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Show 3 Man Flying Changed by "War from a Clean, Hard Sport to i a Clean and Hard Fight in Which Valor of Enemy Never Fails to Bring Respect. f' VER since Its Inception aviation avia-tion has been a sport requiring, re-quiring, beyond every other 1 Bport, men of absolutely 6teady nerves, clear eye and cool mentalities. Without the clement of personal aggression, ag-gression, aviation has been always a clean sport. It 1b a contest with tho air, pitting Infinite skill and delicate mechanism mechan-ism against the strain nnd treachery of tho upper nlr. It3 toll bus boen heavy, but, as in :t every sport, the possibility of danger only lends 'j piquancy to tho game. And aviation offers tho r maximum of both danger and zost. i That was the sport beforo the war. From "what was moro or less of a game, aviation has been changed by tho great strugglo to tho serious business of Avar. To the natural danger dan-ger of tho sport han boen added tho groator peril of dcadly-ln-earnest gun lire. Tho samo skill, cultivated muoh more Intensively, has found Its outlet In flying: through the air on scout duty over the enemies' lines amidst tho volleys from tho anti-aircraft guns from below and tho thrusts of enemy air battleships from all around. From a clean, hard sport, it has changed to clean, hard fighting. Other branches of the service have lost all semblance of the old glamor which used to jhod Its gleam around them; they have becomo mcro matter-of-fact processes, with only tho i, grim end of destruction In view, "War at best has only this end, ( but previously there hna been attached to war a certain humnnness the pcr-t pcr-t eoiial side, which the present conflict scorns to have obliterated. In place of tho personal element ele-ment In former wars, this one Is all science and absolute conformity to mechanical standards. The man phase is more or loss disregarded, or regarded as merely part of tho mechanism. Tho glory of tho sea has been dimmed by tho I advent of the submarine. Tljoeo silent, Invls- i iblc freighters of death havo turned the roman- ( l!c recklessness of sea fighters into the wary caution of battlers with tho unknown. Direct f conflict at sea has been reduced to a minimum, . Torpedoes, long-rano guns, mines and other modern methods havo tended to this result. Trench fighting has also caused a great Bfi change in th aspect of war. The hand-to-hand conflicts of past wars havo dwindled to Insignificance. In-significance. No moro is there the brilliant Infantry In-fantry skirmishes that would stir poets and painters' souls. Nowadays land fighting is a nasty business done from trenches at enomles which the soldier rarely sees. From far back of his trench, his guns arc pouring their withering with-ering shrapnel Into the opposing lino of trenches, while in his own trenches tho adversary's adver-sary's guns are treating him to a like rain of shells. When an attack Is to be made, the guns usually usu-ally have cleared tho way for tbo men. In the entente offensive of quite recent occurrence along tho Somme, tho British and French soldiers sol-diers found tho German trenches fso completely and ruthlessly shelled that tholr capture was only a small detail. The personal fighting which has taken placo has been full of valor and courage. But It has been only a small part of tho conflict The first wild chargo of the German uhlans in the early August days of 191-1 at once conclusively con-clusively relegated cavalry from tho ranks of active servers. The Belgian machine guns mercilessly swept the ranks of the cavalry and annihilated a whole regiment. Cavalry" has nqt been tried since for anything so fatuous as a drive across an open plain. And so In every phase of the warfare I he glamor and romance has given place to the grlmncss of merely killing kill-ing by scientific methods. It has remained for the newest instrument of warfaro to retain something, Indeed all, of tho chivalry of war. Daring and In greater peril than any other division of the armlet!, tho airmen havo clung to the old spirit. Or, perhaps, per-haps, it would bo more accurate to say that the aviators havo created a new code of tholr own. Certain It is that tho war traditions of centuries, cen-turies, while they scent to havo largely departed de-parted from modern war, are. nevertheless, cherished and partially transformed by tho flying fly-ing squads of every nation. A word should bo coined for their spirit, a word that would boar thu same relation to aviators that chivalry docs to the mounted warriors of mediaeval history. Whenever a Zeppelin Is shot down on a raid of England, its crew has always been accorded a military burial. The civil authorities and civilians havo frequently declaimed against tho practice on the ground that men engaged In such horrlblo work as killing noncombatants should be treated with as little consideration as they show. But the aerial defenders think differently; they respect brave men carrying out. without question, the orders of their government. gov-ernment. Probably the olomont of pcrsonnl contact involved in-volved In air fighting as It Is Involved in few other phases of the war accounts for tho gnl-lant gnl-lant spirit which the air warriors display toward to-ward one another. In the air game, tho pitiless piti-less science part of war becomes a shadow, and fighting narrows down to two men who pit their