Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-11-24 | Page 13 | Airplanes are Used as Messenger Boys

AIRPLANES ARE USED AS MESSENGER BOYS In Many Cases They Have Supplanted Telephone, Telegraph and Carrier Pigeons. AVITH TUB AMERICAN TROOPS NORTH WEST OF VERDL'N. Oct. So. (Correspondence of the Associated Press). The airplane has been used as an aerial messenger hoy to supplement the telephone, tele-phone, telegraph and carrier pigeon aa a means of transmitting- information to headquarters, asking for reinforcements or for a barrage against a German attark. This method was used to a considerable extent in the recent fighting in this sector. sec-tor. Some machines, of course, aro equipped for wireless telegraphy, and these send their own messages, but often there are messages which the senders want to transmit in detail or in writing to the commander of the corps of which they are a piirt. The fast airplane is an almost al-most infallible means during tho battle for delivering information quickly and safely. In this immediate sector one or two airplanes usually are assigned to the work of messenger service during an engagement. engage-ment. While tho Associated Press correspondent correspon-dent waa at the corps headquarters recently, re-cently, the messenger machine came floating over the headquarters, circled once or twice as a signal and then let drop a weighted message from the front. Then the airplane flew back again to wait for more news, so as to keep the corps in liaison with its component parts. The airplane was easily recognizable- after af-ter being once seen, though not specially marked. A majority of the reports from tho front itself coma by telephone, and a few of them are sent by pigeons. Repeatedly these messages have brought Information that arrive hours Inter by other means. I Prior to any attack every battery, ev-1 ev-1 ery advanced post, every isolated" unit, has been connected up telcphonicaily with 1 some headquarters. Every one of Hie lines begins to hum long hefore the morning is far advanced, and adjacent to the phones are many people ready to coordinate, co-ordinate, sift, out, adjudge and make use of the information lhat comes in. I i earning for ml ormation with an en -I gerness that would put the city editor nf la paper to shame, is the chiof of staff, j in the case of a corps usually a brigadier-general, brigadier-general, j