Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-18
FLYING WITH SIAFFER
No Kick Coming
LETTERS FROM A DAUrmN BOY TO HIS MOTHER

enough, or 1t didn't nave enough
leverage anyway. He was certainly
getting enough on the AK - both
hands and full arm swing.
Hard On the Jaws
My misgivings were not unfound-
ed either, for my jaws still ache, ac-
customed as they are to isuch eXer-
else. AS Putnam just remarked as
he lay sprawled on his bunk break
ing in new pipe, incidentally ruin
ing the atmosphere. ITS the only eX-
ercise we get-eating this bread and
meat" Truly, 1 am moved to revert
to scripture by saying that the Lord
moves in devious ways his wonders
to perform" for we do need exercise.
Last night we had a noise fest. No
other word would describe it, for
every instrument of music or torture
was represented from a gasoline can
and hammer to q coffee grinder
and mandolin. had a sweet pota-
to-" Putnam played his mandolin
with one hand and loosed the phono-
graph with the other, a Frenchman
sawed on his bass fiddle, another had
a mouth organ, the cook used the
poker to good, if not musical effect,
on a fryingpan, while a French pilot,
finding nothing else handy, dropped
several spoons, a fork and knife into
"a bottle and the music CD issuing
therefrom tickled him more than
any baby with a rattle.
Lead On
Having all this wonderful assort-
ment of Sousa's weapons, we duly
elected a leader, gave him a music
rack and piece of music, the leg of
a chair for baton, and legs for a
platform, and told him to lead on.
q
hands, face and eyes, and he used
them all to good effect, considering
the material he had to work on he
accomplished wonderful results, for
the time we played nearly raised the
roof, and If it lacked in harmony, it
certainly made up in quantity. We
certainly did drive dull care away,
and the bass fiddled himself to such
a pitch that he wore all the strings
off his bow.
That was before the evening meal
and afterwards we started in again,
only we had to endure several six
stanza songs by one of our members
who is neither comic or harmonic,
but who never loses an opportunity
to disprove it. There is one pilot here
though who is a born comedian, and
laughed at his original and spas
modic pranks till had the stomach
ache. He certainly is funny-and
then the variety of instruments were
resurrected again and the leader
started us out on another tune.
Horrors of War
One pilot, the one that brings the
horrors of war home to us with his
flute, did not join in on this fun, and
he kept getting GUNNER and glum-
mer as he smoked his pipe and look
ed on our noisy antics disappearing
ly. The leader was quick to notice
this, and silencing us with threat
ening gesture from his chair leg
baton, he announced in a loud voice
that next on the program would be
solo by Monsieur Herbert" And
what do you think he did. Instead of
taking it in the spirit it was given
he got mad, said he was tired of such
foolishness and departed huffily to
his room from which soon issued the
the wailing notes of his beloved flute.
And say! Maybe he didn't get the
''rass" then! If we had made a noise
before, we started a war then, in
noise anyway. "Old Herbert" sure
did get sore, so much so that he
nearly cried, and speaking about
bashful people, you should see him.
1 may blush, but he is away and
above me in that line, an honor
which he is welcome to, htank you.
He is quite a character, is as much
as he is a Frenchman. Why, the
story goes that he has never kissed a
girl in his life, and he is 40 years
old. Only the Frenchmen make the
story stronger, and everybody knows
a Frenchman's reputation as lover,
which he certainly lives up to-all
except this aforesaid poor fish. And
that is what makes me look with
curiosity at him and some times Won
der, even pity, the last because the
only enjoyment have ever seen him
indulge in is "pinard."
Naughty, Naughty
One day he began playing dice,
which was so unusual, that everyone
crowded to watch and call him
naughty! naughty" which so start
led him that he blushed to the roots
of his hair, said blush being so vivid
that a red haze hung over his head
as he departed hurriedly to his room
to find solace and give us pain in his
flute. may be shy myself, but al
least 1 am doing something for it,
Just the same L look at him at times
and wonder if I'll be such a blushing
chump at that age, and the thought
nedI1y OIlNGS lHG W -
T'would be far better some Boche
sent me on my heavenly way. And
as for playing a flute, If any one
ever catches me at it, l hereby give
them the right to shoot low and
shoot straight. It's my dearest hope
that the inventor of the flute is a
Boche and L get shot at him.
And now it's time to eat again! AS
it is l have been eating all afternoon
what with dates, toast and jam. The
dates came this way: Putnam was
filling his gasoline stove and spilled
lot on the floor. Having lit the stove
he sat it near this patch of 'gas,
and naturally being an aviator and
not a fireman, l pointed out the
danger of fire, so he bet me a box of
dates that it would not catch fire. l
lost, therefore that dates were on me,
but if 1 had won. H. fear Putnam
would not have been in a position to
buy, let alone me eat. And now with
such an ungrammatical ending I'll
stop.
WALTER.
P. S.-To-morrow is Easter, and to
think there isn't an egg in the house!