davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Nome daily nugget., 1918-01-05

The following article from the pen of Arthur J. Johnson discloses In graphic manner the life and methods pursued In the great army aviation camp at San Antonio, Texas. where the American government is preparing thousands of young men for service with the mor4ter air fleet that is to be sent to assist In the subjugation of the Germans.
 The story is abSorbingly interesting. How the men are taught to fly. how they are trained as observers. their course of instructions In the handling of machine guns and how their course of study covers such studies as French photography. motors. airplane con. structioa, wireless, military tactics, law and military drill are related with remarkable clearness. The story will doubtless possess m added interest be- cause of the fact that the author is a former Nome man and at one time was engaged as 8 teacher in the Nome pub- lie school. A brother of the author, Walter Johnson, Is the Bureau of Ed. ucation representative in the St Mich. ael district at the present time and is vel known to all old residents of this section. The article is reprinted from the Fargo (N. D. News. Ed.
The Nome daily nugget., 1918-01-05

university faculty and military officers. The diclptine was military in every respect. One could hardly call his soul his own. 1 considered the course more valuable in general information and training than years work at col lege.
 On graduating from the ground school (we receive certificates of grad uation from the war departmenD. I was assigned to Kelly Field Flying school for flying instructions. A linn ited number of graduates from the to France or Italy for flying instruc- tions. The governments of the coun- a limited number of American aviators. If I had graduated two weeks later l may have been sent to one of these countries.
 Here at Kelly field we rank as ca uStS lIlEI siIC OIlAy llIil ly oluuClt flyers at this field at the present time. There are, however, about 12.000 men enlisted in aviation here who expected to fly when they enlisted, who have very little chance of ever getting up in the air except for pleasure rides. For every aviator it is necessary to have three planes and from 12 to 15 non flying men to take care of the machines. So when you hear or read that the United States has a hundred thousand men in aviation that means that at the most there can only be from five to six thousand aviators. Training aviators is at best slow work. I understand that the French and English consider six months, or even nine months, a short period of training. Our courses arc modelled closely on the course and training given by the Royal Flying corps In England.
 We are treated splendIdly here. As ono of the men so aptly put 1t, We are treated like prize bull dogs train ing for n fight" Every precaution against accidents is taken. Two am balances with chaffeurs and surgeons in their seats are always on the flying field. Since the school opened Aug there has not been an accident of any consequence. We have smashed up two machines but no one was hurt ser lously. In fact, I believe aviation Is safer than motorcycle of auto racing. It would hardly be fair to say that 1t is safer than automobillng in general: but l feel safer in a plane than l do In a jitney driven by the average jit- ney driver. am confident that be- foro long aviation will be as safe as autonobiling. Safety appliances for aircraft are being invented almost daily. have, up to date made sixty two flights.
 We are all very anxious to see the new Liberty motor. We expect one to arrive in a few days. Aviation motors are intensely fascinating to me. They are marvels of construction when one considers the high power developed by them and their lightness of weight. The problem In construction of avia- if power with a minimum of weight.
 Beside flying we are studying the following subjects every day: French, photography. motors. alrplane construc- ton, wireless, military tactics and law, and military drill. The camera used in
The Nome daily nugget., 1918-01-05

