Evening star., 1918-08-17
SHRAPNEL
SideIights on the War
BY
OLIVER OWEN KUHN.

Owing to their appearance OF un-
wieldiness. surprise oftentimes is ex-
pressed that more kite and observa-
tion balloons are not destroyed along
the western front. The balloon. from
an airplane's standpoint. is quite low
and usually fiier would have to ap-
proach within range of anti-aircraft
guns which form a barrage about the
balloons when it appears that an at
tack is TO be made. Machine gun fire
also is a menace to the fiier- As
consequence of this comparatively
few balloons in service with either
group of belligerents have been lost.
Owing to the base ban vogue in
England. largely due to the presence
of American troops, the newspapers
have printed long explanatory arti-
cles with diagrams telling Britishers
just how the game is played
Men in charge of machine guns on
the battle front must know their
weapon. They must remain cool un-
der any and all circumstances. When
a machine gun stops Its splteful spit
ting as a usual thing the enemy Is
quick to detect il and he is liable 10
usher in a sharp attack TO put the
weapon and its crew completely out
of service. Even in the face of at
tack and not knowing what instant
he may be bayonetted or shot, the
machine gun operator must continue
his adjustments until the gun is put
to working again.
The war correspondent of today
must first and last be his own censor.
This is not to say that the ofhciaI
censorship is superauous; but unless
a correspondent knows what he must
not write and how to write what he
may safely say. he is perfectly use
less. For the composition of a good
dispatch about an engagement in the
war of today three things are essen
tial in the correspondent. He must
have a good idea of the ground; he
must know the facts (not necessarily
for publication), and he must have
the faculty of rapidly constructing
the tactical situation for himself from
the odd segments furnished by the
stories of the combatants.
The Germans use more than three
cylinders of poison gas to the yard
when they are delivering a gas at
tack.
In the instruction of British air
plane pilots il is declared that half
the battle is won by instilling q
spirit of confidence in the men.
TT is an important point in the
system that the latter should not
touch the controls unless absolutely
necessary. Thus the pupil must eXer-
else his own ingenuity in extricating
himself from tight corners. At such
moments the instructors position is
hardly an enviable one. Even with
the machine in a spin he must con-
tinue to issue directions, thus giving
confidence to the pupil and enabling
him to right the machine himself.
"a pupil is not allowed up alone
until he knows what a spin is like
how to get into one and, more I'M
portant how to get out of one; he
must be able to turn easily and cor
rectly, and do some minor stunts in
the machine. Even when he has be-
gun to fly solo he is constnatly
given more dual instructions TO cor
rect small faults and give finish:
this, until he can fly the machine
we'll and confidently. knowing the
why and wherefore of all that he
does"
In addition to the strictly military
Identification requirements on all
themselves oftentimes place addi-
tional markings, such as next OF kin
Copies of letters written personally
by King George of England are pre-
served and in the archives at Wind
sor.
A soldier appeared at a field dress
ing station with a wound in his
chin.
.Hm." commented the doc How'd
you get that?"
At was leaning against a barrage,~
answered the soldier, land all of .
sudden it lifted and fell against the
trench"
Marlel Hutfs, the French journalist.
whose amazing prophesies in connec-
ton with day-to-day war news, is
quoted around the globe. was an OBJ
scure reporter on a Paris paper when
the war broke out.