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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1918)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, APRIL 28, 1918. m r aw w 1. e--. v .. i --w 1 ,r .r- f j f .-. ''t Corporal Mark Leslie Hull, American Flyer in France, Recounts the Thrilling Tale of the Frightful Pliinge From the Sky That Put Him Out of the Flying Game at the Brink of His Air Career F X From a Snapshot of Corporal Mark Leslie Hull. v 'r t. i M V How One Machine Dove Through a Roof, Killing Its Pilot The Machine Continued to Volplane for an Instant, Then Grew Wobbly and Went Orer on Its Side, Afterward Almost Righted Itself, and Then Dived Nose Downward." From a Sketch of Corporal Hull's Machine After Its FalL NOT Bur iiatora h fallaa mn4 llr.4 to tU th tl but Ur r a few. And t6tr ttorlea form A chapter of Bparallld thrllla la th unala of r.nr. - T trk with n wk ha nrvtvtd aoca sprlnc la Ilka mMlni a asan ratumad lion tha daaO. i a aioKwc wufc v a svw fait to aa k Iliad. Corporal Mark Leallo Holt aa Amcii raa oJuataar la tha French Firms Cora who baa written an axeluala account of hla ova lali for thla pace la ik a flrat American flyar to come fcack alia after faliins near tha French front. Amoaf tha allies, however, there have beea a number of similar Inci dents. On of tha moot notable was that of Ferdrldsa. tha bomber, who was iraaeed In tha air above Verdun. He was pilot ing a bis; bom bias machine when a a shall exploded In the air quite close to him. Both be and hla companion lost conscloosaeas. and the machine dived aose downward from a treat height. Htm In the trenches watched it fa!l Inc and expected It to crash Into the around, but Jit th last Instant, with on It a few more hundred yards left be tween him and certain death. Perdrldce regained bis senses and menaced by a auperhumaa effort to right th plan. Ilia companion also recovered con sciousness, and both escaped alive from their terrible adventure. Another thrilling case wss that of Greater, aa aviator who feU la the Morn. He fell a sort of nose div In which th air still pertly held snd sus taiaed the plana Into a wheat field Bear a battery. When the gunners polled his uncon scious form from th wreckage, they expected to find that be bad been wounded by shrapnel or machine gun bullets, hot there wasn't a scratch on his body except the cuts and "braises he bad eustalned la the falL Wbea he later recovered eonseions fcess In the hospital the only thing be could remember waa that bis mind had suddenly gone blank In th air. He had beea atrickea by that queer aphasia which sometimes leada railroad aaflBtsri le fiLsl past dagger signals. and which baa occasionally sent a rac ing auto driver hurtling aver the rim of a dancerona curve. Th experience f Corporal Bull. which he tells on this page in hla own words, waa somewhat akin to that of Grantor. Corporal Hull la now In America, af ter soendlng several months as an In mate of the American Ambulance Hos pital at Neullly. He has practically recovered from hla Injuries and hopes to be able to fly again. BT CORPORAL, MARK LESLIE HULL, American Volunteer of the French Flying Corp. To fall In an airplane usually means death, but my case was th one In a thousand where luck takes a band and saves th aviator. I was flying at th time In the famoua "Stork Ecsadrllle." of which Guynemer was a member, having a short tlm previously completed my course of Instruction snd received my pilot's license. . We were quartered near Chalons-sur-Ma me. There bad been several bomb ing raids behind th lines la thst sec tor and on of our duties wss to do patrol flying to keep off German bombers. On the morning when I fell seven of aa had been sent up at S A. M. on patrol duty. I waa flying a brand new one-man Nleuport and had a "beat of about It miles to guard. For several days previous I had been 111. though I felt myself sufficiently re covered to go up. But after I had reached an altitude of l0e feet I began to feel a nausea coming on and black specks danced before my eyes. I continued to fly, however. My ma chine was still tinder perfect control, snd. though I felt somewhat faint I thought It would pass off In a few moments. Instead I a-rew dlsxler, snd things began to blur before my eyea. so thst I figured It would be necessary to try to make a landing at one. - I started to volplane to a lower al titude and bad possibly descended some SO feet when suddenly I felt my bands xeiailax on, th levers, a numbness be gan to com over me and I fainted dead away. Truck drivers who saw the fall told m afterward what happened. Th machine continued to volplane for an Instsna, then grew wobbly and went over on Its aide, afterward almost righted Itself, and then dived nose downward. Th thing that saved my life was that Instead of smashing point-blank Into th ground th machine struck big tree and stuck In the branches. The heavy belt by which I was fas tened In tha seat gave way and I fell the remaining SO feet to the ground, having: never refrained consciousness. When I did become conscious, I had no recollection, at first, of what had happened. I remember sitting up in THE HOUSEBOAT ON THE STYX (Continued Trent First Pt ) "1 didn't care to spoil my face bump Inc up against floating fruit boxes and other flotsam and Jetsam of the Medi terranean while swimming in the dark. But. as I was saying, he lunged at my face. Th point of hla sword glanced off th metal head-band of my mask, and It aimply sheered him over on his starboard side at least 45 degrees, and of course It waa aU over. I jabbed my sword Into his middle, and he turned over and died, louche !' I cried ex ultantly, as my blade pierced his heart." "And