Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-03-20
PLANE TALES
FROM THE SKIES

TT is good news that Pershing now has % 8
i air unit of his own on the American front
American planes. manned by American niers I
are going TO assist the Boche to reaisa'
ton that Uncle Sans "contemptbles'
Major Moraht called them, are very much On
the job. NV
And there are signs tnat the Hun hM
small stomach for his own medicine In th
matter of air raids. The nhabitants o. 4
cities in the Rhineland are complaining pit
terly of the brutality of Allied airmen VINO
have been dropping eggs" on them
Captain Alan Bott NJ. c., of the British
Flying Corps, has just published book
called Cavalry of the Clouds (Doubeoay
Page & Coz, in which he foretells this phase
of greater aggressiveness on the part OF me
Allied fliers Captain Bott has great faith m
the efficacy Of multiplied aircraft TO, huinok
the Hun, and looks forward eagerly TO tne
day when the "lmitless reserve OF American
aerial potentialty' will be in action also
CAPTAIN BOTT'S book, full of delightful
~ humor and modesty. takes the reader Into
the cockpit of fighting plane. Dodens
messages from "Archie" (the English nick.
name for Boche anti-aircraft guns), ane
sometimes tossed a hundred feet or %
the conclusion of some high-explosive pees
that comes unpleasantly close the cyirsn
reader soon gets a very vivid impres9os
of the joys and thrills of the fier's life ~
comes to earth again with swimming 70 ~
blood Ef
Captain Bott tells more than he imaeine
His modesty and charming insoucance pya
a magnificent picture of the only phase q
warfare in which individual nerve and ~
still have free scope. In the air fighting a'op
fingers the grand tradition and romance a
single combat. And Captain Bott In eye1
line of his enthralling book betrays the ~
and coolness and pluck that make tney
annals of blue air enchanting reading ~.
sea and on land war has become fnr ~
most part grim, mechanical and impefsor1
business. But an hour with Captain bo*
In his bus" will satisfy the most cay1
thirster for adventure that there Is stu
romance and chivalry in the deadly ciAan
Of men, @
One of the captains most infectious treH
is the way he initiates us into the jocose ~
whimsical argot of the air. The flying m.a
faces his perils with a characteristic eAnn-
ration and humor. During dansefe~
flight. when his engine went "dud' 10 VI
presence of an attacking Hun plane, n{l.
found himself humming this Cockney guy.
I'm that poor but honest 'ome,
Where 'er sorrowin' parints live, u
They drink the shampyne wine she Sen<|
But never, never can fergive." S
LIS comments on Archie" the British ~
IL mans attentive playmate as long -
Is over Hun territory, are delightful IN 49,
respectful gayety. He confesses tnst 3
fer prefers to keep his head inside
office" (the cockpit), rather than over ~
side. when Archie is bursting near py' u
For my part" he says. Archie mas s
me fellow-feeling for the birds o.
air. / have at times tried light-neain
to shoot partridges and even pigeons puk
ever again / fire at anything on tue 49,
sympathy will spoil my aim" LN
Captain Bott insists that we DO not w.
yet realize the tremendous part wnicn
craft can be made TO take in the necea
humbling Of Germany. Let us make
most Of our aerial chances. and 30 toIs.
betrayal by war-weariness, civilian psc''1
self-centered fools and strange people
| CAPTAIN BOTT adds that an agsf
" and perpetual offensive In the air D.
much to harass the Hun. and bring %
| plosion the already strained nerves -
| German population,
What" he asks, would be the en,
| German war-weariness II giant raids ~ " <
| fed towns by a hundred or so Ane
| chimes were of weekly occurrences <1
| And the latest reports from tran
| TO show that the Allied air sauao''
acting with this purpose In view. 22
The boundar5
| GETTING A LINE tween Germs
ON BoUNDAiaiHS uisrsipia q
| n y n | s tied on Qk4|
l I1ner n I socord(n 2 ~ lkS (roa3y..