The Nevada County picayune., 1919-07-24
FORTY MILLIONS
 FUR AIR SERVICE
CONGRESS GRANTS ENOUGH TO KEEP UP EQUIPMENT AND
 RECRUIT PERSONNEL.
NOT ALL AIRMEN ASKED FOR
Vast Sum Was Needed to Put Aircraft Manufacturing Industry on Produc- ton Basis, but America Was Ready When Armistice Came.
By EDWARD B. CLARK.

ngton.-Congress has appro- priated $40,O000OO through the army supply bill for the use of the air sery- ice. This Is not as much money as the airmen asked, but it will enable the service to keep up Its equipment and Il fairly strong personnel. and will en- able the United States probably to have airplanes enough for an ordinary emergency.
 People have been wondering what became of all the money that was voted for the air service In war time. It seems likely that some of 1t was wasted. but there has been perhaps initial cost which the government had to stand in order to get the great air craft manufacturing industry started on the basis of production that seem ingly was necessary.
 Brig. Gen. William Mitchell. who is in charge of aviation operations in the war department. was In command of the American aviation service in the St. Mihiel drive. He has just testified that when the drive was started more airShips were concentrated in the im- mediate vicinity than ever had been brought together within like area since the war began. During the drive l 900 planes were sent into action. General Mitchell was the first Amer ican officer to fly over the Hun line
 II is snid to be necessary that the airplane service of the United States should be reconstructed As General Mitchell put 1t:
 ''The personnel which has been trained as q result of this war Is large ly scattered throughout the country. We have a wonderful basis of person nel returning from Europe, but they had to go home. A great majority of them would not stay In the service because 1t looked like hopeless future for them, as very little encouragement for an mir service of any importance in the near future was held out"
 Air Forces We're About Ready.
 It Is pretty generally agreed that when the armistice went into effect the United States, SO far as its forces were concerned, was just getting ready "tO do business" on proper scale. It is true that the St. Mlhiel drive took place two months before the armistice of flyers at that place left some other places without proper Americas air equipment. Not many planes were lost in the St. Mhiel engagement. Later in the Argonne the losses were heavy. but no heavier and perhaps not as heavy as 1t was expected would be the case in hard engagements of that kind Of the 1 300 machines at St. Mihiel 550 were American and operated by Amer leans
 Ii is understood that the airplnnp service of the United States with the Army of Occupation was on basis of efficiency. one that would have enabled the Americans to conduct operations in Germany. if they had been necessary, on proper scale so far as the air service was concerned.
 Along the Mexican border today d planes. but not enough II Is under stood, to meet even the minor warfare which II is possible may have to be conducted there within the near future With its $40. GOO 00O it Is probable the air service of the United States can be put on strong peace basis with suffi- clent additional strength to meet any small war in which this country may be compelled to engage.
 "Archies" Seldom Hit Planes.
 While on the western front in 1915 and again in 1918 I witnessed consid- erable air action. The thing which as early as 1915 was the most striking feature of air service was the seeming impossiblity or almost impoSsibility of destroying an airplane by fire from the ground. Another striking thing was the apparent inability of the bombers in the airplanes to hit any specific object on the ground at which they were aiming
 Toward the end of the war the bomb CTS were getting more accurate. but there was little change in the situation so far as fl affected the accuracy of fire of the anti-aircraft gunmen.
 War Brings Out No Candidates.
 Politicians in Washington have taken note of the fact, and are interested in It, that the front line of bat tie Tn the great worlds war has pro duced no candidate for the presi- dency of the United States, and this thought takes cognizance of the truth that both Generals Leonard Wood and John J. Pershing are mentioned in connection with the nomination of the Republican party.
 So far as one can determine. there is no active campaign in behalf of Gen