courage and skill against two men of the cne- i my doing the same tljlng. Any feeling of kindliness for an enemy is not to be mistaken for weakness. It Is not frlend-Incss frlend-Incss for the enemy himself that Is shown; ' J!! K?hy Wh,Ch thQy flht disproves ' tr y , thr 18 U the admlt!on of brave men for brave men, for : '"""nor brth.81 brdr "r brccd I When two strong men stand face to face, r though they come from tho ends of tho earth." Recently an oncounter took place over tho British lines in which the British airman was victorious. Gaining the advantage, he forced tho German monoplane gradually down until It was obliged to land a captlvo behind the lines. Tho first action which the successful fighter did when he himself had landed was to come to his vanquished adversary and saluto him and shake his hand. This romantic Idealism attached to air fighting fight-ing creates not only a feeling of respect for a foe, but also ,one of genulno admiration and oven affection for tho foo's courageous spirit. Tho attitude which the airmen hold for one another can well be Illustrated by tho story of Lieut. Dixon C. H. Knight of the Royal Aviation Avia-tion Corps, In tho recent allied drlvo along tho Somme. Morning dawned upon tho samo hard struggle. strug-gle. Over tho battlo-flayed fllcld of Franco each now dawn saw only the samo relentless landscape. land-scape. A stir hero and there, cannonading along some line, and the eternal waiting, waiting wait-ing In tho trenches. Winter with Its rigors nad pascd Into spring, but spring along the front "every where In Franco" knew only a little, harsh verdure. July had come and tho sun roso early and flooded tho field with heat and light, If not with its usual peace. The river wound along the plain In Its short, earnest course to tho sea. If each day had not known tho happiness of other times, tho last few weoks had at least seen a certain calm settle down In which tho fighting had changed from desultory to practically prac-tically none at all. But this day tho very air seemed full of a potent difference a change. In tho trenches which at tho same time faced the sun and tho forces of the central powors, thcro was a new movement. And back of tho lines, far to tho rear, the slzo and Importance of tho returned activities after lethargic days of waiting, increased in-creased and took on various aspects. Tho word had come. Tho advance, awaitod alike by tho soldiers and tho world, had been ordered. The Invader was to be driven out. France was to bo cleared and England to bo made secure. In those trenches of tho north which rostcd in the valley of the Somme, It was the British aoldlors who had gotten tho word. In the rear tho gunners were making ready for tho gruelling task beforo them. Wagon trains and truck trains were bringing in tho tons of ammunition that was to render the earth an inferno and tho heavens n reeking mass of acrid fire. One by one the air craft mounted Into their element. Thelr's now was tho preliminary work. Where the German guns and trenches were posted had not been determined by tho British gunners. In this war, more than any other, the gunners do not sight their target beforo tho fighting begins. Like a swarm of hornets the aeroplanes of tho English filled the high altitudes above tho Unc3. They must be away and beyond to observe ob-serve the position of tho enemy, to make notus on his strength, to give the Intelligence which would direct the gun fire. The big guns do far back from tbo line hnd to sec. Thcso craft, fly- i . s ing about in the air, were tho eyes of the guns. Thoy caught the picture of tho enemy and flashed it along the nerve chords of their wireless wire-less Instruments to the commanders of tho artillery. ar-tillery. In their turn, the Germans sensed tho peril of tho renewed activity In the opposing llnoi. Never beforo had such a formidable display of air strength been made. All sides folt that tho period of marking time had ended and that real work had commenced. Equipped with splendid antiaircraft guns, the Germans were holding tho swarming fleet of tho enemy at bay. As yet tho British craft had learned nothing of particular advantage. Thoy were afraid to risk direct flying in tho face of tho Are of tho guns designed for the destruction of Just such craft as theirs. To venture the whole floet In a sudden rush over tho lines would havo been folly. Those linos held too much of tho unknown. Only ono must proceed, no matter what tho danger. Tho strength of the enemy must bo appraised first beforo ho was seriously attacked. Scouting is never dono by wholo companies; It Is too delicate deli-cate work for that. Lieut. Dixon and his aviator, Martin Lindlay. would go. Tho British machine was ono of tho 100 horse-power scout ships which could best do the hard, fast work required by tho undertaking. undertak-ing. Mounted ahead of tho pilot was the machine ma-chine gun, which protruded like a monaclng Hnger. Dixon and Lindlay asconded with their craft and proceeded at onco to the tremendous altl-tudos altl-tudos which meant security. Ovor the enemies" lines they soared, far too high to be touched by tho nntlalrcraft guns, even If so small a target could be' hit. But, at tho same time, the British Brit-ish airmen were too high for any effectlvo work. To them, tho slim thread of the river and the mcro movoment of llfo wns all that was perceptible from their height. Then the dangerous part