DAUPHIN AVIATOR LEARNS
1 TO SHOOT
I.earning how to shoot from an air
plane now is engaging the attention
ot' Walter Shaffer, the Dauphin avia
tor, who.se (raining in France has
been outlined in the Harrisburg
Telegraph. The aviator's letter home
is un of the most interesting he has
yet written.
Dec. S, 1917.
Somewhere in France.
Dear Mother:
I've taken a chance, something
1 am- quite- accustomed to by. thirf
time, and written the name of the
•school I am now.training at. Here's
hoping it gets through. According
to information I picked up from my
American the authorities
don't seem to care what you address
the inside of the letter by, but it's
absolutely forbidden to put one's ad
dress on the outside of the envelope,
as I have been in the habit of doing
always. "Mine not to ask the reason
why. mine but to do or die," as we
remarked as we were sent aloft at
Pau to do acrobatics for the first
time. Some of us did, too: but I'm
slill kicking, so I should worry.
Have been having a most wonder
ful and interesting time the last few
days: in tact, next to Pau. 1 have
not found any school so interesting
as the one X just finished to-day., viz.:
the shooting school. Like Pau, it
was run on a systematic basis, some
thing so rare in French training
that it, always pleases an American
immensely ' when we find one run
this way. Of course, the French get
results in all their schools and good
results, too, but how they do it in
some schools is still beyond me, as
everything seems to be run so loose
ly. At Pau and this shooting school
the officials took a personal interest
in the work and did not regard it
merely as a tiresome job that had to
be gotten through with somehow.
This raised the morale of the pupils
immediately and every one chirked
tip and tried his best, and, taking it
J) all in all, we bad a wonderful time.
Hcnt all the Fourth of July's 1 ever
had rolled into one and then some,
because for once I had all the cart
ridges I wished to shoot and didn't
cost me anything.
As for noise, when 1 walked into
lite place for the first time I thought
1 had accidentally butted in on a
battle and began looking for the
nearest, exit immediately, for guns
of all descriptions were blazing awav
all along the line. Then I noticed
the target and was reassured, then
interested, amused and then anxious
to have a try at it myself. What
amused me was seeing one of the
-x2-ft. targets moving rapidly along
a long trench. It seemed so uncanny
to see this big white target with its
black bullseye moving along as if
! -t had legs, while a machine gunner
on the opposite bank peppered shots
at it at a tremendous rate of speed,
iliat I laughed aplenty. He sure
was plastering that target and we
were wondering whether a man was
running with the target or whether
i! was worked by pulleys. We soon
discovered it. was not worked by
man power, as- a man climbed
aboard and rode to the other end of
the trench after the firing ceased.
I.ike Coney Island
<Mie could almost Imagine him
self in Coney Island in this shooting
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'MONDAY EVENING, harpisbuegTELEGRAPH JANUARY 21, 1918.
school, for we were taken from booth
to booth, like a bunch of tourists on
u personally conducted (our; for
there were some wen o>- eisiit dif
ferent booths, with different con
traptions HI each t~> mune snooting
mora difficult. Goodness knows. It
was difficult enough, as out of forty
shots from a machine gun if we got
two "blancs;" no, that don't mean
"blanks." although it may be pro
nounced somewhat the same; it
means "white." We were taken to
the rifle booth first and given an
army carbine to shoot, which was
as heavy as Kuth and had a kick
like a mule.
The first kick made one wait for
the next one and thus forget all
about the sight. However, 1 got
one bullet in the bullseye and two
"blancs" out of six shots. The next
booth in this personally conducted
Cook tour was the manipulation
one, where we were taught how to
fix different types of machine guns
when they jammed, which they had
a habit of doing quite regularly
there. They sure had those guns
fixed so they wouldn't work. From
the way they worked it would seem
some fellow had assembled them and
had some parts left over, for one
had Iwo important springs missing.
We asked the man in charge and so
he informed us. That was all that
was missing, said he, and that was
quite enough, for every other shell
missed. Then the old boy would
extract a couple shells from the belt
when one wasn't looking and pretty
soon there would be a dull click—
and then it was hunt for more trou
ble.
This was very instructive, though,
as it taught tis how to fix every con
ceivable kind of jam—no, this
' jam"i isn't eatable; it's cussable—
not that J would tio the latter, tor a
Herman was not after 111 c then.
Having learned about the things that
were liable to happen and how to
load and aim the machine gun, we
were taken to another booth and
given a chance to test our knowl
edge. Judging from the results, we
had not acquired much, for out of
twenty shots 1 hit the target once
and it was not a bullseye, either.
Working Vnder Difficulties
That may cause Pop to laugh, but
wait a minute. This shooting was
done from one of those movable de
vices I spoke of before, it being ar
ranged just like a seat in an air
plane, and also movable. So just,
about the time you had the sight on
a dead center someone moved the
box and you suddenly discovered
there were no targets near your
right and you were aiming at a brick
wall clue east. Naturally, vou had
to aim all over again, and by the
time you got another beau and were
pressing the trigger and wondering
why it wouldn't go off he moved you
again. Just about that time there
would l>e a succession of violent
eruptions out in front, and before
you realized that you were not
aboard Mount Vesuvius and your
linger was still holding the triggei
| firmly, there were ten shots missing,
mostly over the target.
