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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1917)
THE SEMLWEEKLY TRIBUNE, NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA. mm me Germa mm teAr 4 ITIIIN ten months the United States will have 25,000 buttle planes In ser vice In Europe. Tlie planes will be equipped with American motorH of 250 horsepower, capable of driving, them at a maximum speed of 100 miles an hour. Furthermore, these motors will be constructed principally of aluminum .....I ...111 I,.. ,. I ...... 1. fya power than any airplane motor hero 1 V tofore built. Thus the plans of the ulrnuft board of the council of national dofcuse, adopted by the war department, and llnnnced by congress, are in a fair way to be speedily con summated. Not long ago, the Washington correspondent of the Knnsas City Star, who signs himself "II. J. II.," went to Dayton, 0., to Interview one of the Inventors of tlie a'lrplanc about America's great nerlal program, planned to "blind" the German army. Portions of the reporter's story uro printed below. It gives some details of what Uncle Sara Is doing in the production of an urmy of man birds: A ypung man Jumped nnd caught the prripcllcr blndo "of the biplane and gave" It n pull. It turned half way around and stopped. Ho repeated the ircjiuiiuum-u iwu or uircu j iimes. aimueniy tnero was n roar and the propeller became a blur. It was n hot morning In Payton and tho breeze from the rovolvlng propeller fan 'looked refreshing. Tho plane wnsn't going up. It was blocked on the ground land they were merely trying out tho engine. I stopped forward into tho breeze. "The power Isn't turned on yet," said Orvlilo Wright, at my side. "It won't be so pleasant hero , when It is." The roar turned Into thunder. Tho ground pcemed to bo blowing nway In n cloud of dust. Wo grabbed for our hats and retreated. "Just one of the training planes," Mr. Wright explained. "Only a hundred horsepower." Of no importance on a battle line, perhaps. But one of tho. gathering squndrons that oven now uro beginning to cast a faint black shadow across tho German horizon. For this field, with Its fpur nqunro miles, Is to bo ono of tho great centers of tho aircraft work which Is relied on to turn the scale of battlo on tho western front. And thero at one end of tho Held, which has been nnmed tho Wilbur Wright field, in honor of one of tho two brothers who Invented tho airplane, Is tho llttlo, weather beaten shed which was used by tho brothers as tho hangar for their orlglnul plane, only thirteen years ago. It Is Just n plain shed, and beyond It stretches tho Imposing lino of hangars off Into tho distance pretty nearly two miles of buildings, calculated ,to house the 210 planes that aro to be assembled iln tho field eight miles cast of Dayton. And, yot, lit Is fittingly preserved as a memorial to tho days when air flight was being slowly nnd palnstaklugly dovelopcd by tho daring scientific genius of the Wright brothers. In Washington I hnd talked with tho men whoso Imagination had conceived the great 010-mIlllon dollar aircraft program, and who nVo now in chargo of its execution. They are engineers and executives, not practical aircraft men. Thoy know America's industrial and engineering resources. Their enthusiasm is contagious. I went to Dayton to talk with tho world's fore most aeronautical engineer and to learn sorao of tho dlillcultles that must be overcorao before wo con put out tlie eyes of tho Germans In tho nlr, orguntzo our surprlso attacks, destroy tho enemy , communications und blow up tho Krupp works at Essen. Orvlilo Wright Is n man of 40, of medium slzo. Modest nnd unassuming, ho gives tho Impression of independence in thought nud action. Ho Is .deliberative in manner, well-organlzed, perfectly Controlled, 'clour thinking. 1 "Wo can do tho Job," ho said, as wo drovo to itho aviation Hold. "And It's worth doing. It offers ma tho ono big hopo of winding up this war next lycar, instead of permitting It to drug along for years to como. All our Information Is thnt Ger 'inany and' tho allies are keeping nbout an equal number of planes on tho battlo front. Wo can't bo sure, but tholr resources In building seem about oqual. Each stdo probably has about 11,500 planes in nctlvo service on tho westorn, front, nsldo from rtholr reserves and training planes. "If vo were in a position to put several thou sand planes, manned by trained aviators, on tho western front today, wo might bring tho war to an jearly end," ' "By using tho plnnes to extend tho rango of WtlHory, and bombing tho enemy lines of com munication and his munition plants and naval Ibascs?" "Possibly, to some extent. I am not particularly isnngulno over bombing, and I do not believe other flyers aro. Tho men Yho have never flown nro the most enthusiastic over the possibilities of dropping bombs. The antiaircraft guns keqp tho flyers at a holght of above two miles.