of course he winked his other eye and answered not by a darn sight!" said Napoleon contemptuously. "No," said Munchausen, calmly. "I suppose if I were trying to deceive you I might Indulge In some such flight of fancy, but tha truth Is the poor old creature gave up tha ghost then and there. But as a tribute to his memory I repeat that In many years of experi ence In th duelling field, and in the leading Sal lea LYArmes of the world, whether with the rapier, tne 1011. me broadsword, th German Schwager. or the common garden American bedslat, I never saw prattler fencing than hta. Mr only critic lam of him waa his man ners. He knew nothing ot th etiquette of th foil, but went at It with all the Irresponsible abandon of a German tourist trying to grab a seat in an Ital ian railway carriage reserved for la dles, speaking of fish, did any of you over troll for whales?" "Great heavens!" cried Hendrik Hud son. "He's troUed for whales, too!" "Indeed I have, and caught 'em at that." said Munchausen, "It beats tax- J pon fishing all hollow. Landing a tar pon is exciting, but as compared with landing a whale it's like hooking Ford when you're after a British tank. I caught the biggest whale ever known out near the Asorea once. It took 16 men and a donkey-encine to pull him in after I had hooked him. "I suppose you caught him, though, on a bent pin?" suggested Xerxes. "Not at all." said Munchausen. "I used four big bale-hooks " "Baited with a basket of angleworms, no doubt." put In Napoleon. "Not exactly," smiled Munchausen, "but pretty nearly that. I baited each hook with a boa constrictor, and " It was at this point that Walton and the rest rose up and fled; all Indeed ex cept Captain Kldd. The rest were too scandalised to remain. "You pulled it a little too strong that time. Munch," said Kldd. "You might have got away with the sword fish, but baiting a fish-hook with a boa constrictor won't go. You'll never hear the end of that tale." "Neither will they," said Munchausen. "They wouldn't wait for the end of it, and I'll never give 'em another chance. But I don't mind telling you, Kidd, that when that whale finally bit, and we'd hauled him aboard and cut him up. we found a small leather book em bedded in his vermiform appendix, and what do you suppose it was labeled?" "I I don't know. Munch." said Kldd, nervously. "What was It?" "Jonah; his diary! replied Munchau sen. "What do you think ot that?" But there was no answer. Captain Kidd lay In a swoon on the deck at Munchausen's feet. i dazed condition and wondering; why It was that my leathers were all torn and bloody. - I tried to stand, but there was some thing the matter with my hip. and- I couldn't make it. Then I glanced up and saw the wrecked airplane In the tree, and It all came back to me. - I- wasn't in very great pain; but I sat there thinking I would die any Instant, aa I didn't see how it was possible to have had such a fall without being fatally hurt. I found, however, that my arms were all right and that I could move one of my legs. Both legs were lacerated beneath the leathers, which had been ripped to shreds, and blood was still oozing out. My lip was cut open, and there"was a cut on my forehead, so that I had to keep wiping the blood out of my eyes, but the only thing that hurt me much was my hip. While I was still taking stock of my Injuries and wondering why they were not worse, a French truck or camion drove up. The chauffeur had seen the fall, and expected to find me dead. He was rather startled to discover me sit ting up instead. Other people arrived on the scene and they put me on a stretcher, loaded me in the truck and took me to a field hospital. A week later I was put on a hospital train and taken to Paris, where I re mained in the American Ambulance Hospital at Neuilly until October 29, when I was discharged and sent back to America. I have now almost completely recov ered and hope to be able to fly again. AMERICAN SOLDIERS OPTIMISTIC IN FACE OF BLOODIEST BATTLES IN WORLD'S HISTORY Edith Lanyon Says Yankee Hospitals Are Equipped With Most Modern Surgical Devices and Patients Are Given Best of Treatment Foodstuffs in England Grow Less as War Progresses. BY EDITH E. LANYON. piOMEWHERH IN ENGLAND,' Good Friday. Last week I of- fered my services to the Ameri can Red Cross Society here in Eng land, to find that they only take trained nurses (with i'nlted States certificates) and a few probationers, They were quite anxious to have me for a probationer nurse, but I did not feel like letting all my months and months of training and experience with th British Red Cross count for noth ing, so I am still at the Infirmary." Later on, if the American hospitals really need assistant nurses, I will go to them. Before I received a reply from the A. R. C. 6., I was called up by a British Red Cross auxiliary military- hospital in the south of England. Hardly had begun to make my pseparations to go when I was stopped oy anotner telegram, telling me not to come. De- cause they could not get me rooms. iSo I am still at the infirmary, very happy and exceedingly busy. We have been up to the eyes in work lately. short-handed and without any gas for beating. It is a time of cstress. when all the water for the theater, etc., has seven stitches In his head. He then lent. Almost like the real thing. No to be boiled in small pans wherever j j one can find an adequate ward lire. Fortunately for us, some Royal Army Medical Corps men and our ever blessed Scout-boy have helped us to carry on. These men. In khaKl, are Indispensable. Our Scout-boy has now gone to join the army. He is a treas ure of a boy, a loss to ue, but a gain to the British army. sat up and said he would like