The officials showed quite a lot of
forethought in laying out the shoot
ing grounds, for the targets are
placed in the bottom of a valley.
W'e shoot from the side of the hill
and if we shoot too high the bullets
plow harmlessly into the hillside on
the other side. You should see the
deep ditches dug by bullets behind
those targets and the trees and
shrubbery a little higher up. Every
thing is clipped off as clean as a
whistle. We didn't get a whole lot
of shooting the first day, but the
lectures and jam instruction kept us
interested. However, we got a shot
at that moving target and I say it
with more surprise than pride that
I sure made the bunch sit up ana
take notice, for out of forty shots
at it I made fifteen blancs and four
bullseyes.
Some Are Worse
That don't seem like a big per
centage, does it: but then the aver
age was somewhere around two
"blancs" and some never hit it at
all. Our marks were all carefully
kept, totaled and averaged so that
the Spad division would know
whether we were any good or not.
The second day we had rifles
YOURSICKCHiLir
IS CONSTIPATED!
LOOK AT TONGUE
rlurry, Mother! Remove poisons
from little stomach, liver,
bowels *
3ive "California Syrup of Figs"
if cross, bilious or
feverish
No matter what ails your child, a
gentle, thorough laxative should al
ways be the first treatment given.
If your little one is out-of-sorts,
half-sick, isn't resting, eating ami
acting naturally—look. Mother! see
if tongue is coated. This is a sure
sign that the little stomach, liver and
bowels are clogged with waste.
When cross, irritable, feverish, stom
ach sour, breath bad ot- has stomach
ache, diarrhoea, sore throat, full of
cold, give a teaspoonful of "Califor
nia Syrup of Figs," and in a few
hours all the constipated poison, un
digested food and sour bile gently
moves out of the* little bowels wi{h
out griping, and you have a well,
playful child again. .
Mothers can rest easy after giving
this harmless "fruit laxative," be
cause it never fails to cleanse the lit
tle one's liver and bowels and sweet
en the stomach and they dearly love
Its pleasant taste. Full directions
for babies, children of all ages and
for grown-ups printed on each
bottle.
Beware of counterfeit fig syrups.
Ask your druggist for a bottle of
"California Syrup of Figs;" then see
that It i made by the "California
Fig Syrup Company."
again, shooting at moving targets
this time w-ith both army and Win
| cheater automatics. These Winches
ters shot the. sizej bullets that Krn
i est's big deer gun shot, only I could
• lilt something with them, and when
! you hear that the targets were all j
I set at 100 meters distance you'll j
| agree tliut was something. Surprised ;
myself and the official scorer again
. the second day by getting six blancs |
| out of six shots at the moving tar
j get with rifles, and. going to the
j machine gun where they moved one
around .while he was sighting, made
six whites and eight bullseyes out
of forty shots. Pretty punk, thought
I until I discovered some never hit
it at all. Sure was great sport,
though, and any one wishing noise
would sure liav.e had his (111 there.
They' also had another machine
with all the controls of a regular air
plane in it, the machine gun in front
and the controls arranged by
springs and air pressure so that they
liad the same functions as if one
-. a- in a real airplane. That was
the darndest thing to steer and shoot
that I ever sat in.
One would get the level with his
"stick" control quite easily, but the
rudder was a sticker. Push just a
little too hard and the target would
! fly past so quick you couldn't pull
the trigger: push too lightly anrl (he
contraption wouldn't move it a.'i.
And there one was, juggling his
leil, hands, eyes and trying to use
his air feel to get a line on tho tar
get long enough to pull the trigger.
I say with pride that I hit it once
out of forty {fines, which was quite
enough to get a swelled head over,
as a half dozen others never hit it
at all.
Speed Up Tilings
The last day we were 'given the
rifles and told to shoot six shots in
twelve seconds. Hit the target three
times on this stunt. They sp<iedj;l
everything up that day. espe -lolly
the machine gun shooting, as we
were required to shoot forty shots
at a moving target while it ran 150
yards. This was supposed to be done
regardless of jams and I had ten
while I was trying it. Even at that,
I got six hits. I don't know wheth
er he called that good or not, but
when the three days were up, our
a\erages totaled and all, the ollicers
ill charge said we were all good,
but that 1 was the best in the bunch.
I only found this out through a mis
understanding, because I wantei to
know if our marks received for
shooting made any difference in re
gards to which part of the front we
would be sent to, and what esoa
drilk. whether one with a lighting
reputation in an exciting sector, or a
new one in a quiet part of the from.
Sim c he spoke a little Knglisli I
asked the man in charge of our
squad of rubbernecks about it.
He misunderstood me and thought
I wanted to know who was the best
shot in the bunch. That's how I
I found out how good I was; at least
lie thougiit so. but I didn't an.i still
do net. And it amuses me to think
that if I am good, what is bad?
