Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 286, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 December 1918 — FRYING SAUSAGES [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

FRYING SAUSAGES

©ffi TOIE [P©[P(IJD.A[R SMMRTT ®F AFFDRIffi (EEKJFDARJ WD®K ©AO.[L®©KS

RYING sausages” is the latFest nickname given by wV > members of the British roy- 'wS al air force to the popular Wj sport of strafing German observation balloons. In the X TSSSSSa latest dispatches from general headquarters the exploits of some of the pilots and observers of the British planes read more like pages from Jules Verne than every-day exploits on a fighting front. The presence of a Hun observation balloon in the air is now a very uncommon sight, for the Instant the “sausage appears the royal air force “cooks” climb into the cockpits of their machines and are in the air, each striving to be the first to account for the Interloper. , One British pilot scouting behind the enemy s lines pounced on two of these balloons in swift succession and succeeded in setting fire to and destroying both. His petrol was beginning to run low at the time, so, he returned to his airdrome to refill. But his appetite for German “sausage” was apparently unslaked, for he set out immediately upon a second quest, sighted two more balloons, and, taking advantage of friendly clouds carefully stalked them. When within a short distance of his prey cloud cover failed him and he was perceived. The Huns rushed to the winches and endeavored to haul down both balloons. Putting down the.nose of his machine, the British pilot sped earthward after the swaying mass of fabric, and almost before the German mechanics had their winches working, the hunter had secured his first quarry, which fell a blazing, mass upon the Huns beneath. The other balloon was rather farther away, and the Germans, stimulated to frantic ef-' forts by the fate of/the first, hauled desperately and succeeded in getting it down almost to the ground before the British pilot arrived above: Not to be balked of his prey, and in spite of furious fire from below, he dived low enough to pump a burst of incendiary bullets, and had the satisfaction of increasing his bag for the day to four enemy balloons totally destroyed. During' their present retirement the Germans have made desperate efforts to remove as much ammunition as possible. A British pilot spotted a train of wagons engaged on this work and descended to 50 feet so as to make quite sure of his alm. Getting well into position, he opened fire on the rear wagon, knocking out two men on the box. 'Deprived of their drivers and terrified by the winged assailant, the horses bolted, and, colliding with a tree, upset the wagon. An extremely heavy fire was bj’ this time being directed upon the airman, and had already wounded him In the knee and severed the pressure feed pipe of his machine. He would not leave his job half done, however, and again maneuvering into position put In another burst which resulted In the overturning of two more and the stampeding of the remaining "Xyagons. On the same day a British machine working in conjunction with the infantry was attacked by four German scouts. This being about the odds which German airmen now demand, they doubtless thought they had found an easy prey. It is, of course, true that the British contact machine is not primarily designed, for fighting purposes, but Its pilot on this occasion, as always, was ready to give a good account of himself, and did so to such purpose that one of the attackers was speedily sent down out of control. During the fight the petrol tank of the British machine was pierced, being an instant menace of its destruction by fire. Thereupon the English observer promptly climbed out on. the lower plane and successfully plugged the hole with his handkerchief, remaining on the plane until his pilot succeeded in throwing off his pursuers and landing his machine safely behind the British lines. Two British officers were at work in a “sau-

sage.” The Germans, resenting their attentions, turned two guns on to their balloon and made some rather good practice, holing It badly. This annoyed the English balloon officers considerably and they decided that the German gunners needed punishment. They accordingly called up the officers in charge of a British six-inch” gun and indicated to him tlie position of the German guns. ■ The balloon was now rapidly losing height as the result of enemy fire, and the position of the officers was dangerous. However, they stuck to their basket and continued to direct the fire of the British gun, having the satisfaction of witnessing the putting out of action of one of the hostile guns before the balloon had sunk too low for further observation. ' Then they got out of their basket and climbed well up the rigging of the balloon to save themselves In the now unavoidable crash. A British two-seater machine hovering at night

over an enemy concentration center observed — easily distinguishable in bright starlight—a column of transport consisting of about 20 wagons. Descending rapidly to 300 feet he landed two bombs —a hundredweight apiece—plumb in the center of the column. The destruction was enormous, and the remnant of the column scattered wildly in all directions. The British pilot rose again and waited, giving time for the German transport to reassemble. Diving once more, he found it, together with two other large lorries, in a sunken road where the Huns apparently hoped to escape further attack from the death-coaling raider. The British pilot released his remaining bombs from an altitude at which he could not miss his target, and then diving lower still opened lire with his machine guns, putting about 250 rounds into the confused mass of wreckage. A British two-seater machine while on patrol was attacked by a German triplane. The observer in the British machine promptly took up the challenge and opened fire, upon which the Hun made off eastward. Meanwhile eight German scouts had rapidly approached and, taking up position, four above and four below, attacked simultaneously* The British pilot realizing the danger of his position maneuvered desperately—rolling and side-slipping to avoid the enemy’s concentrated fire —whilst both he and his observer kept firing as opportunity offered. One of the German craft was sent down in flames and then the. British pilot was badly wounded. The work of both fighting and flying the machine now developed almost entirely upon the observer, who, by a really remarkable exercise of skill and pluck, succeeded In extricating the machine from its apparently hopeless position, whilst at the same /time firing occasional bursts from his gun at the pursuing Huns with his left hand, when they pressed too closely. He succeeded in safely landing his pilot and machine behind the British lines.