camps in Texas since last April. I ! cannot help but marvel at wht. our
 country is doing. The construction
 of buildings here is often reckoned In hours instead of days. Civilian labor-
 CTS come in thousands 10 the field
 every morning returning to San An tonic at night in train load after train l load. One can stand q few minutes
 and actually see barracks or other buildings rise out of the ground.
 Everywhere one see men--civilian
 woIlunen, soldiers on fatigue duty, others drilling. trucks, trains, motor cycles, and automobiles in apparent ] confusion and profusion From an al- titude of 2.00O feet the field looks like on enormous ant-hill on moving day.
 I am sure there are hundreds of other
 places in the United States where slm- liar sights may be witnessed.
 wish the Germans and the Kaiser
 could see us at work. There would be no doubt then as to whether our intentions were serious To have n part In all this planning. study. and preparation gives me the greatest pride. This has been the most wonder ful summer of my life. I have thanked God many times for giving me q physique which makes It possible for
 me to do the work that 1 am doing instead of being forced to do the hum drum work of the civiliGn in time of
 war. am living and working among
 the finest young men in America. Every civilain who visits the field comments on the excellent personnel of the men enlisted in aviation. am afraid, however. that we are getting somewhat conceited, although the mili- tary dioscipline acts as a soft pedal on the conceited soldier. I shall never
 again doubt the benefits of q military training for q boy. l am sorry that
 did not get 1t earlier in my life.
 Every soldier here fecls-k,.ows- that. we arc going to win this war
 decisively. l believe now that the de. ciSlon will be reached sooner than I }lared hope last spring. The co.opcra- l ton that has been shown in the Uni
 ted States in every field-business politics. Industry. education. relgion.-
 Is one of the benefits. or by-products. lfof war that we arc already harvesting I have talked with men who have visited Kelly Field who recently have travelled all over the country and they say that never before has our nation
 been so united; never before has the Americans devotion to his country'a interest been so strlkingly shown. i | think that President Wilson's desired Proper attitude of tho American 1 mind" Is now reality. IL is difficult, however. to account satisfactorily for the various strikes and impending strikes throughout the country. IL 1 seems inconsistent that true Amcrica ns 1 can be striking for higher wages when hundreds of thousands of their fellow
 countrymen arc working for S30 per
 month without thought of striking.
 The only difference between these workmen IS that one wears the uniform
 and the other does not. Civilians and soldiers must do ell in their power to
 help this country in a crisis like thls
 But. of course. these strikers do not
 in any sense represent the civilian
 population of the United States. I ! shall try to write to you intermittently,
 if not periodically. until the war Is
 over. ARTHUR J. JOHNSON
 -
The Nome daily nugget., 1918-01-05
FORMER NOME MAN TELLS
 OF AVIATION TRAINING CAMP

aerial photography is quite similar to an automatic motion picture camera. it's lenses are so powerful that they can take a picture from q height f12,0o0 ft., moving at q rate of 100 miles an hour. The price of one of these cameras Is $6OO.
 The work here is not so streuous as at the ground school Although we have considerable to do besides actual flying, we think flying, talk flying, and dream flying almost continually. It Is all absorbing and intensely interesting. After coming in from a mornings flight we simply live for tomorrow to come that we may go up again. After having been up for forty or fifty minutes q student comes down quite exhausted One can appreciate the necessity for quick action and good judgment in landing when he knows that various controls must be manipulated at eX- actly the right time and In the right way at the beginning of the landing glide, 50 feet above the ground; 30 feet, 20 feet, 10 feet, and so on until the landing gear touches the ground and the machine comes to a rest. At cer- tain times during the glide the machine travels at the rate of over 100 miles per hour Most accidents occur because of poor landings
 I am now beginning to feel quite at ease in the air. cannot say that I enjoyed the first flight although it was not unpleasant Students are given the controls of the plane af- ter the first two or three minutes In the air during the first flight For the first two or three weeks the in- stuctor accompanies the student on every flight The planes are equipped with dual controls so that tho instruc- tor can take them when the student gets into trouble. Tn flying we must be constantly on the alert for wind ruffs. counter wind currents, air pock- cts. whirlwlnds, other planes. and good landing places In case the motor should eneXpoctedly stop. If these difficulties are not encountered the instructor sometimes will produce mechanically the required irregularities ;tt the most unexpected moments. One morning. through poor judgment. l got my ma chine over a group of buildings and facing away from any landing place. Without warning. the instructor shut off my motor to see what l would do. It was necessary for me to turn around on a glide, dodge another machine, clear telephone wires, and land over q ditch Of course, at any moment. the instructor could have given her the gun" (opened the throttle), and then a landing would not have been ncCes- SlTy. nave the greatest conItuence In my Instructor. but I have to wateh him like hawk, for he always does the unexpected.
 I don't know how much longer l will be kept here. We believe we will re. main here all fall and perhaps the greater part of the winter before be- ing sent to France for final training In aeria! warfare. We have no au- thority on which to base this belief. but indications seem to point toward t.
 As look back over whct tAe :'nl- ter States has done at KeilY field a;.d at dc<tns of other training fields and
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
Colorado,