- Anyone who lias over flown at that height knows tho tre mendous dlillculty of hitting a target. There is nothing for him to gauge his speed by. Tho bomb drops through air currents moving In different di rections which deflect It from Its cou flu. "Tho Krupp works at Essen offer a largo enough tnrgjit so that a squadron of airplanes might bo able to put them out of business, Other plants might bo successfully attacked. Under favorable conditions other bombing operations might bo carried out successfully. But my Idea of tho effectiveness of eupreinacy In tho nlr Is along different linos." "Which ones." "In other wars tho element of surprlso has de termined tho outcome whon the forces were of approximately equal strength. The general who could mass his men so as to fall on n smaller forco iof tho enemy wou the bnttle, Tho uliplmie has (stopped that. Now n commnndert on tho western front knows exactly wliut his opponent Is doing. 'Thero is no chunco to mass men for surprlso attacks. Consequently, wo have tho present dead lock In France. "What we must do Is to drive every enemy nlr piano out of the nlr. By doing this we not only prevent the Germans from knowing what we are doing, but we also cripple their artillery, for ar tillery fire has boon directed by the nirplnnes. Then wo can plan surprise attacks and can drive the enemy back. In modern warfare tho side with out airplanes Is at a hopeless disadvantage. When we gain complete command of tho air, when wo have literally smothered, the enemy airplanes, we break the deadlock and win the war. "Tho airplane has pro duced the deadlock. The airplane can end It." "How soon can we" hope to do this?" "Wo liavo tho best men In tho country nt work on tho problem. But peoplo must not be Impatient If nt first our progress scms slow. Only men who have tried it know the dlillcultles of building a high-power nlrplane motor." In tho matter of personnel, It may bo noted, our nlrcraft promoters believe wo have a great supe riority over tho rest of the world, for this reason : It takes an exceptional sort of man to make a good flyer. Ho must be quick-witted and. hnvo tho steadiest sort of nerves. Otherwise, he comes to grief nnd smnshes nn expensive machine. Men of this typo volunteered extensively in Britain and Canada early In the war. They constituted tho armies that went Into tho battlo lino without adequate artillery protection nnd so were largely destroyed. The same forces operated to destroy tho strong and vigorous young men of Franco itnd Germany who would hnvo made good aviators.,' So today Amorlcn is tho greatest reservoir in tho world of the right sort of mnterlal for the per sonnel of tho nlrcraft service. While tho other countries nro having dlfllcnlty In getting proper men for flyers England has invited us to send men to her aviation schools because she cannot keep them filled our problem is merely to train them and provide, tlrem with equipment. I asked Mr. Wright what speed plane wo might "xpect to develop. "It is n complicated problem, the limit of useful speed," ho replied. "A good many reckless state ments nro mode on the subject by persons with vivid imaginations. It is safo to say there aro' machines on the western front that can mnko 130 miles nn hour. So far ns speed Is concerned there nro no Inherent Impossibilities In developing u plnno thnt might make as high as two hundred miles an hour. Tho dlillculty Is In the landing. "A machino's landing speed is about half its maximum speed. That is, If a plane is designed to mnko a speed of fifty miles an hour Its wings will not sustain It In tho nlr If It travels slower than twcnty-llvo miles, it must be moving at a -peed of at least twenty-flvo miles nn hour to mnko a successful landing. So a piano with n speed of 180 miles nn Jiour cannot land at a speed of much less than sixty-five miles." From tho field we drovo t6 tho Inborntory. It Is simply a development of tho cmdo shop In which ho nnd his brother together worked out tho problem of rtir flight. Tho ulrpland wns no lucky And. It wns not developed by rulo of thumb. Wilbur nnd Orvlilo Wright, sons of a Dayton United Brethren bishop, nf tor getting through high school, sot up n blcycld repair shop. Thoy had a natural tasto for mechanics and for sports. Twen-ty-ono yenrs ago thoy becamo Interested In tho ex periments