Evening star., 1927-10-01
PRESIDENT TO SEE
ARMY RELIEF SHOW
Salute of 21 Guns to Mark
Arrival of Commander.in.
Chief at Barracks.

to waiting thousands the arrival of
President Coolidge as a spectator at
Washington Barracks.
1mbued with the enthusiasm which
the realistic battle scenes have in
fected Washingtonians in general,
President Coolidge made arrangements
to lay aside pressing duties to attend
the final afternoon show at o'clock.
Mrs Coolidge, always interested in
the work of the Army Relief Society,
will accompany the President.
The announcement from the White
House today was all that was needed
to crown with triumph the most
spectacular military circus that the
Army Relief Corps, famous for it's
previous CircuSes, has ever arranged.
In his capacity as comma nder-in-chef
of the armed forces of the United
States. President Coolidge will he
greeted by Maj. Gen Charles p
Summerall, chief of staff of the Army
and Secretary of War Davis. who had
previously announced they wouldn't
miss the final two performances for
anything in the world.
Children to Attend.
Thousands of Washington school
children at liberty today will flock to
production of a real chapter from
their school text books of the World
War. AS an educational feature the
splendid exhibitions so picturesuuely
arranged are really unsurpassed.
President Cooidge's arrival will
mark the beginning of the attack on
the famous Madeleine Farm which
will be staged for the final time to-
night at s o'clock. During the raking
fire of guns yesterday the farm house
stood intact but tonight it is doomed
to he pounded to pieces.
1t was estimated that nearly 20, 900
persons witnessed the two perform
ances Yesterday. With the schools
released today. this number is OK
pected to he greatly exceeded before
the night ends. Hundreds remained
after the performance last night TO
throng the midway and the dance
hall.
THnight's g aerial exhibition, combined
with the assault on Madeleine Farm,
as last night. will be the main attrac-
ton.
Smoke Screen Dropped.
The aerial feature of the enter
tainment yesterday began at 3 o'clock
W hen Capt. Frank O'D. Hunter of the
technical section, office Of the chief of
Air Corps and Lieut.. T.. r. Quesada
Of Boiling Field took off in two Cur
tiss P-1 pursuit planes. The sky had
been divided into two zones, Capt
Hunter taking the north and Lieut..
Quesada the south zone.
For * minutes they loOped spun,
rolled, twisted and turned their pow
erful little craft at a minimum alti-
tude Of 900 feet over the heads of
the spectators, performing smoothly
in spite OF the high and gusty winds
aloft. Each ended his "act" with a
mighty dive, estimated at a speed of
about 300 miles an hour, over the
Anacostia River.
While they were in the last minutes
Of their scheduled performances a Mar
tin bomber from the Aberdeen Proving
Grounds, piloted by Technical Sergt. S.
j. Davis, took off and maneuvered into
position. AS the pursuit planes cleared
lively low, approached the War Col.
lege Point from the south and dropped
smoke curtain around the Show
grounds" The strong south wind did
not permit the creamywhite curtain
to remain intact long. Sergt. Davis fol-
lowed it up with another and then
went into Boiling Field for a landing.
An aerial radio drill' followed, with
three Douglas O-2 observation planes,
piloted by Lieuts. r. l.. Brookings. r.
I. HaZen and r. s. O'Neil. They flew
over the crowd in "V" formation, re.
ceiving orders from the ground by
radio, which guided them in their ma
neuvers.
Raiding Planes Attacked.
As the attack on Madeleine Farm
got under way, Capt. Hunter and
Lieut.. Quesada again took the air.
This time Lieut.. Quesada used anoth-
err pursuit ship--a Boeing PW-9. His
Curtss suffered the loss of some
metal cowling alongside the radiator
during his speedy dive at the close
of the acrobatic performance. and
while this in no way endangered the
plane or pilot he ordered it hauled
into the hangar for immediate repair.
Capt. Hunter and Lieut.. Quesada
hovered above the battle, flying in
continuous circles, which transformed
their flight into an almost constant
vertical position. They were friend
ly" planes and were watching the
progress Of the battle, standing by
to give assistance when needed.
AS they continued to circle above
in this dizzy manner for several min
utes, they saw two enemy" Observa-
ton planes. piloted by Lieuts. Hazen
and O'Neal. take off from the field
with glaring red streamers flying
from the wing struts.
Immediately they pulled off down
the river and hid up in the sun at an
altitude of about 5000 feet. The
enemy planes got into position and
flew down over the battle, supposedly
for the purpose Of raking the ground
with machine gun fire and small
bombs. But their mission was not
completed. Capt. Hunter. followed by
Lieut.. Quesada, crept around until
they were in position, and then, point
ing their noses almost vertically down
ward, dove for 1000 feet at 800 miles
an hour, pouring bullets" into the
sluggish enemy two-seaters.
Wind Prevents Jumps.
AS the enemy" began to flee from
the scene, Capt. Hunter selected one
plane, got close up and under his tail
and finished him, while Lieut..
Quesada did likewise with his prey.
Lieut.. P. F.. Skanse and a big three.
engined Fokker monoplane Army
ira nSpOrt were waiting on the line to
take off with three parachute jump
ers, but the velocity of the wind pre-
vented this feature from taking place.
Lieut.. Bob f. Nowland, operations Of
ficer Of Boiling Field. explained that
while it was possible for the men to
| jump, it was not considered advis-
able as the wind would have either
| blown them into the river or into a
| congested area. The wind was 20
| miles an hour on the surface and con.
Siderah1y higher at 9 600 feet made
| even more unsuitable for the jumps
| by strong gusts.
In Capt. Hunters performance the
spectators saw an exhibition of flying
| by the Air Corps leading ace"
| L, IIunkar. iS craditcd with nine