Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-21

was no time to think of the studied
deceit of the enemy. 1t was time
for action, and l acted tout de
suite" by diving on him and open
ing fire with both guns, shooting
them alternately to prevent jams.
And right there I discovered again
the Importance of little things. You
see our sight is telescope affair
about a foot long, and to prevent
dirt, oil and grease from accumulat-
ing on the glass as we go tearing
through the atmosphere, a small
shutter is made to fit over the front
of the telescope. which can be open
ed and closed at will by means of
different devices. AS these shutters
are made by the different mechanics,
some of them are more or less in
genious affairs, depending on the
ability of the mechanic. Mine was
a pretty punk affair, but as long as 1t
performed it's function had no kick
coming. and it had always worked
before. Probably because / never
went so fast before. for so soon as
l knew it was really a Hun in front
of me I never bothered to reduce
my motor, but dove full speed.
When you consider my speed is
somewhat over 130 miles an hour on
the level, you can imagine l was
making some time with gravity and
my heavy plane to help. 1t was
this tremendous speed which blew
the shutter shut. Being interested
to the exclusion of everything else
in sighting my gun, this sudden clos
ing of the shutter was sure eX-
asperating, for I was coming up on
that Boche like he was standing still,
and having been pretty close to start
with tho HiGfn diminish
| ing at a rapid rate. Three times
that shutter closed on me, and three
times I yanked it open.
The Boche must have wondered
what was the matter with me as l
| juggled UP to him, for you know,
every time l fixed the shutter | had
| to realm the plane, because while
fixing the shutter contraption the
sensitive controls would jump the
plane out of line. Well. the third
time 1 fixed that doggone shutter 1
was within two meters of that flee
ing Boche and still shooting when
one gun stopped working.
BY that time I was so close as to
be in danger of collision. Would
that the lieutenant who had told me
to get close before shooting had seen
me then, for l nearly cut off the tail
| VI that pOChS Will LILY PlOPOllOl.
Honestly, there was not more than
a foot of space between us when I
banked up on one wing, dove down
! 100 meters, making a complete turn
on the way, thus being in position
| to shoot again. The Boche must
have thought was some crazy fool
with more ambition than flying skill.
Diving For Homo
| Considering how close 1 had come
to him the first time 1 would prob
ably run into him the next time, so
must have been his thoughts, for
when I got in position to fire after
that 100 meters drop and turn he
was diving for home and mother
with all the engine the kaiser had
given him. l had a good motor my
self and promptly followed, opening
| lire with my remaining gun until all
the cartridges were gone. The Boche
was diving very stteply then. but
since l had no more bullets 1 turned
back, hoping the Frenchman would
surely finish him. 1t was we'll 1
turned back when l did, because
when 1 finished my target practice"
| l noticed as L turned, right ahead
and a little over me half dozen
/ planes all mixed up. Naturally,
thought it was several Spads mixing
it with the Boches and gave it no
further thought, except to keep a
close watch behind to see that no
little willie Hindenburg' followed
me as dove for home.
This was not the case, however,
| as l learned from the Frenchman
when he finally landed. You have
probably been wondering where that
Frenchman was all this time, eh?
| Well, like the dependable pilot he
F.; is, he was right behind me all the
time, and whenever L got out of the
way he got a few shots in himself.
| But he noticed other things that
did not or rather he had them i'm
pressed on him, for no sooner had
he begun the attack on the biplane
than the Frenchman noticed a lot