of Llllcnthnl, tho German experimenter, In n gilder. Ills death attrnctcd their attention to his work. For two years they worked on dntn and "laws" that other Investigators had produced, only to find that the work so 'far dono was worthless. So In their own shop In Dnyton thoy devised a "wind tunnol" .a chulo through' which an air blnst was driven by nn electric fan, and set to work inensurlng tho resistances of curved sur faces by n wonderfully Ingenious method of their own devising. By n long series of exact measure ments nnd clabornto mathematical calculations In volving sines nnd cosines and such, they worked out tho problem ot,thoNcurvnturo of tho planes and of tho propellers. Tho problems of balanco wore enormously in tricate. But theso, too, thoy solved. They were pioneers. Thoy hnd to discover tho dlillcultles nnd then find tho way out. So they hnd to do vlso tho methods. It took unlimited patlenco, resourcefulness and hnrd thinking to win success. Both tho brothers woro primarily scientific men. Tlley were impatient to dovoto themselves to tho sclentlflc sldo of furthering vf , tho development of ueronnu- t tics. But they necessarily light patent suits nnd con duct tho business of estab lishing a new Industry. Wilbur Wright died llvo year's ngo, nnd In 1015 Or vlilo Wright wns able to dis pose of his business Inter ests nnd dovoto himself to tho sclentlflc work where his heart has always been. In his woll-cqulpped laboratory In Dayton ho Is now conducting two linos of work 'which will bo of lmmedlnte value In tho greut nlrcraft program planned by the government. Ono Is tho measure ment of tho air resistance of curved surfaces; tho other tho development of u stabilizer to make tho control of tho airplane more nearly automatic. Other aeronautical laboratories tho world over have mado those measurements of air resistance but tho llgures hnvo sometimes been as fur as 100 or 200 per cent apart. Tho results obtained by tho Wright method fourteen years ago proved sub stantially nccurnte, nnd now Orvlilo Wright Is taking up tho work whero ho left It off. "I hopo to provide tho proper measurements for a large variety of pluues," ho said, "so that in building different sorts wo shull not huvo to de pend on cut and try." The stabilizer Is an intricate device by which tho action of a rovolvlng fan holds the nlrplnno steady. "Wo can sot tho stabilizer," tho Inventor ex plained, "In such u wny, for Instance, ns to keop tlie piano moving in a circle, leaving the pilot freo to use his hands for making photographs." The stabilizer has been tried out successfully, but needs further refinements so as to do away with tho need of dully adjustments before Mr. Wright Is willing to put It Into Bcrvice. Ho la on Intimate terms with members of the govern ment's aircraft production board, and all his re sults are at he disposal of tho government for the prosecution of the war. Ho lias grrat expectations of the development of aircraft In practical use after the war, when thousands of trained flyers shall' return to civil life, and wli-n we shall hnvo enormous factory capacity for fuming out the best machines In tho world. But, 'hat, again, is another story. , The Joy and Chivalry of Air Fighting. Flying hns become as much a mnttcr of routine In war as marching on land or steaming on the sea, nnd men are ordered to lly, at fixed hours and for stated periods, ns though flying were a nnturnl act, and not the organized miracle that It really Is. A correspondent of the London Times writes In terestingly about It, saying: Out In France tho lust chivalries, the last beau ties of bnttle have taken refuge in the air. From tho labors, butcheries, miseries, horrors nnd nsh plt desolation of the earth, tho lighting romance of war has tnken wings nnd climbed sunwnrds. There alone combnt Is Individual, vlsuul, decisive. There alone hns tho combatant to rely solely on himself. There alono Is the battlo decided not through veils of distance, between lmperfimnl nnd unknown hosts, but wing to wing nnd face to face. There alone ure tho rnro courtesies of wnrfure still pgsslble; It wns u British squadron that suggested, nnd a British air man who executed, the dropping -of n funeral wreath over the German lines as a tribute to the alr-warrlor Inimelmnnn. And there alone can In dividual skill and courage have their swift reward. For ono flash, between n dip and a climb of his swnllow flight, the fighting nlrmnn may catch the glint of his opponent's eye, nnd, If the momentary burst of Are be truly directed, see him crumple up in his sent nnd tho nose of his machine dip and begin Its fntnl