The Appeal., 1918-06-01
Open THEIR ARMS
TO OUR OFFICERS
British Go Out of Way to Extend
Courtesies to Army and
Navy Men.
FRIENDLY GUIDES At HAND
Ohio Man Tells Of Getting Cards to
Parliament From, Joe DeveIin
-Oescribes Air Raid In
London,


English and Irish to do favors to wan
dering Americans on leave from mill
1tary duty abroad, and the general
kindness met with everywhere ''soyer
there" is told in a letter Of an Ameri-
can naval officer, living in Ohio, now
in the war zone. He and friend, who
had been shown friendliness by strang-
ers they had met by accident, found
on two occasions that the men who
had extended such courtesy were per-
sons of considerable distinction. The
officers wrote:
"Now that look back over it, it
seems that my spare time was very
we'll spent. utilized every moment. of
1t. met hosts Of people and made
many friends. Every one seemed bent
on entertaining us, and I can vouch for
their success in this.
"On one occasion not long before
left Lady Curzon held a reception for
Admiral, Sims, his staff, and other
American officers, and it was my good
fortune to be introduced to David
Lloyd George. Sir William Robertson
and Balfour were among some of the
other celebrities. The premier is a
most impressive man, not In stature,
for he was much shorter than I believ-
ed hir1 to be, but in his fine face, per-
sonality, and sincerity Mf speech. He,
think, is very wonderful. ,sa,
Got Cards to Parliament.
SOn the day that the houses of par
lament opened, some months ago, it
was rumored that the premier would
speak in the house of commons. So
Lieutenant Jackson and hurried down
to Westminster at about $50 in the
afternoon, determined, by hook or
crook, to get tickets to the gallery. A
dignif1ed 'bobbie" pointed out some
member Of Parliament to us, and hav.
ing decided on. one because of his small
stature and kindly face, Jackson and
swoOped down upon him, one on eth
er side. We soberly explained to him
with dramatic little touches-thanks
to OJacksOn-hOw much our hearts were
set on getting tickets. He stood smil-
ing at us, a very short, thick-set little
man, with an enormous head and a
fine, honest face, and then said, Have
ye just come Over-r fr-r-rOm Amer-r-r.
rica?' We told him how long we had
been across and he said that he had
one ticket only, but that he thought
that he could find another for us. He
signed his ticket-Joe Develin. He
was the great Irish Unionist, a man as
big in mind as he Is small in stature.
He soon returned with another men,
ber, whom he introduced. This was
John Burns, the Labor leader.
"That was q notable afternoon in
the house Of commons. Asquith, with
his beautiful and precise oratory, but
seeming to lack that sincerity Of pur.
pose and speech which Is dominant
with Lloyd George, asked questions of
the premier, the answers to which
would apparently have given valuable
information to the enemy, and the pre-
mier's tense, flashing reply caused
some few dramatic moments.
"Then there were the air raids
These proved very exciting at first,
but finally they lost their interest for
me and became so commonplace that
paid little attention to them, only
staying inside to avoid being hit by
the falling shrapnel.
Describes Air Raid In London.
II was awakened by the guns in the
outer defense at 4 80 in the morning,
and then the inner defense guns be-
gan to bark. The moon was q slim
crescent in the sky, and it was a beau
tlful night, although cold. Presently
the faint drone Of the raiding planes
could be distinguished and there came
the reverberating rumbles of bombs
being dropped. Finally the noise Of
the motors died away and the guns on
the coast could be heard, throwing up
their barrage at the returning Hun
planes, and at about six the bugles
were sounding all clear through the
streets. :
1T was reported that two of the ten
raiders were brought down. It seems
that the crews of these GOtha planes
wear electrically heated clothing, and
In one machine the heating elements in
the pilots clothing absorbed so much
current that, being unable to discon-
meet them, he was forced to descend.
The Gothas have a wing spread Of con-
siderably over 100 feet, are twin mo-
tored, and carry a crew Of three men
pilot, gunner, and bomber. Being twin
motored, their sonorous double hum is
very distinctive. On the most brilliant
Of moonlight nights, when the thrum
OF their motors Is quite strong, it is
impossible to see the planes at their
height Of mile or more. On the dark
er nights they may sometimes be
forced to show lights in order to re-
tain their flying formation, and then, If
you are fortunate, you may glimpse
these tiny points Of light moving across
the sky. III
The majority Of the people display
no fright during the raids"
The writer of the letter was for
some time attached to the staff Of Vice
Admiral Sims and spent four months
IN London,