Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 146, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1918 — OPEN THEIR ARMS TO OUR OFFICERS [ARTICLE]

OPEN THEIR ARMS TO OUR OFFICERS

British Go Out of Way to Extend Courtesies to Army and Navy Men. FRIENDLY GUIDES AT HAND Ohio Man Tells of Getting Cards to Parliament From Joe Develin —Describes Air Raid in London. New York. —The eagerness of the English and Irish to do favors to wandering Americans on leave from military duty abroad, and the general klndnefwi met with everywhere “over there” is told in a letter of an American naval officer, living in Ohio, now in the war zone. He and a friend, who had been shown friendliness by strangers they had met by accident, found on two occasions that the men who had extended such courtesy were persons of considerable distinction. The officers wrote: “Now that I look back over it, it seems that my spare time wag very well spent. I utilized every moment of it. I met hosts of people and made many friends. Every one seemed bent on entertaining us, and I can vouch for their success fn this. “On one occasion not long before I left Lady Curzon held a reception for Admiral Sims, his staff, and other American officers, and it was my good fortune to be introduced to David Lloyd George. Sir William Robertson and Balfour were among some of the

other celebrities. The premier is a most impressive man, not in stature, for he was much shorter than I believed him to be, but in his fine face, personality, and sincerity of speech. He, I think, is very wonderful. Got Cards to Parliament. “On the day that the houses of par* lament opened, some months ago, it rvas rumored that the premier would tpeak in the house of commons. So Lieutenant Jackson and I hurried down to WestSßinster at about 5:30 in the afternoon, determined, by hook or i crook, to get tickets to the gallery. A 1 dignified “bobble” pointed out some member of Parliament to us, and having decided on one because of his small stature and kindly face, Jackson and I swooped down upon him, one on either side. We soberly explained to him with dramatic little touches —thanks to Jackson —how much our hearts were set on getting tickets. He stood smiling at us, a very short, thick-set little man, with an enormous head and a fine, honest face, and then said, ‘Have ye just come over-r fr-r-rom Amer-r-r----rica?’ We told him how long we had

been across and he said that he had one ticket only, but that he thought that he could find another for us. He signed his ticket—Joe Develin. He was the great Irish Unionist, a man as big in mindas he is small in stature. He soon returned with another member, whom he introduced. This was John Burns, the Labor leader. “That was a notable afternoon in the house of commons. Asquith, with his beautiful and precise oratory, but seeming to lack that sincerity of purpose and speech which is dominant with Lloyd George, asked questions of the premier, the answers to which would apparently have given valuable information to the enemy, and the premier’s tense, flashing reply caused some few dramatic moments. “Then there were the air raids. These proved very exciting at first, but finally they lost their interest for me and became so commonplace that I paid little attention to them, only staying inside to avoid being hit by the falling shrapnel. Describes Air "laid in London. “I was awakened by the guns in the outer defense at 4:30 in the morning, and then the inner defense guns began to bark. The moon was a slim crescent in the sky, and it was a beautiful night, although cold. Presently the faint drone of the raiding planes could be distinguished and there came the reverberating rumbles of bombs being dropped. Finally the noise of the motors died away and the guns on the coast could be heard, throwing up their barrage at the returning Hun planes, and at about six the bugles were sounding ‘all clear’ through the streets. '

“It was reported that two of the ten raiders were brought down. It seems ’that the crews of these Gdtha planes wear electrically heated clothing, and in one machine the heating elements in the pilot’s clothing absorbed so much current that, being upable to disconnect them, he was forced to descend. The Gothas have a wing spread of considerably over 100 feet, are twin motored, and carry a crew of three men — pilot, gunner, and bomber. Being twinmotored, their sonorous double hum is very distinctive. On the most brilliant of moonlight nights, when the thrum of their motors is quite strong, it is impossible to see the planes at their height of a mile or more. On the darker nights they may sometimes be forced to show lights In order to retain their flying formation, and then, if you are fortunate, you may glimpse these tiny points o* light moving across the sky. “The majority of the people display no fright during the raids.” ' The writer of the letter was for some time attached to the staff of Vice Admiral Sims and spent four months in London,