spinning dive, while the victor soars up nguln tp safety nnd solitude. And what a solitude Is his! From the moment' in the nlrplnno when the mechanic hns given his Inst heave, and tho last curt verbal exchange, '"Contnct, sir' 'Contact, " has been given, and the engine sets up Its mighty droning, song, tho airman Is alone, submerged In that roaring music, deaf and dumb. For pcrhnps a minute he sits there testing his engine, , Angering his levers, ns surlng himself that nil Is well; and then, as the drone sinks to n hum, ho makes I his last communication the I characteristic quick outward wnvo of tho bunds nnd arms, Tho chocks uro pulled nwuy, tho hum rises to n drono, breaks into n ronr,, and ho is off, bump ing 'over tho uneven enrth until his speed gives his wings their llfo, tho rough ground Is shed uwny from benenth his feet, nnd ho rises into tho sudden pence of tho nlr. Tho "pence of the nlr" may seem like a con tradiction In terms In wur time; but it Is tho supremo sensntlon of fulr-weather Aylng, npart from flying nnd lighting. Once you hnvo got your height, whether It bo a thousand or ten thousand feet, you seem to be absolutely nt rest nt rest In sunshine nnd n strong gnfe: Tho dim enrpet or mnp beneath you hnrdly moves ; nnd although tho trembling lingers of tho llttlo clocks nnd dlnls beforo you witness to tho fluidity of your element and tho tenderness of your hold on it. yet the only things that do not seem to move nro the wings nnd stays of your machine which surround you, a rigid cage from Which VOU look fnrth i K VffibC T upon th0 slow-turning JM 'J- enrth or th0 rush,nS UUUUO, Al IB nut unui tho engine' has been shut off, and you begin to piano In mighty circles townrd, tho enrth nguln, thutyou get, In that de licious rush down tho hill of air,, any sensation of speed; and not until, a moment beforo landing, you 'skim over tho earth at 80 miles an hour, that you realize with what paco you have been rushing through tho nlry vacancy. But theso nro tho sensations of mero Joy-rldlng Ten or twenty minutes may tako the fighting pilot to his stntion in tho nir over tho enemy's Hues. How puny tho nbsurdlty of tho grentest war of all tlmo enn nppenr Is only known to the airman as he sits in tho breeze and tho sun, high above It all ; tho danger to. hlhf Is not down there, although to ascend Into his reraoto sphcro ho hns to puss through tho zone of nntl-nlrcrnft flro; his own particular enemy Is tho Germnn lighting ran ching, which may como down to hnrry or destroy tho observer, nnd which ho must himself uttnek tho moment it makes its nppenrnnce. Between theso two ho watchfully patrols, and all this time, although a bnttle may bo raging benenth him, ho henrs nothing but the strong, rusplng hum of his engine. Ho Ales nnd lights nlonc. RAVAGING A WASTED COUNTRY. Tho daring of tho Amorlcnn girl of a century ago nnd tho Frenchman's traditional habit of yielding to the will of "tho ladles" form tho fabric of an amusing bl of family record that Mr. William Allen Butler gives In "A Retrospect of Forty Years." ' My aunt, Mury Allen, having spent somo tlmo In France, was proficient In her knowledge of tho French language and ninnners, he says. On n visit thnt sho pnld to Lnfuyotto, who was alwoys exceedingly courteous to Americans, sho told him thnt she hud a grcnt favor to ask. Ho Indicated thut ho would grant It, nnd sho begged him for n lock of his hair. "Madam," sulci tho gouernl, "I wenr n wig I" But to show hl willingness to meet her wishes, ho proposed to romovo the wig und let her appro priate any remaining natural hairs that sho could And. Sho ncceptod his offer nnd proved herself to bo n cooif senrelu'r bv uottlncr n tow Hlnnlnra wlilni. sho brought home, as n greut trensure, nnd dl- vmeu nonornuiy wun my motner. isnch sister carefully preserved her quota of hnlrs In a ring, , CALLED TO IMPORTANT WORK Judge Julian Mack, on whom de volves much of the work connected with the insurance of the soldiers drafted for tho. war with Germany, wus born in San Francisco und bus lived most of his mature life in Chi cago. He wus graduated f roln t tho law school at Harvnrd In 1877 'and later studied at Berlin and Leipzig from 1887 to 181)0. He was professor, of law nt Northwestern university and the University of Chicago previous to 1003, when lie was made civil servlco commissioner In Chlcngo. Later ho wns Judge of the circuit court of tJook country, later Judge of the Juvonllo court In thnt city. In 1009 he wns made Judge of tho United Stntcs cir cuit court for tho First district "of r Illinois. In 1011, when the new com merce court wus organized, he wus nnmed