Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-01-31

fly: get ME; fly. Say the. first time
you go UP alone; that's an expert
ence. On the level you would laugh
to see fifteen or twenty kids on the
first hop. You are scared TO death.
Gee. I'm glad to get on earth they
all say"
Shaffer after his mind got fixed on
cloud climbing with the Peck dis
aster worked nearly two years at the
State Printing shops here, then he
got a job at Essington. down the
Delaware where he flew seaplanes.
Here he imbibed the careless. reck-
less, daring of the cult. Lucky dog
was" he reflected this morning,
while sister Esther silently expressed
her admiration. "The man with me
was killed. / managed to jump free
and here am" The machine fell
into the Delaware.
Hard Examination
Shaffer went to Buffalo after this
and worked at his trade which was
a linotyper. He migrated to Brook
lyn, got some experience there, al
though the flying school only had
one machine. Hearing about the
Lafayette corps he wrote to Wash
ington, for Shaffer, though but 26
years old. has all the initiative in the
world.
Say" he interpolated. THAT was
some examination we had to take
to get in the Lafayette. You had to
have perfect eyes and your moral
character had TO be testified to by
half a dozen substantial persoLs."
Speaking of morals Shaffer said he
was shocked in France, where NOR
ality seems to be only a shlbboleth.
He said it was q dangerous expert
ence for American troops.
Shaffer paid a fine tribute to the
English Cloudclimbers. "They had
nerve" said he. Three or four of
them would so out on patrol and il
they met fifty Boche machines they
would butt in and give them battle.
The, French were more careful, be-
cause they were always thinking
about safety first. The English did
not care whether they got blotted
out or not The Frenchmen loved
the Yanks for their daring; they de-
spised the Germans, who are only
animals. The Germans were al
right when they flew in groups of
fifty or sixty. i have to hand it to
them for formation. One day l was
out with five of the Lafayette squad
ron. We were up about ten thou
sand feet in the clouds. A heavy
thick cloud lay just below-and say,
believe me, the Boches staged some
thing new. They had fifty machines
flying in a circle. One Boche would
be right behind the other so il you
butted in the Boche behind could
get you. We nipped at them, but
it was too dangerous. and they sent
lis back. But when one Boche went
out alone he had no nerve, while
the Yank or British Sky traveller had
the nerve to fight alone. That seems
TO be the failing of the. German.
Give him crowd with him and an
officer and he showed system and
efficiency. When it comes to per-
sonal initiative, he is Nix"
How did you fall a captive to
the Huns" asked the Telegraph
reporter.
Tell him." suggested Sister Es-
ther, who could not forget that her
brother Walter fell down on fixing
the broken spigot; tell him about
the balloons
1T was beyond Chateau Thierry,"
related the bright-eyed Dauphin lad.
I'VE hoped off at daybreak one
morning to fly over Rheims. They
call it Rams over there. There
were eight machines in our patrol.
An ace was leading us, and he be-
gan to do some queer acrobatics.
L thought he was signalling that
Boche were about us. but 1 could
not see any Boche. A heavy white
cloud was below me and l was some
eight thousand feet in the air.
'Shaffer boy | said to myself,
they'll he talking about you In Dau-
phin, Pa, if you can't bust those
Boche balloons. All of a student |
thought l could see a Boche bal
loon. The ace leading us was paint
ed red and white. Then l got onto
him. He was signalling that there
was whole line of Boche balloons,
moored to the earth but some dis
tance up in the air, and ali with bat
teries.
As the air cleared I began to
shoot. 1t was beautiful morn
ing. | could see through my glass
the Germans in the balloons observ-
ing us. Each balloon had a big
black cross on it. Three times / shot
at one, then my gun jammed. /
was up against it, They were all
shooting at me and L could not shoot
at them. Then | took another gun
had and got it going. Just then a
sharp pain hit my right leg" Sister
Esther glanced inquiringly at Friend
Leg, gave it sisterly pat and the
talk went on:
Another bullet cut off my rud-
der and i found myself wabbIing q
through the air and humping right
into one of the Boche balloons.
looked for "a place to land, but 1t
was all one big shell hole below