Oil well recently struck near Delta
continues to now like volcano.
Well No. of the Flagler Oil & Gas
Company was recently spudded in.
Drilling will be prosecuted vigorously.
The Portland Gold Mining Company
of Victor distributed dividend
amounting to 100000. or approximate
ly three cents per share.
Returns from car of ore recently
shipped from the New Dominion
mines at Ophir. in the Telluride dist
rict, gave values of around 5000 a ton.
The Michigan Mining and Milling
Company, operating In the old camp
Of Kokomo, near Leadville, during
1917. shipped q total Of 10.163 tons Of
ore.
A three-foot vein of molybdenum.
cut at depth Of $50 feet. has been
exposed in the Morning Glory group
Of claims near Pitkin in Gunnison
county.
The output for the mines of Cripple
Creek for January has a total of 92.-
373 tons, with an average value Of
&AO.O1 anu 6iooo OuAioA "a voHVphuOs
Dividends paid during the same per
iod total S273,5OO and were paid by
the following companies: Cresson
Consolidated G. NJ. & M. Co., $4,000
monthly; Golden Cycle. M. and r. Co..
$4,000. monthly; Portland q. & M.
Co.. $4,000, quarterly: Granite Gold
Mining Company, $16,500. monthly.
The current price of potash Is $500
to 1878 per ton of 1000 pounds. 1t is
alleged by chemists and metallurgists
who have tested the Cripple Creek
ores that the phonolites OF such mine
as the Portland, Vindicator. Ajax and
Granite yield an average Of 6 per cent
potash. or 120 pounds to the ton. With
process that will save the potash.
this means 15 to 1877 cents per pound
for potash. or from SIS to $22.44 for
the potash in ton of Cripple Creek
material. In mines like the proper
ties named this might easily balance
the overhead charges.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
OLD SEA PORTS COME TO LIFE

enthusiasm of the nation for seafaring
to beginnings In definite periods in
which our old-time ports were at the
height Of their prosperity. In SO do
Ing, they cite Salem as a good exam
pie Of what venturesome people may
gain upon the sea.
Salem at one time stood at the head
OF the cities Of the United States in
the value Of Its imports.
In 1872 1t had 125 ships in the deep
water trade, and Of these, SO were
East Indiamen. These vessels brought
home cargoes Of fabulous richness
silks. indigo. spices, Ivory and other
products of the far East.
There are old people living in Salem
who remember when the city's ancient
warehouses were full of "hemp from
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
NOW IT'S "KNITTINe NERVES"
New York Physical Director Says pts
Due to Improper Handling
Of Needles.

New York.-Now it's "knittine
nerves" caused by concentration of
mind and hand on the needles. Thou
sands Of women In New York are af-
flicted. according to DR.. Louis R. welz-
miller, physical director Of the West
Side Y. NJ. G. A.. who odds that his
only patients that show symptoms of
the new wartime complaint have been
women. DR.. Welzmiller says that
there is liable to be m epidemic of
knitting nerves" unless knitters
learn to knit properly.
DR.. G. P. Christensen, president of
the Psychological Research society.
said: 1.-THE women are overworking
themselves. Knitting has become a
craze. Nerves cannot stand this
strain"
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
Revival in Shipping Brings Pros
perity to American Sea-
board Towns.
ONCE BUSY MARTs OF TRADE
Game Spirit That Made Old Salem
Rich Now Seen In Merchant Ma
rInes's Deveiopment-New
Ports sprinalno Up.

