Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-02-28

We only flew at 1000 meters, so l
did not mind the cold, but Golly!
how they did lombard us with
shrapnel. It's the first time they
have ever came real close to me,
although I have been shot at before.
The first one 1 saw in the mirror as
it broke some 20 meters behind me
with loud bang and a puff of black
smoke. Right away 1 began doing
the ocean roll up and down and
cross-ways with black puffs appear
ing now on my right and now on my
left. AS far as | could see about all
the damage they did was to pol
Lutte the atmosphere with few more
clouds. However, none broke over
me. else l may have changed my
mind about their harmlessness. One
time though, that old boy below
was getting my range pretty close
as half dozen black puffs appeared
under me, and two seconds later
half a dozen more bursted along side
of me with a loud boom. 1t was
then l began changing my direction
and altitude and to lose my con-
tempt for the man behind the gun.
All he could do was. guess at my
height, but 1 always got the last
guess; and as soon as he got the
range 1 changed my altitude, and
then he would have to begin guess
ing all over again. We patrolled up
and down the lines for an hour and
half, being shot at four different
times as we passed over certain hot
sectors. It's quite sight to see an
airplane being bombarded with
shrapnel, and to see it fly in, out and
around, the innumerable black and
white puffs. Reminds me of some
one throwing eggs up against a
barn, the way those black puffs
splash around the sky. The other
American in the escadrille was up
to-day and saw them pumping lead
at us and according to his account
they certainly were burning up a
lot of powder. 1t is while on these
airplane are colled that one gets
bombarded, and 1 was remarking
to-day that l had never seen shrap-
mel break real close to me.
Gets Taste of ShraDneI
However. | got a taste of it this
afternoon so it won't be anything
new when l do go on a mission"
These photo-t taking planes go away
behind the lines to take their pic
lures and naturally get bonn mbarded
to a far-u-well, not to mention being
chased by Boches sometimes. Have
not been lucky enough to go on one
of these protecting trips yet, but
now that our escadrille is organized
L hope to soon have a chance.
One of our men was killed the
other day while on one of these
missions" being shot in the back by
Boche. Badly wounded as he was
he came down in a ''vrille" from
1fs,K- IL.
ing. For this cool-headed work he
was awarded the military cross and
Croix de Guerre," but unfortunately
he had lost so much blood that he
died in the hospital soon after.
Which accident makes my grudge
against the German much more per-
Sonal than heretofore, since he was
the liveliest fellow in the escadrlle,
and incidentally was the man that
led me through my first shrapnel
fire. ! called il an accident because
so it seemed to me since the fell
lows with him said the Boche was
fully 1000 meters behind him. Eth
er that Boche was some shot or his
luck was with him. The escadrille
bought him crown of flowers, the
five francs of which I do not be-
grudge. The saddest part of the
death, I think, was the fact that
seven letters arrived for him the day
he died.
And now the last candle has gone
out, so TIL have to stop, as one can't
very well write by the aid of an
open fire place.
Received package from the
Misses Kelker yesterday, which GER
tainly was a surprise as we'll as
appreciated, especially the Wash
ington coffee" None of your pack
ages have showed up yet.
Walter.
Somewhere in France,
Jan. 10, 1918.
Dear Mother: l flew an hour
yesterday, but it was very bad wea-
ther at that, the clouds being very
heavy and low. First we have a
little snow and then a little rain,
which makes hunting wood rather
sloppy work. Since all five pairs of
shoes are wet l went hunting in my
wooden shoes, which was more diff
cult than successful, as l found it
nearly as hard as skieing, for there
were no hobnails in the soles to give
me. a grip as with the army shoes.
They kept my feet dry though, and
we sure have some fire now!
yesterday and it was most amusing
to watch him shiver with cold as
he ate in our freless dining room.
say amusing, because we have
grown used to it, which goes to show
one can get used to anything if he
has to.
You should have seen said pilot
out hunting wood to-day. He was
a most ardent hunter indeed and
was not shivering as much during
supper as of yore. However, after
the meal l found him in our room
with his feet resting in the ashes of
a dying fire. in a vain attempt to
warm them-the feet, not the fire.
a Queer Bird
The saying that aviators are queer
birds is certainly proved by one of
cur mem mbers, who is learning to toot
the flute in his spare time, of course
we have other music also. but that
occurs regularly twice a day and
have grown used to it, but | will
suffer from the flute. Fortunately,
the cold freezes UP his tooter when
he has no fire, and since his bed fell
low refuses to furnish any more
wood, we haven't heard from him
for sometime. Indeed the man him.
self presents an interesting study to
me, for / never have seen n more
timid man and my wonder grows as
to how and why he ever entered
aviation. Just an instance: We
live some two miles from camp, and
one day, he. another man and 1 were
starting for camp, when a truck
came along, stopping nearby to un-
load something. Naturally, we asked
for a lift and got in. We had
climbed aboard and the truck was
getting under way when the timid
gentleman caught up with us. since
he had gotten some distance behind