to It by President Tuft. , Judge Mack, In n recent Interview, nfter briefly outlining the defects of tho pension system ns applied nfter the Civil war nnd nfter tho Spanish American wnr, snld: "Whnt the government intends to do mny be expressed In two thoughts: 'Win tho wnr' nnd 'give a square deal to our lighting men.' Wo must relievo the men under nrms from nil worry about their families, and we must see to it thnt the fnmlliea do not suffer overmuch from the enforced absence of the brendwlnncrs. As the secrotnry of the treasury hns snld, when wo draft a wage earner we cull not only hlra but tho entire family to tho ling; tlie sac rifice entailed Is not divisible. It Is up to the people of this country to see thnt the dependent wives und children, fathers nnd mothers of our fighting men are not reduced to want. We must maintain them until the soldiers and sailors enn return nnd look nfter them." IN COMMAND AT 'CAMP LOGAN MnJ. Gen. George Bell, Jr., desig nated to command Camp Logan, Hous ton, wns born In Mnrylnnd, Jnnuury 23, 1850, nnd consequently Is fifty- eight yenrs of uge. He Is recognized ns one of the ablest commanding offi cers In tho army. Ho entered the United States Mil itary nendemy nt West Point In June of 1870. He wns grnduuted as second lieutennnt of infantry in 1880 and six years later wns mnde n flrst lieutenant. He beenmc n cnptuln of infuntry In 1808, In the menntime hnvlng won his L. L. B. degree at Cornell in 1894. He wns ndvnnced to the rank of mnjor in 1003, nnd in 1011 wns promoted to lieu tenant colonel. Two years later he wns n colonel ussigned to tho Sixteenth infantry. Ho was promoted to his present rank in 1014. Lieut. Col. William K. Nnylor, who Is General Bell's chief of stnff nt Cnmp Logan, wns born In Illinois, No vember 24, 1874. His flrst military experience wns obtained In the Minnesota National Guard, from whiuh h was honorably discharged in 1898 to become a second lieutennnt In the Ninth infuntry, United Stntea nrmy. Ho is a dis tinguished gradunto of tho Infantry nnd cavnlry school, finishing in 1004. Was graduated from the staff college in 1005, nnd file army war college In 1010. NAMED AS FUEL RULER Dr. Harry A. Garfield, president of Wllllnms college, who Is now enguged In fixing the price of wheat, was up pointed by the president us coul di rector with full nuthority to ndmin ister the provisions of tho fuel sections of the food control uct Mr. Gurfield outlined his program tentatively, revealing that a licensing system wns contemplnted, putterned after the scheme ndopted by Food Ad ministrator Herbert C. Hoover with re spect to wheat. Unless the operators, Jobbers and rntallers fall nt some point to carry out tho rules nnd regulations thnt will be laid down, the government does not propose for tho present either to com mnndeer the mines or take over tho output. Tho only prices remnlnlng to bo fixed are those of tho retailers. It was suggested by Mr. 'Garfield that nubile sentiment mlcht bo suffi cient to keep tho retnll prices down, In view of the fact that tho costto tho retailers would bo common knowledge. President Wilson's latest order Includes the following provisions : A scnlo of maximum prices, ranging from $4 to $5.30 per ton for anthra cite coal at specified mines, with 75 cents nddltlonnl in other loculltles. Limitation of Jobbers' profits on bituminous conl to 15 cents u ton, or, 10' cents n ton less thun provided In the tentntlvo agreement of conl operators with tho coal production committee of tho nntlonnl council of defense. FRENCH AVIATION EXPERT Among many minor encouraging signs nbout the conduct of the wnr is tho presenco In this country of u num ber of French soldiers who have lieeti detailed .to instruct our armies in the nrt of modern wnr. Everybody knows the French nvlntors at 'Harvard. But everybody Is not fnmlliur with the fact thnt thero aro numerous representa tives of other branches now In Amer ica. United Stntes nrmy surgeons are belug told about French hospital prnc tlco.by Col. B. Dcrclo of tho French medical stnff, now in Washington nttendlng tho sitting of tho medical subdivision of the council of nntlonnl defense. Cnmouflnro Is bolng tnught in tho nrtiriery cnmp nt Fort Monroe, Vlrglnln, under French supervision. And thero nro French drill sergennts bobblug up In all sorts of unexpected plnccs. Tho aviation end of tho in struction from tho French sido Is un der control of dipt, nenry Dourlf, of whom a portrait Is Bhown with this article, and who, with MaJ. L. W. B. Bees of England and MnJ. R. Perfettl of Italy, completes tho trio of foreign, experts detailed to our assistance.