Washington.-One effect of the pres
snt rapid expansion Of the American
merchant marine is a sudden and un-
tain American ports which q few years
ago were thought to have passed their
senith.
Bath. Me-, Is cited as an example.
In the prosperous nineteenth century
days of sailing ships Bath was the
country's leading shfpbuilding port. 1t
declined steadily after the introduc-
ton of steel as a building material.
Now Bath. building both steel and
housing of the workmen taking Jobs
there is pressing problem. The same
IL true of several other North Atlantic
ports, while In other sections ports
are springing up where none existed
before.
Close observers Of the present re-
vival in shipping say that before the
United States shipping boards present
construction plan Is completed-a plan
by which vast new merchant fieet.is
to be brought into being-the develop
ment of American ports will parallel
on a larger scale that which took
place in the good old days Of the
square riggers."
In earlier times. as at present, every
body in a port touched by the pros
perity Of seagoing was keenly inter
ested in shipping. Present-day secre-
cy about contracts, .sailings and divi-
dends had its prototype in the secrecy
that enveloped such matters more than
a hundred years ago, in score OF
American ports, notably In Salem.
Mass.
In those days, we are told. rival
merchants sometimes drove the work
of preparation for voyages night and
day. Ships which set out for foreign
ports were watched when they slipped
their cables and sailed away by night"
Personal Touch In Voyages.
In those times there was a more per
sonal touch In voyageI than now, as
every man making a voyage was al
lowed a certain space In the hold for
goods of his own. People in the home
port of a ship outward bound intrust-
ed their savings to their seafaring
neighbors for ventures in far coun-
tries.
This spirit Of commercial adventure
is finding expression today on larger
and less personal scale. say the experts
of the shipping board; and these stu
dents Of conditions trace the present
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07

Arizona.
Arizona produced in 1917 about $685.
100000 pounds Of copper-twice as
much as any other state.
Articles of incorporation Of an oil
company to develop the Holbrook oil
fields have been filed with the cor
poration commission in Phoenix.
A decided improvement In the quail
ty of the ore in the shaft Of the Por-
phyry Copper Company was noted at
Globe, the percentage Of native cop
per showing large increase.
Although the copper production OF
Arizona mines decreased 34,0OO.OO0
pounds last year, the value Of the out
put increased from SLIT 77,570.960 in
1916 to over 5000. 100000 in 1917.
A strike OF 1884 ounces Of silver
and 22.s7 per cent of gray copper.
checked up on the Alpha Copper Min
Ing Copper Company in the San
Xavier district at the 200-foot level,
has been announced.
The action Of Greene Cananea Cop
per Company directors in continuing
the quarterly dividend of 81 share
indicates the prosperous condition of
the company. despite the serious Ia
bor troubles last year and a resultant
curtailed production.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
PERILs OF BIRD SLAUGHTER
National Association Of Audubon So
eIetles Points Out Danger OF
Relaxed Game Laws.

New York.-Grave perils threaten
the agriculture of the United States
through the indiscriminate slaughter
of birds and of wild life, according to
a statement issued by the directors OF
the National Association of Audubon
Societies.
Mr.. T. Gilbert Pearson the secre-
kary of the association. in making pub
lie resolutions adopted by the board
Of directors, said that unless every eff
fort is made to enforce all game pro-
section laws, the resulting unrestrain-
ed activities of gunners and pot-hunt-
ers would soon destroy the natural
toes of insects and or rodent pests and
of weeds.
"The crops will save the nation,
says the oniclal statement, "and the
birds will help to save the crops." In
This national crisis. America 10 looked
spon BY our allies as the granary OF
1he world snd the source OF FOOD
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
NEW INVENTION OF MARINES
It,s Called q "Bazooka" and viii Make
You "Shake Your Feet" When
In Operation.

Port Royal, 8. C.-United States ma
rines at this station have new inven-
tion. It's called a "bazooka." No, II
isn't a cannon, nor a flying machine,
nor a machine gun, but when in opera
tion 1t will make you shake your feet
The 'bazooka" Is a simple contrivance
consisting of but two pieces of gas pipe
and a funnel, but its secret Is the play
ing. It Is said that the Marine Corps
Jazz band is the only one in the world
that boasts Of q ''baxooka."
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07

