Evening star., 1918-02-16
u S. BIRDMAN GIVES THRILLING
ACCOUNT OF FIGHT IN AIR
~Getting Drachen" Part of Airmans Duty
and an American Boy In France
Does It Well.

TRis g tho third Of fpe thrilling articles
b. Liext Joseph Stehlin of Brooklyn, on
orphoa boy: toho at nineteen un sosaed {n'
he spent siT months in training. ana
sosthin ttoenty days after going to the M
front he ICON the French icdr cross Jo1
trjnoinQ dotcn ttoo boche machines IN q
6,ill;ont foht He 1cos promoted t,ctce
first being made sergeant and then q
lieutenant. He has been q year in france
has t,oo Official citations to his credit, teas
ppfotors to return, to the United States
He .ras one of the youngest, II not the
youngest. Of the pilots in the French army
BY JOSEPH sTEHLIN.
We have known for three days that
rs soon as the clouds are thin and
low some of US will have to take
down. the three German observation
balloons that have apparently been
given life jobs opposite our sector.
No nastier job comes to a pilot than
the assignment to take down a "sau-
sage" The balloon, 'Drachen." Fritz
calls him. hangs close to the ground.
The pilot must drop from the 5000
meter height, which he likes to patrol.
to less than 1000. The plunge always
takes him into a BILE hornets nest
of arches and boche chasse planes sta
tioned below for the express purpose of
making his reception a warm one A
lot of shelling at close range is the
least he can expect
Contrary to the usual custom. the
commandant does not ask for volun-
teers for the JOB. fSrhaps u IS pc
cause there are three 'sausages" to be
brought down at once. At any rate.
''Stehlin," on the order of service in
the morning. with the names of Pilots
Pieron and Hhiese to fly. "avec Stehlin
Roqs 1ot enthusahtie rs ana nds h''
We are to fly at in the afternoon
My lieutenant brings me map of the
lines. The circle representing the bal
loon allotted to me is deeper IN the
German lines than the two others.
spend most of the day writing let
ters in my chamber. Now and then l
step outside and look up to see if the
thin blanket-like formation of the
clouds is holding. / hear the days pa
trolls roaming in and out again, 200
yards away at the hangers.
Plays Solitaire-Writes.
1 have written to every one I know.
There is nothing to do but play soli-
taire- 1 play without much interest,
however.
Just before the light begins to wane
look out and see that the cloud blan-
ket is tearing here and there like
piece Of rotten cloth under tension.
Ragged holes appear. / am pleased at
this, for 1 know that we can fly above
the clouds all the way and locate our
"sausages'' by occasional peeks, as We
fit across the holes
Il fhrJISt cards into their
box, get into my sweaters and walk to
the hangers, where nine machines
three for each balloon-are tuning up.
One of each three machines is rugged
with fuses-rockets-to be hurled at
the balloon. The others are to fly about
and prevent boche machines from at
lacking the attackers from above.
My own machine. fast, light Nieu-
rockets As climbed into the cockpit.
mufiled in my big combination and he'll
met, I squint at the rockets and then at
my mechanician on the ground. to make
sure that all was bien" He mods Wig
erously. 1t is the only reply that can
reach me through the laundering g1Sfs
Of sound made by the motors as the
pilots try them out
At 4:4o I roll up the piste for a get
away, and sharp / am in the air.
AS chef de patrol Il am a sergeant
now) I turn always to the right as
Bpiral upward. the two protecting planes
turning to the left This makes it
easier for them to follow me. All nine
planes are now in the air. circling like
lazy gulls over the field.
Into the gray blanket. which feels
Dold and damp, and out above it a Sec
end later, my machine bores its way
Hike some incredibly speedy moth, ex-
oept that 1 leave no hole behind me.
I am above the clouds now. They are
pearly white on top and spread out as
TAR as can see, like silver ocean in
.xky ~ e-tt %t4 yr.<
In a painting.
In twos and threes the other ma chimes
nose up out of the white bed of this
ocean. I circle twice to the right, SO
easily. They close up the distance be-
tween us and we hit out toward the
lines at about 1900 meters altitude.
barely thirty meters apart.
Dot in the Sky.
Away to the left is a dot in the sky.
1t separates itself into a formation of
three planes close together flying to-
ward the lines. On the right, but closer,
is the other formation. Each of us is
now flying toward his objective
I study the map over my knees and
fly to the left a little to get a look
holes in the clouds I correct my
course a point and half by the COM
pass and look about.
This must be what heaven is like.
The dirt of earth is behind Nothing
can soil this whiteness. And right
there, 1.500 meters below, is hell. He'll
1ulI OF Arches and trenches and bombs
We are Zooming along at between
fe0 and 130 miles an hour, watching
everywhere for speck in the sky. /
have already begun the constant twist
ing in my seat looking first over one
shoulder, then over the other, then un-
der the lower left wing. then under the
lower right wing, and then over the
upper plane as / dip downward a mo-
ment the twisting that is the price of
even comparative safety. The only
specks see are the other two forma-
uons OF our own planes.
We are over the lines now I know
that from what can see through the
holes in the clouds. but thus far there
is no shelling. We have not been seen
from below. l know, however that
many scores Of eyes are watching
those holes watching for the sight OF
black dots sliding across a stretch of
blue.
Suddenly the shelling begins with a
prodig1ous booming. / know that the
other two pilots have gone below the
clouds after their objectiyes. They are
getting strahng from the Arches
nested about them