The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-21
HOW VEDRlNES DROPPED SPIES
 IN HUN LINES
Copyright, 1919, By the Internations 3Eis1- al Nesy.s Bureau, Incl

the public eye no moro glorious, ln-
 trepid, or individualistic exploits thar
 those of Eedrincs, the illustrious 1 Frenchman who has perished in his attempt to fly from Paris to Rome ! which flight was to be the prelude to a trip around the world on his be- loved bus"
 My duties in the R. A E., which ! took me to Paris, and all over France : as a matter of fact, brought me fir 1 contact with Nedrines now and again | From his own lips I learned of the | details of some of his daring esca- 1 pades, but more were related to me ] by his admiring colleagues In no instance was absolute se- crecy more essential than it was tc [ hide from the world the arduous tasks | that were periodically undertaken and successfully carried through by this skillful aviator
 Had the Germans suspected the na- ! ture of the work being performed | by vedrine's a price would undoubt- | edly have been placed on his head ! or capture But to all intents and 1 purposes the Germans are no longer { feared as an enemy, and Vedrines ] himself is dead, there can De no harm in lifting the curtain from the deeds that enhanced the hero's rep utation during the dark days of the z war.
 Stranger than Fiction
 The story of his exploits is a splen- { did exemplification of the proverp that truth is stranger than fiction. ! The feats Vedrines accomplished tax ! credibinty to the utmost. but the , truth of them is unimpeachable. Vedrines when l talked with him was not disposed to take the view that , he was doing anything exceptional. I
 T I to have been employed in bringing down Roche 'busses," but the auth critics knew of no man so peculiarly fitted for the special work they want ed done as Vedrines, and he, like a : true son and patriot of France, did 1 what was asked of him.
 Even to an Allied officer, at the tirne I spoke to him, Vedrines was not inclined to be communicative, but . I pierced the veil sufficiently deeply to see that the life" once embarked upon, held a great glamour for him. As a matter of fact, he confessed to me-"It is a great life. The hazards are tremendous, but when they are undertaken for La Belle France I count them as nothing"
 Under Cloak of Darkness.
 Vedrines' work was to drop and pick up Allied spies behind the Ger
  incredible. but that 1t was done can not be gainsaid. and no man did more work of this hazardous type than Ve- drines.
 of course, these consequential mis- sions were undertaken only under the cloak of night. Do not imagine that Vedrines simply flew over the lines and dropped his precious spy by means of a par anH tA N-~4 I;N f4 be picked up again if the information they had gleaned was to be turned to good account. So Vedrines had to descend in the enemy's lines to pick up his human freight of secret in- telligence.
 It was perilous work, but Vedrines' cool temperament. courage. and skill as pilot admirably suited him for the job, and he declared to me on one occasion, "One gets used to taking risks. and ultimately thinks nothing of them.''
 I am not in a position to say how many spies Vedrines dropped or pick cd up behind the lines, but they were undoubtedly a numerous company | and what we owe to the information | they brought back is incalculable.
 Vedrines method was to set off with | his spy in the middle of the night ] None knew the territory behind the l lines better than he. and it soon be- came an easy matter for him to se- | lect a quiet and unfreuuented landing | place. free from the grey uniform of | the Hun.
 Almost Captured by the Boche.
 When he was convinced that he was | over his pre-selected landing spot, to | which a night-flying compass and his own sense of direction had guided | him, Vedrines would shut off his en- zine and descend quietly to earth in !, spirals. His coilea sue, in the guise of | Boche or a French peasant, would | alight, a few words were whispered | about their meeting on the same rem dezvous a few nights later with a pre- arranged signal. and Vedrines would be off again. his last words-"Bonne chance" (good luck) being uttered as he commenced to rise again
 'T had one very narrow escape" confessed Vedrines. 'I landed in the German lines one night in inlxy dark ness Our agent had just alighted when we heard the guttural voices of Boches- Quick as lightning I was off again, knowing that my companion could well look after himself. And I am glad to say that everything turned out happily. returned four nights later to the same rendezvous, and was much relieved to find that my comrade had eluded the Huns, and picked up much useful information during his short speel amongst them. But it was 8 neaf thing for both of us"
 The Germans spread wire on open places that could serve as landing places, but the redoubtable Vedrines came down among a herd of cows. Cows have never yet been seen eat | ing barbed wire" was his rejoinder to a friend who asked how he was go- ing to manage.
 During the attack on Quennevieres he landed on an enemy aerodrome near Tergniex Railway Station, and though his machine was riddled, and he was himself wounded, succeeded in returning with valuable informa- ton. which resulted in the capture of over 5000 prisoners by the French on the following day.
 Rescutng the Prosecuted. |.
 Vedrines, I may tell you. brought ( back more than xupfeG ss Frenchmen who were suffer48S partfcularIy from Hun oppression were mysteriously upirfted away from German donaina-