Luzon, pepper from Sumarra, coffee
from Arabia, palm oil from the west
coast of Africa, cotton from Bombay,
duck and iron from the Baltic, tallow
from Madagascar, salt from Cadiz,
wine from Portugal end the Madeiras.
figs, raisins and almonds from the
Mediterranean; teas and silks from
China; rum, sugar and molasses from
the West Indies; ivory and gum-copal
from Zanzibar; rubber, hides and wool
from South America, whale oil from the
Arctic and Antarctic, and the sperm
from the South Seas"
Salem ships were pioneers in open
ing new routes of commerce. Salem
merchants were the first to bring pep
per from Sumatra, rubber from South
America and coffee from Mocha. The
Salem ship Recovery. Capt. John
Ropes, was the coffee pioneer, and be-
tween the landing of her first cargo of
the fragrant berry in 1798 and 1905,
Salem imported not less than 12,OOO.-
600, pounds of Mocha coffee.
Salem men We're perhaps no more
active than other American deep-water
sailors of the period but their records
were better kept.
Examining the causes of Salem's
great fame won upon the sea, recent
historian of the merchant marine found
that it was mot in her harbor nor in
her store of shipbuilding timber. +.
1t was Salem men. Americans
of the Americans who built up the ro-
mantle commerce that left no sea un-
visited, no land unexplored. =.
Their business required iron will and
iron nerve. a noble imagination, belief
In themselves and In their fellow man"
The case Of old Salem, and of the
newer ports now flourishing under the
! impetus of the country's present COM
mercial expansion, convinces the mari
time specialists that the quality which
won in both cases is constant one.
being nothing less than American en-
| terprise.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
Italy to Solve the Food Question

March. Thanks to different climatic
conditions the harvesting season in the
south Of Italy and in the islands is q
Consequently the authorities expect to
move the different agricultural units
from place to place till every crop has
been taken In and then repeat the op-
Grafton next year for the plowing and
sowing season.
The general staf has promised its
heartiest cooperation provided the
military situation at the front I'M
proves or, at least, remains stationary.
In this case two or three hundred thou
sand men will be temporarily released
from the army and sent to work In the
farming districts. The men and the
women will be paid the prevailing rate
of wages.
Expect No Hitch.
The authorities are confident the
plan will work without hitch, and
IL the results are as predicted, and II
the prize and premium system fails,
1t is not improbable that compulsory
farming will be among the after war
"CdSuiC Win Tic
expects to solve some Of the most dis
tressing problems connected with the
resupplying and revictualing of the
country.
In connection with the present food
situation Premier Orlando announced
in the chamber Of deputies that 1t
could not be improved even IL hostili-
ties ceased tomorrow. that the high
cost Of living and the scarcity of all
the necessaries Of life would continue
for long time after the conclusion of
peace, and that the solution Of the
problem Of supplies is that, today. the
country must resupply itself or be con-
tented with the little that can be i'm
ported from abroad.
At the same time the premier said
that before long the people will be
called upon to make additional sacri-
fees, and that in order to increase the
ration of the men In the trenches new
food restrictions would be imposed on
the country at large.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
Wyoming.

Tom Nestor has closed a deal for a
will place a rig to start drilling by
May /.
Ground is being graded lust outside
the city limits of Glenrock for the
building of the Texas OIL Company's
camp and tank farm.
In a report from the officials of the
Carmania Company announcement Ii
made that well>No. /. In the Lander
Plunkstt field, ID down 400 fact.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
Montana.

Montana was second in Copper pro-
duction in 1917.
Anaconda Copper Company now is
hoisting $4,000 tons of ore daily from
twenty-three producing mines. and the
total number of employees exceeds H.
500.
A New York dispatch reads: after
a prolonged conference between gov
ernment authorities and spelter pro-
ducers an agreement has been reached
whereby ~ cents has been fixed as
the official price for grade A spelter."
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07
New Mexico.

Peterson and associates are devel-
oping the Iron Bar Group at Mogollon.
A CROSS cut tunnel has been run In
over 500 feet.
The Oaks Company continue daily
shipments from the various holdings.
The ore recently cut in the Deep
Down mine in Mogollon district, was
opened in the level below.
An order has been placed by the
Socorro Mining and Milling Co. for a
new double drum electric hoist, with
a capacity of 1900 feet in depth.
The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-02-07

which must sustain the fighters in the
months of struggle yet to come. There
fore every effort should be made to
increase the yield of our fields.
"This association points to the grave
peril which attends the relaxing Of
the wise statutes enacted for con-
serving the wild life Of this country.
which is more and more recognized
as an important economic factor"