Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-02-28

Tho Regiments Have Foot Balls With
Which to Amuse Themselves While
In Rest Camp.
cts are Of differenr colors nnl are sent
up ut regular intervals until the ma.
chine is either safely back or is given
up for lost. When the machine Is sight.
ed and il circling down toward the
ground big flares are lighted. SO as to
enuble the aviator to pick his spot for
landing. The whole thing IL scientif.
ically arranged. and there are not many
accidents In this part OF the work.
One Of the most daring parts OF the
air work IL the dropping Of spies be-
hind the enemy's lines. believe this
goes on Oh both sides and In many
cases is successful The second time
! was going on leave to England had
made arrangements to go with one Of
our fellows from the flying corps. We
were TO start on MOndey morning,
and on the Friday before he told me
that he was going to make Ills last
fight before going to England on the
following morning. Saturday.
He started out at 4 O'Clock Saturday
morning with man and crate Of
carrier pigeons In his machine. and he
had orders to drop both behind tho
German lines and return to his head.
quarters as quickly as possible.
AZ I said. he started out ut 4. and 10
far us know he is not back yet. he
may have been shot down. he may
~, nm
to land behind the German lines. or
any one of hundred things may have
happened. All we know Is that he
failed TO return.
The anti-aircraft gun was practically
unknown before the beginning Of this
war. and there is an enormous chance
for improvement. In this branch Of
aerial warfare. 1t Is very interesting
to watch an anti-aircraft gun in action.
for one can see the gun fred and then
see the shell burst few seconds later.
So far as l know there Is no accurate
way Of finding the range of an aero
plane in motion. The popular way Of
shooting at flying machine seems to
be that Of firing shells In large circle.
using the machine as the center. and
then closing in until the aeroplane 10
dead in line. There Il the uncertainty.
however. Of knowing when to time the
shell to burst. and. so far as l can see.
It seems to be pretty much q matter
Of luck. heard an average quoted on
the number of hits to the number Of
shells fred. and the figures were one
hit out Of every 5000 shells. cannot
vouch for the accuracy of this state
ment. but do know that the number
OF hits Is surprisingly small.
The falling of the shrapnel from
these shells which burst in the air il
rather dangerous. as | can show by
narrating an incident which happened
to US. We were out in a car near a
village called Brandhook. and we no
ticed as we came along that German
aeroplane was coming directly toward
us aud that 1t appeared to be follow
ing the road. Our anti-aircraft guns
were playing on 1t. and the shells SEEM
ed to be burstinR mighty close to 1t.
Before 1t attained a point above ~
1t turned at right angles and made OF
toward the German lines. We contin-
ued Oh our way. and a little farther on
we came to where an empty auto was
standing in the middle Of the road.
We stopped and looked around for
signs Of the occupants. but could nnd
none. When We had been there about
Ave minutes an officer and the driver
Of the car showed up and said they
80 A ~ to-
dugout on account Of the falling shrap-
mel
Holes where pieces Of shrapnel had
entered the ground were to be seen all
around. and We tried to dig some Of the
pieces up. We dug down ten inches and
had not reached them. 90 We gave It
| up AZ q bad Job and went on to camp.
This will show that these pieces Of
shrapnei are not to b sneered At %
being harmless.
Another favorite stunt with aero
planes II the dropping Of hundreds Of
steel darts on bodies Of moving troops
or even on towns or the men In the
trenches. These darts are four or ave
inches in length and have q sort Of
four pointed tail. They are extremely
sharp and arc heavier at the point
than they are ut the tall This causes
them to fall point down.
Il has been proved that one Of these
darts dropped from q great height
would. n Il struck man on horseback
square On the top OF the head. pass
through the length Of q mans body.
through, the saddle. through the hosss'G
body ana disappear Into the ground. ]
have seen darts that have ben drop
pa, but have never bcen where thsy
wefs falling. and had no desirs 10 b
either.
There was German who pulled tn
greatest little game OF biu6 On ~. w
were ct . village called Rheninghels(
! vAsa this fellow. came over. ard ~