Furthermore, if only one shot out
ot' forty hit the mark when 1 used
the dummy plane, it begins to look
as if the (Jermans won't need "(lott
rn.it them." Yes, indeed, my aver
age will have to go higher than that,
or your prayers may be given the
acid test. Of course. I have not
at tually shot from a plane yet. but
expect to very shortly, and that may
be a little different.
Those postals I sent were pictures
of a village near the shooting
school. If one could buy that land
behind those targets he sure would
get. rich digging up lead, for the
way lead is thrown into that hill
side is a caution. 1 must have blazed
away some S3O worth of cartridges
myself every day. As a Fourth of
Juiy celebration I have yet to ,>ee its
equal, either in noise or enjoyment.
I'll probably see a bigger celebration
before Xnias, for I should be at the
front by that time. No, I was not
hunting a quiet sector of the front,
and that was not the idea in ask
ing the shooting instructor about
my probable escadrille. Merely
curiosity on my part, for they
seemed so interested in us and so
pleased when we made a good show
ins that I was curious to discover
the reason. Of course, I didn't -et
any satisfaction, unless it was to my
I vanity; but one only gets things by j
asking—or taking. And you know 1
I would not steal unless I happened I
to be near a pretty girl on a moon
light night. But that's another '
story and doesn't come under a war
head. /
Declines With Thanks
I could write more of my impres-
I sion of the shooting school, but my
hands are too numb to write more,
and this is my stenographer's day
off—yes, it's Sunday, and the old
lady whose house we are staying in
now wanted to take me to church
this morning. She called it "mess,"
and thinking she was referring to
the French army meal, I declined
with thanks. later my roommate !
explained the word, which was j
"mass." I don't wonder the old I
lady was shocked, but, then, my re- j
ligious principles always seem to
shock people. In fact, flying does !
not seem to make me any more re
ligious.
We had "repos" this morning, so
stayed in bed late, and now 1 can
smell the savory fumes of boiled
rabbit arising from the kitchen,
\ which is "tres bien," because we are
invited to dine with the old couple
to-day, and they have killed the
fatted rabbit in honor of the occa
sion. They are quite an amusing :
couple and treat we two Americans
like long-lost sons, probably because
my roommate talks to them quite
a lot. he speaking French quite
fluently.
They also have a lot of fun listen
ing to me taking a stagger at it once
in a while, too. This morning the
ntadame brought in a great big rab
bit, carrying it by the ears. We
thought it was dead until she let it
on the floor and it began hopping
around. Sure was a fat boy! After
letting us view it for several min
utes. comment on its price and
toothsonicness, she picked it up by
the ears and went out the back door.
Two minutes later she returned
with the rabbit still dangljng by the
ears, only when she let it down on
the floor this time he lay still, for
he had "mort pour la France." I
guess the idea was to show us we
w-ere getting fresh meat. Anyway,
we had quite a little meal off him,
and then we had to beat it for
"appel" (roll call).
Alwnvs the Mud
It was raining like the dickens
and the mud was thick and deep,
|1 assure you. 1 begin to understand
why the French peasants cling to
their wooden shoes. Nothing could
be better for this muddy climate.
They are big and don't leak, so the
mud never reaches over icy tootsies,
and as for a puddle, if one gets 9
good start he can ski across like a
skater over thin ice. I thought
Avord had no equal for mud, but I
seemed to have been mistaken.
There one lifted an acre of real
estate, at, every step. Here you lift
your foot out of your shoe, and
lucky if you catch the shoe before
it goes down with its tongue out.
It's awful writing, I know. Moth
er. but there's a reason. The censor
will surely tire of translating such
scribbling, for I can't read some of
It myself. Hope you can. Still
raining. What's good for a cold—
and cold hands?
1 , WALTER.
JSoamanUi
HKI,., IWH—nv. I'M'l'Kll MAKRISBtIRO. MONIXV. JANUARY 21. 1018. FOPKOEn 187
ANNUAL IE
P Prc-Inventory Sale ij!
J Commences I
Tuesday, January 22nd
VAn announcement awaited by many of our
patrons —for well do they know from past I
experience the real good savings it stands for.
E A 5-DAY EVENT N
N r
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
X Friday and Saturday
Q Five Dags of Cont
RThis is the greatest house-cleaning period A
,in storekeeping. It's the time when surplus stocks must J\
be absolutely moved at some price. It's the time when
Y laggards must go—when odd lots, ends of lines—must be
cleared out regardless of the price-sacrifice.
'' | And so—inventory time must find
We do not in- a house of clean merchandise. Intel- I _
tend to put on the Ijgent preparations have been made in
C anythin°Kdiatan soing.the stocks, and repricing to
find other owners suc " a generous extent that the next 71
before that time, five days will record very spirited
A and we believe selling.
chandise at"re- All Through the Store "Pre- I
I s^nbep"c c kedup! Inventory" Sale Tickets Beckon M
There | You to Wonderful |* *
Etime in the year when :
your dollars will get Come to-morrow bright and early! P
more for you than just rich prizes, in the form of high grade |J
before stock-taking. and desirable merchandise at very
)> small prices await you.
3