell
me that the dark clouds which lowered
over a greater part of the country at
a time when the April sun should have
been shining on happy and busy. gar
deners had a lining of sure-enough
silver-and coin silver at that The
winter. they say, was deficient in pre-
cipitation. There was good deal of
snow, but the ground was frozen hard
before the snow care and remained
frozen until after it had melted and
run off. In consequence there wasn't
enough water in the ground to carry
gardens through such = period Of
drought, as reasonably may be expect
ed some time the coming summer. The
April rains and snow, therefore. which
seemed a manifestation of natures
special 1ispleasure at war gardeners.
really were a blessing in disguise. Far
be 1t from me to dispute this optimistic
view of unspeakable weather. but 1
do rise to remark that the disguise
certainly was a most effective one.
/ had figured that IL the drought
caught me next summer l would cou-
pie my lawn hose to faucet over the
laundry tubs IN the basement and give
my garden al the made-to-order rain
Wall it needed. and / was perfectly
willing the sun should shine every day
until next October. But that. of course
was Q selhsh and very short sighted
view to take. They don't have cit
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

whole world over. and the yards we
soon entered in this center were IKE
those in many American cities. But
while the work is the same. all the
difference in the world lies in the fact
THAT everything here is operated by
men in khaki, who. like all the mate
rails they use, came from the states
This is a wonderful thing. carload
of locomotive parts is no special mar
vel in Altoona or Fort Wayne or St
Louis or Butler, Pa. but here it is sig
nificant of achievement in ocean trans
portation, success over the submarine
a promise of long and vital assistance
to an army. The electric crane in this
yard picking up an acre of kegs of
railroad spikes becomes an instrument
of war against the common foe and
therefore thing of fear and wonder.
There is also this difference, that
everything completed means greater
odds and handicaps overcome than face
the engineers at home. For example.
it is notorious that locomotives are
thirsty beasts. Now the water at this
place is not only unfit for human con-
sumption, but it is dangerous to- the
health of engines. SO one day the order
was given to build a reservoir along
a creek where an ample supply OF good
water could be obtained. That was
done They now have 100000 cubic
yards in the reservoir.
Extensive as these yards are, the
mode of operation is to be on a very
simple plan. The entire traffic is to
go along a loop, the stores for the Army
entering from the seaport at one end,
and departing for the American front
on the main line connection at the
other end. In between will be the $50
warehouses with rows of track be-
tween, where by day and by night there
will be loading and unloading. sorting
and packing and the making up of
trainloads to the order of the staff Of
Gen. Pershing.
While I was at this center I saw a
train made up and dispatched to the
American front.
Between this port. and the ultimate
destination there are other centers of
warehouses and storage plants, more
complete than this. In one town. for
instance. the ready warehouses will
hold more food and other materials
than the Pennsylvania freight terminal
in Chicago. that new and enormous
building. At this inland center, also.
the foundations have been laid for the
largest refrigerating cold storage plant
In the world. and construction is pro-
ceeding. The manufacturing capacity
for ice will be several hundred tons.
thousands of tons of fresh beef will
be handled daily and besides. there will
be a storage capacity for more thou
sands of tons of beef and additional
thousands of tons of other edibles, thus
Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-04-21

with the direction in which the machine is
headed"
THE VARIATION I said.
Tut. not variation. Variation is an
other thing to allow for-magnetic va
ration of the compass All land maps
are based on the geographical meridian.
but the compass points to the magnetic
north. Neglect to make corrections
causes many a bad 'landfall.'
Pilots, he says. must memoriZe that
at 1000 feet altitude, in Europe, the
wind veers ten degrees: at 1000 feet.
fifteen degrees; at 5000 feet, twenty
degrees: and above, practically con-
slant. So. at 1000 feet the winds We
at 1000 feet. it doubles: but higher
there is practically no more increase.
A good pilot, before starting, takes the
wind on the ground. and with ruler and
dividers set at an hours speed of the
machine, lays rough course.
x ]:
why. a fellow got lost over the
Grappa by mistaken map reading. He
about. Most foreign maps are on the
fraction system. 1t means that an inch
or centimeter or anything on the map
represents 1000, $4,000 or 100000 inches,
centimeters or whatever on the ground
The French and British air service has
photographed and applied to maps the
entire Italian front and boche rear.
See here Showing an aerial photo),
that's MaroStica, five miles west of
Bassano. where the enemy must come
down through those mountain def1les
Every possible position is photographed
and mapped. CHe showed a wonderful
above the peaks and valleys)
Here, you're looking down into the
top of Mount Grappa. See all those
roads in the hidden valleys? You can
count the conveys and cannon shifting.
The French victory at Tomba. up there.
was due to our air service IN those in
tricate high valleys"
Before starting on a fight always
examine your machine personally.
Have the engine tested and personally
see to the controls, control wires, land
ing wires, chassis and all that. Bee
that the tires are sufficiently inflated
and dust and tank caps screwed well.
Make sure you have enough petrol and
oil; don't trust your mechanics too
much. Map your course and always
take a map or sketch of the country
you intend passing over. Make notes
of the landmarks.
European roads are not good land
marks" says Murphy. There are SO
many of them and all look alike.
Identify villages by the position of the
church with respect to roads. Don't
count on streams: they're conspicuous
on maps. but not in fact. Railways are
good, but towers, windmills and church
spires are visible only when flying low.
Keep sharp lookout for other aircraft
and act as II every pilot is blockhead
tryingto collide with you. Keep out of
their way. The direction of the wind
can be told by smoke from factory or