Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-03

down, and If close to the ground do
not attempt to turn. Go straight
ahead! If its wall run into it
head on, if house, steer for a
window-you might get through by
leaving your wings outside. At least,
1t gives you one chance of escaping.
Following His Nose
Entering by way of a window is
indeed rather rude way of making
a CALL but needs must wait when
the devil drives. In this case, there
were no windows and his instruction
did not cover boats. Still. he could
go straight ahead, which he did,
tearing right between the wireless
masts. taking the wires with him
enrante.' Then, while still won-
derlng what hit him, another shin
loomed up in the front. and there
being nothing else to do he squashed
squarely in the middle of the deck
making enough kindling of his ling
to Keep the galley in firewood for
many a long voyage. Yes "squashed"
was the proper word to use in a
case like that, and here's the strange
part-he wasn't hurt a bit. Indeed,
when / think of the many smashes 1
have seen and heard of where the
pilot was unhurt, 1 wonder if the
age of miracles has not returned. Up
to date none have happened to me,
but if the opportunity ever comes l
certainly have no objections to hav-
ing another happen.
Our dinner companion had not
only stopped in here to call on us
but to ask our Captain if he would
take him into the escadrille, as he
wished to be on the front where he
was actually in the fight. His pres
ent work did not suit him at all. not
that it lacked excitement. for he was
tester for new planes received by
the U. S. A. service, but he wanted
to fight, and since the Captain likes
Americans / think he will take him.
This camp where he did his testing
must have sure been an interesting
place, what with all the latest type
planes being tested, improved, re-
fused, smashed, or burned as the case
may be. 1t would not be wise to tell
! everything he told us about the ac-
tivities of the French aeronautic end
of the game, but from what we
learned of the varied assortment of
new and speedy planes, it's a cinch
the Boche are going to get the sur
prise of their lives mighty quick and
to think some of them are faster even
, than the Morane! Holy smoke! If
the speed continues to increase we'll
catch up to our own bullets, and
] then it will not be necessary to
shoot them. Just a dive and a
flash, and the Boche would have a
confused idea of Halley's Comet
: coming his way After that. if the
win6 of our passing didn't give him
: pneumonia 1t surely would take his
! wings off. This matter of speed
may bring up the old problem of the
train going so miles an hour. A
: cannon shooting a shell which travels
5 so miles an hour is planted on the
last car. If the cannon is shot in
! the opposite direction from which
the train goes, where will the bullet
go-roll out the barrel or keep go
; ing?
Helping Himself
With the airplane the problem is
different, as we shoot the same way
we are going. That was what called
! forth the remark about catching up
to ones own bullets 1t would be
fantastic indeed, wouldn't it? But 1
stray from the subject-our Ameri-
D can dinner guest. While he helped
himself to some more snails, we
were given an insight into another
line of his work, that of flying new
machines to escadrilles at the front
Rarely do the airplanes have guns
mounted in cases like this, as they
1 are generally mounted in the escad-
rifles. You can see then that if a
Boche met such an unarmed pilot,
said pilot would be "sorta outa
luck"
Well, anyway, our dinner COM
panion and another American started
to take two machines to the front
one day. unarmed, as usual. Never
theless, his comrade decided to have
a little fun on the lines just the
same. So when they came to the
lines, our curious, fun-hunting
friend noticed a Boche balloon close
back of the lines. What did he do
but dive headfirst for it. unarmed as
he was; and the men in charge of
the balloon, having no way of know
ing whether he was armed or not.
promptly pulled it down, much to
the amusement of the Americans.
Such fool tricks as these is what
causes the French men to call all
Americans craZy-and love them for
1t. Indeed, we have quite a reputa-
ton to live up to.
Ono Road to knowledge
Sometimes however, in flying these
planes to the front, the pilot loses
his way, and only discovers his error
when the shrapnel begins to break
around him. Then he knows he is
headed for Berlin, and having no
gun he promptly goes back to get
one. This happens quite often, and
several pilots have even lost their
way and landed in Germany. One
story has it that a pilot started to
take machine to the front one time,
lost his way got over the lines-he
knew that by the shrapnel bursting
laround him. Turning back. he en-