Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-06


bfnation suit will protect it from
any probable "oil showers" which
might descend on me. / am wonder
ing where I shall ever get my wash
ing done. Such a pile of dirt.
handkerchiefs you never saw, anC
as for underwear, 1 only have worr
this pair l have on month anC
from the present outlook it's goot
for another month.
Longing For Bath
I'm looking forward to a bath II
up the hot water. Guess the onl!
way l would ever get my clothing
dry in this climate, even if l die
get them washed, would be to take
them along flying, about FIVE
minute flight should dry the big.
gest wash known, for l have plenty
! of lines on my plane and If it's rainy
below, one can easily climb up high.
.er. How about it, Mother, shall
! day.
! The officials here sure do love
the American-yes, they do!!-foi
most of them are in Paris hall
the time. The usual thing for ar
! American to do is to give the school
| the 'once over" hop on the neXt
train and back to Paris for his. ]
would no doubt have done the same
thing, only my money was gone, for
the impression l got on landing was
as unfavorable as usual, for this
school. Naturally, when q man went
back to Paris this way he had no
permission paper and when he aid
show up their was a Jail sentence
awaiting him for overstaying his
leave. This only tickled the Ameri-
cans because the Jail was only on
paper and never actually served, sc
they continued taking permissions
TO Paris on their own hook, until
fnally the Captain got wise to them
and had "walk-out," or "selective"
draftappels, as we called them. "Ap-
pels' means roll call, you know, and
these fellows who were taking per-
mission without authority got their
comrades to answer for them at
roll call when their names were
called. This was quite a simple
stunt to get away with, among a
crowd of zoo some men. A man
could holler Present" for half a
dozen men and get away with 1t.
Funny Fliers Get Jugged
Finally the Captain got wise to
this trick through a slip-up in an
swering when certain mans name
was called. For several seconds
there was a dead silence, and then
six voices answered present" in
different parts of the crowd. II
was so amusing that even the Cap
tain laughed but it put the kibosh on
that stunt, because thereafter, we
were required to line up before roll
call and as our names were called
step out of ranks. Naturally, they
caught a lot of fellows that way
and this time stuck them in the
jug and locked the door.
1t was sort of hard on the boys
who had money enough to stay at
a hotel and order ham for break
fast to stay in a cold Jail and eat
only what was brought them and
1t seemed the Captain had picked
something that was punishment,
standing out on the open field all
day was what got my goat, for it
was some cold some of the days.
sometimes one would stand there
whole day and never get a ride.
That very thing happened to me
seven days in row. Believe me,
sure was getting disgusted with
the weather, climate, and the school
In general. After l got several
rides thought, it was not so bad, be-
cause L got several rides every day
then. Only got twelve rides on the
Spad and then was showed back
on Nieuport to make way for the
crowd waiting for training on Spad.
My, what a difference in ease of
controls, the Spad being so easy
that the first time 1 rode in one /
thought the controls were not hook
ed up, so easy was it to the touch
Standing On One Wing
Remembering what some Ameri-
can had said about moving the
stick" around and nothing would
happen, my bump of curiosity got
the better of me, and l pushed the
stick just little to one side. Some
thing happened alright, and that
quick, for the next second I was
standing on one wing tip, watching
the "choo-choo cars come up to
read train. oh, yes, we came out
all right. Simply pushed the stick
to the other side and back she came.
Gave a man q Wonderfully safe
feeling to look out and see a whole
wing under him instead of only a
half one, as in a Nieuport, for a
Nieuports lower wing is only half
as big as the upper, and these Spads
are as sturdy appearing too. Rather
complicated 'engine to run though,
having all the dials and indicators
used on an automobile, and 1, know
ing nothing of an auto am natur-
ally at a loss. However, give me
a little time and I'll learn, that is,
If a German don't use me for a
target first.
ShoveIing Macaroni
Yes, Tours was an interesting
school, and l imagine you would
still find it so, but 1 think the kit
chen and dining room of this school
would interest you more L went
into the kitchen once for water and
beheld them ladling out macaroni
with a shovel, not very clean at that.
as for the appearance of the kit
chen, I've been in boiler shops that
looked cleaner. No, it did not harm
my appetite one bit, for l am used
to these things now. The dining
room gives one quite a lot of room
for imagination though, being car
peted with thick layer of mud.
With a little imagination one can
imagine it as rich, thick rug as
he walks over it, but the Frenchmen
sort of ruin the rug effect when
they dumped their unused SCUM on
the floor. l never knew there was
so many ways to eat soup before
1 came here, and they are real mu-
sical about it too. L even saw sew
eral tip up the plate and drink il.
But that isn't bad manners. that's
efficiency, for if one don't grab
something as the stuff passes ones
plate, one don't get any-to relieve
your mind, Mother, let me assure
you l have not acquired the habit
of snoring when 1 eat my soup.
WALTER.