Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-11-14

more like pages from Jules Verne than everyday
exploits n fighting front. The presence Of
Hun observation balloon In the mir Is now very
uncommon sight, for the instant the sausage" ap-
pears the royal mir force Cooks" climb into the
cockplts of their machines and are In the mir,
each striving to be the first to account for the In
terlOper
One British pilot scouting behind the enemys
lines pounced on two of these balloons In swift
succession and succeeded in setting fire to and
destroying both. His petrol was beginning to
run low Mt the time. so he returned to his air
drome to refill. But his appetite for German
sausage" was apparently unslaked, for he set
out Immediately upon second quest, sighted
two more balloons, and. taking advantage of
friendly clouds carefully stalked them. When
within short distance Of his prey cloud cover
failed him and he was perceived. The Huns
rushed to the wncles and endeavored to haul
down both balloons Putting down the nose Of
his machine, the British pilot sped earthward
after the swayng mass of fabric. and almost be-
fore the German mechanics had their wnches
working the hunter had secured his first quarry,
which fell blazing mass upon the Huns be-
meath. The other balloon was rather farther
away, md the Germans stimulated to frantic eff
forts by the fate of the first, hauled desperately
and succeeded in getting 1t down almost to the
ground before the British pilot arrived above. Not
to be baked Of his prey, and in spite of the furl
GUS fire from below, he dved low enough to
pump burst Of incendary bullets, and had the
satisfaction of increasing his bag for the day to
four enemy balloons totally destroyed. ~
During their present retirement the Germans
have made desperate efforts to remove as much
ammunition as possible. A British pilot spotted
n train Of wagons engaged this work and de-
scenled to so feet us to make quite sure Of
his AIM Getting well into position, he opened fire
on the gear wagon knocking out two men on the
box. Deprived Of their drivers and terrified by
the winged assailant, the horses boted, and, col
Hiding with tree, upset the wagon.
An extremely heavy fire was by this time being
directed upon the alrman. and had already
wounded him In the knee and severed the pres
sure feed pipe Of his machine. He would not
leave his Job hnlf done. however, and again
manenvering into position put in another burst
which resulted in the overturning of two more
and the stampedng of the remaining wagons
On the same day British machine working In
conjunction with the infantry was attacked by
four German scouts. This being about the odds
which German airmen now demand they doubt
less thought they had found nm easy prey II is,
of course, true that the British contact machine
Is not primarily designed for fighting PURPOSES
nut Its pilot on this OCCASION as always, was ready
to give good account of himself and did 80 to
such purpose that one Of the attackers was speed
lily sent down out of control. During the fight
the petrol tank of the British machine was
pierced, being an instantaneous of its destruction
by fire. Thereupon the English observer prompt
ly climbed out on the lower plane and successfully
plugged the hole with his handkerchief remain
ing on the plane until his pilot succeeded in
throwing off his pursuers and landing his machine
safely behind the British lines
Two British officers were at work in 'sau-