Gunnison news-champion., 1919-05-09
CkDaic WiiIiAiis iSCEivRD

oDetaasr. Germany. April .. lSls.-
9seseve1 yoar lsttsr q March llfh
lase beeoee sing 10 Trsvss. anA tho
oeever ~ laae nlght aftsr eu0ingl
6eek ! intaaAed to vrits ffo1
Trevoe ~ we were busy Ill IL timo
a. teege vas - chance.
We 30 1ne 0uarters aAd aceommo-
enftoos this time. and Q 1ns paace to
work Ihe Fest Halle q Treviris IL
now ussa ~ TIE 7. n. c. A. and this
y where we stayed Il d oos az The
incest butioings of the kind I ever
saw. It has offlces and hobbies ON
The drst -ooog. eAd On The second 1ooe
y laroD auditorium With . 1900
PIPE orgnn, and . seating capacity a.
1850; also . "sun-parlor." enclosed
Outside is small park with . hand
stand tn the center. where ~
worked"
Ths greatest experisnos that I had
while there-or that ever had-was
. ride ID IN aeroplane. There b IN
American Aviation 6eid at The edgo
q the city and they were taking pass
engers On trial trips. Some Of ~
vent out Saturday morning but there
was NO flying that day q they were
having IN inspection. 70 No went
again Monday morning and 4 fsw Of
~, who were lucky. got 5idea. All
the pilots were experienced men 90 /
felt safe enough.
fur-lined coat, cap and goggles, which
were necessary. and climbed into the
machine Il U. 8. Curtiss biplane, with
Liberty motor.)
The start IL about the same ~ q
fast automobile, until Il reaches a
speed Of about 20 miles an hour, then
begins to rise. As the machine leaves
the ground all jolting stops. and the
only sensation is the vibration of the
machine. the roar of the motor, and
the terrific air pressure from the
front, caused by the propellers. 1t
would blind . person without goggles.
The machine sailed over the city Of
Treves. and on down the Moselle riv-
er; then 1t seemed like the earth had
tilted up on edge. for moment, and
I realized that the machine was turn
ing around and flying on edge. A mo-
ment later II turned the other way
and the earth was on the other side.
and the sky and clouds where the
earth had been before. The machine
kept rising and again flew over Treves
at height Of about 5000 feet. From
here Treves looked like toy village
and the Moselle looked like little
ditch. The landscape was Of rolling
hills and valleys as far as the hazy
atmosphere Of this low altitude will
permit person to see. The higher
we went, the bigger the earth looked
and the smaller the objects seemed.
Coming hack to earth. the bottom
seemed to have dropped out Of the un
iverse, until the last few hundred feet,
which was 80 gradual as to make no
difference. / was surprised to find
no sense Of dizziness or OF fear at any
time. A man don't know what he can
do until he tries. II was an expert
lcnce well worth while, and the big
gest half hour I ever put In.
We had our big inspection this
morning by Major Generals Hahn and
Winn. few brigadier generals. col
onels, ETC.. and 1t all went off in good
shape. It will probably be our last
big inspection here unless we have a.
divisional review. According to late
reports our time has been advanced
and we may leave here in May instead
of June.
You ask what is meant by s. o. 8.
and A. w. o. L. 8. O. 8. in this case
means Service of Supplies"-the SOL
diers who bring up supplies and mum
itions to those who are In action. Al
SO those in reserve. and has come to
mean all those not in the war zone.
A. W. o. L. means away without
Leave" q temporary deserti0n or
playing hockey from the army, and
applies to any one outside Of his reg
ular territory without pass. There
are . great many Of these expressions
which are "army slang" creations OF
the war, and II takes an army man to
explain them. Am enclosing some real
war pictures got in Treves. Must
close now for this time.
CEDRIC d. WILLIAMS.
Hdq. Co. 341st F. A. Band. S9th Div.
/ A. =. r.