KEEP ON SMILING.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144666, 28 April 1915, Page 6

KEEP ON SMILING.

MOTTO OF FRYING MEN. “ANNOYED” BY A SHELL. The war weighs lightly upon the ■heads oi.Huymen who arc engaged in the perilous air service. There must be something that .possesses .-the .exhilarating effect of wine in those regions above the sodden earth of Northern France, for almost every day the men belonging to the new arm take risks that would have won them prizes by the bushel in the'pre-war days, taking them, moreover, with a joyful disregard of the possible consequences that evokes admiration and smiles. Mr. C. 0. Grey, the editor of the Aeroplane, .publishes the following by way of illustration:— The terrors of the air are not the only things our. aviators on active-ser-vice have to brave in these days. Otic young officer .who. returned recently, for a few days’ leave told me that on Christmas Eye.some of.them were try'ing .to got .a little well-earned slumber, hut were awakened by curious sounds outside their billets which bore some resemblance to Christmas carols. ■'When .they, went out to investigate they discovered.strange beings, ,who had the appearance.of being "nigger Esquimaux.” On closer inspection they turned out to bo sundry non-commis-sioned officers and men of the Flying Corps disguised as nigger minstrels in winter servicofikit,,keeping up the usual Christmas customs. Of course, the carol singers were .duly entertained by their victims, but the pilot said he got a shock wli.cn ho first saw them.

A HUNDRED FEET UP. Another officer, this time in the Naval Air Service, told of the pains he had to bear until his section received a present of a gramophone and some records from .the Royal Naval Air Service Comforts Fund. During a considerable time .the" whole section, officers and men, had .to' do .all their work and play 'hi,one aeroplane.fih.ed,,and .the .only instruments in tile possession of the section weed a .one-stringed fiddle and a month-organ. .One '.can imagine the . feelings 'of ,an officer ,of iniisical tendencies .under ,tho circumstances, .and how .grateful he would ho even for the .relief .by a'.singing .machine. However, "the work .of. the aviators .occasionally -has its humours. Most people know that an. aviator judges his ■height above the ground ~by .ineans of an aneroid .barometer,, the face of which registers the height..in feet or metres, instead of the usual -'rain.'’ Vset fair,” and forth of the ..ordinary household barometer. Recently " .an officer who .was starting out - on reconnaissance -went out before breakfast to.see whethey bis machine was ready.

Presently he came back into the billet and ..announced seriously to his .flight commander, ‘'There’s been a .horrid tragedy. I can’t get into my machine this, morning!” - •Wien the astonished officer.denianded to .know ~why, he announced ,so}?mniy that his aneroid said that ’the..machine was a ‘‘hundred feet up in the. air.” •Then it.dawned, on tho rest fhat-Avliat had- really happened, was that .the general barometric pressure of the district had decreased during , the . night, } and that .the barometer . had ..adjusted. itself accordingly. Consequently the aneroid showed an-altitude of a .Jiundredyfeet, although it was* still on-the 1 ground. Actually, the scale on these aneroids is made so that one sets lit at ..zero on the ground before starting, and this one had,not.be.cn set. CHAINS FOR GERMANS!

* The same officer was credited ..with another quaintly imbecile remark. He went up. to the flying ground one: wet morning when a number'..of transport cars wore "being t .got. ready,, Jon af move,, and .found the .sergeant in ..charge of the transport laying out .alongside, the line ..of wagons the non,-skid chains which arc . fitted round .the wheels in wet weather. He gazed gravely lat the yards and yards of chain, .and then asked. "Arc you .expecting many German prisoners this . morning?” .The fact tjiat, our flying officers Ima aage to keep up their quietly .humorous ways on active service shows, at*.any rate, that the “perils of the air” are not as yet-having any serious effect on the general state of their nerves, though , they are “tried high” .enough on occasion. An example is given by an accident . which happened : to „ one aviator some little, time ago. A temporary-landing ground had been arranged fairly close to the fighting line, and an officer had jnstdanded and got out of his max-bine, when one of the biggest German shells lobbed \ into the ground and burst, throwing chiulks of earth in ail. directions. One huge lump hit the officer in the back of the neck, almost stunning him. -Naturally "he thought he had been hit. hy something much more serious.;* rind danced .round nursing the back of his head in his hands, and ■ expressing his -.opinions of German guns quite fluently. One of the-N.C.O.’s .promptly rushed off to the squadron commander and informed him that Captain " had. been hit by a .shell. Naturally, the squadron commander inquired, anxiously, “Is he-dead?” To.which the .X.-C.G. replied. “No. sir; but he’s awful angry.”