of the expedition began. The descent was started and to tho men in tho plane it seemed that tho earth was copiing up to meet them. And as it camo It began to spout little puffs of smoke straight into tho nlr. The gray forma below, their line of forward trenches, the guns posted n the rear-all rear-all this Dixon and Lindlay saw. Far to tho west was the othor lino of trenches, the British works. Like a knight taking up the gauntlet thrown down before him. a groat C.jrman Albatross slowly mounted to the air to give battle to the nolitary obsorvcr overhead. Heavier and with v ' 7 -'' . - r a moro dangorous gun, consequently, tho Albatross Alba-tross was likely to prove a dangerous foo to the Dixon's craft. What little the Albatross lost In speed It mado up In formldablcncss with Its armament. The contest would by no means bt an unequal one. From a long distance they seemed to parry each other's strokes. Gradually they drew closer, the Albatross relying on its superior gun, while tho British scout put its trust In tho greater speed It possessed. Ono of the Albatross volleys as tho two whirred past each other found Its way along tho fUBllage, painfully wounding Lindlay on tho left leg and at the same tlmo snapping one of the rudder control wires. Tho result was that tho British scout suddenly began to fly in a disconcerting circle. Lindlay grimly hung on to his levers. Dixon crawled back from the gunner's pit and began to twist tho broken ends of the wire together. The German, meanwhile, mean-while, had checked the headlong direction of its flight and had '.urnod again to tho combat. Perceiving the helpless, short circles in which tho British were flying, tho Gorman pilot realized real-ized about what had happened, and valiantly withdrew a little distance, tho gunner at the eamo time withholding his fire. Tho Germans know that If the British plane was helpless Its only alternative would be to descend. But Dixon had other hopes. With deftness and dispatch he had fixed tho broken strands of wire, and, with the assurances of Lindlay that tho pain in his leg was not too great to continue con-tinue the battle, tho British craft straightened straight-ened out Its course and flew to a position far opposite tho Albatross. From below, the men In the trenches watched breathlessly tho outcomo of the conflict. Should tho scout bo dofcatcd it would mean for tho Germans that tho aerial work of the British would at least receive a check sufllclcnt to hold them off for some time. To the British gunners tho Information which Dixon and Lindlay had obtained was of the greatest Importance. Tho struggle was renewed, each craft coming In great swoops toward tho other. This time, in passing, the British craft mado a sudden swift turn Just at tho moment of greatest peril, swung under the Albatross, and complotod a U-shaped maneuver which brought Dixon nnd Lindlay up athwart the rear of the Albatross. It was the trick each had boon trying to turn on tho other. Lindlay had been successful; tho fate of the Albatross had been determined. From the prow, Dixon seized the advantago and raked the heart of tho Albatross. The German fighters received mortal wounds, and tho dell-cato dell-cato parts of tho German onglno tho wires and i?sA ' H adjustments were ruined by the stream of tho machine gun's lead. Down, down, down, tho defeated Albatross H plunged, till its nose crashed Into the ground and a shot of flame marked the explosion of tho petrol tank. Again the antiaircraft guns of the Germans blazed forth, this tlmo without any H compunction. But Dixon and Lindlay escaped and returned to their own lines with the lnfor-matlon lnfor-matlon they had sought and risked a terrible death to get. IH In the dull haze of tho next morning's dawn IH the somborness of war was intensified. As the opposing forces sprang to life, from the British guns the first shots of that awful bombardment jH which preceded the Sommo offensive began to IH rumble. Dixon and Llndlay's observations hail IJ been Invaluable. IJ Tho angry roars of tho guns' spouting in- IH creased with the advance of day. Great arcs, (creaming death, showed where the shrapnel plorccd the air. Above, the eyes of the guns, the nerlal squad, began to dance about, watch-ing watch-ing the effect of the fire and directing a too great or a too short battery. Counter activity marked tho Germans' re-sponse. re-sponse. Their guns began to return tho 11 ro and Uio men made ready for the weird eventualities J which war hardens men to. H From above, they again noticed a high-flying plane, maneuvering very much as the ono had on tho previous day. The daring aviator, now far in enemy territory, continued to disregard Jf tho clangor he was In and to drop lower and lower. Soon he was closo enough for tho Gcr- H mans to discern the details of his craft. Somothing fluttering dropped from his provr H and floated down to earth, finding rest amidst H tho wreckage of the Albatross. And, even as H he mounted, a cheer followed him and the guns . H stopped their firing at him. Straight back-Vp, IH tho British lines ho went and reported noth- H ing of what they had seen. The second flight H was not ono of observation. H "Whow!" gasped Dixon to Lindlay, whon H thoy climbed out of tho scout ship. "Thoso IH fellows certainly tried their best to popper us. H But I thlnkiinifow flowers was Uttlo enough for JH such flghtcrsTas tho Albatross bora y.sterday. , Jm |