some lunch. When he eaw It was raining, he said h'e was glad he didn't have to turn out. Next he wanted to know the latest war news, and he told me that he did not care what happened to him If the boys at the front were get' ting on all right. When the nurse arrived with a tray, bringing him some beef tea, he said Joyfully, "Your're the lass for me.1 It used to be considered very lucky to pick up a pin in the street. "Bee a pin and let it lie, you'll re gret it ere you die," I remember my nurse telling me. That luck evidently does not apply to needles, for a man came in the other day with a long, ruety needle In his stomach. No sign of It on the surface. We finally managed to end his ca reer as a human pin cushion by get ting it out with the big magnet. He was uncommonly glad to see It again. It seems that he had seen this needle lying in the street when he was on his way to work that morning and had picked It up and pinned it in his waistcoat. Later, whilst working at tending some machine, he had brought his full force back against the needle and driven it right into his Interior. This Easter week Is a period of great anxiety. We are not afraid or what tne out come of this terrible fighting will be, because we know that our boys will win, but how many of them will lay down their lives to gain victory! Let the German women grieve for their own men. When I felt sure that I was going to leave them, I told some of my pa tients and was touched to find that they were sorry to lose me. Uncon sciously, under false pretences, I be came the recipient of bunches of daf fodils, photographs, etc. "You'll write to us sometimes, won't you nurse?" was a frequent request. One woman brought me a picture postcard of her twin babies for a part ing gift. The little girls were pho tographed seated on a sofa, with the photograph of "Daddy-who-is-a-sol-dier," propped up between them. I shall value these souvenirs none the less because I am going to stay amongst my out-patients a little long er. I have teen too ousy upstairs to see much of them this week. We had the most perfect specimen of an op timist yesterday that I have seen for long time. He was a big miner, who was brought in on a stretcher uncon scious and badly injured by a fall of coaL X assisted the bouse' surgeon to put maginethat the next time he sees a needle In the street he will "let it lie.' Let us hope the rust will have only acted as a tonic. I am still "swotting" for another ex amination and reading by candlelight is very DllnKy. There always seems to be a draught from somewhere to make the light wobble. The other day, at the class, a girl was asked to demonstrate artificial respiration. She did it quite right, but when asked why she made a certain movement, she said: "To cause the patient to expire, which was such an unfortunate way of expressing it that the whole class roared with laughter She menat "to cause expiration." My particular textbook Is decorated with doggerel verses of my own in all the margins. They have a certain pop ularity amongst my fellow-victims (or fellow-pupils), especially the ones on poisons and their antidote. The crude absurdity of them seems to cling to one's memory. Here is the one on opium poisoning: . "Coffee and slaps May wake him (perhaps!) Treat for collapse." -The one for carbolic acid poisoning is even worse: "Acid ear-bol-ic, Kills 'em mighty quick; Give milk and Epsom Salts. Or coffin In fam'ly vaults." I pass them on to Portland students of "first aid to the injured" for what they may be worth. We are still flourishing on our ra tions and the parsnip jam was excel- alarming epidemic of thinness has yet broken out amongst the British public. If the Huns get their iron rations, what care we? Why cannot some American genius go the Huns one better by Inventing a gun 'big enough to shoot the U. S. troops over here without danger of be ing torpedoed on the way? They would not even have time to get hungry in transit. I have Just had a letter from th Oregon soldier In France. He is wildly Indignant because be has been in hos pital lwith that kid complaint, mumps." His parcel had not reached him yet. He expected to go to the trenches before long, so perhaps by this time he is fighting shoulder to shoulder with our boys. I like to see the American air me chanics, with their waspish hat bands. I notice that all the girls smile and look pleasant when they eee a big American coming down the street. Th American boys are teaching the shop people bow to roast peanuts and make them really edible. The curious English habit Is to eat them raw and call them monkey nuts. They are much more In the habit of calling them monkey nuts than of eat ing them at all. a My Big Soldier Is still In excellent health, so he assures me frequently. No word has come from my sailor since he left to join his monitor In some distant part of the seas. As the British navy is by no means the silent service when it comes to letter writing, I expect there has not yet been time for a letter to reach me. My gunner-sergeant's mother has bad a letter inviting her to go up to Lon don and receive her dead son's military medal from the King. She is not go ing, as she feels he would not have liked "a fuss." Like most heroes, he shrank from publicity and would never talk about his own brave deeds. 6he still has two sons fighting for their King and country. Economic Invaaloa of Philippines Hinted. Asia Magazine. China may and does submit to ex clusion by the United States and British dominions and to severe restrictions in the Dutch colonies of the Far East, it is inconceivable that she would tamely submit to such restrictions by a Re public of the Philippines, small and weak as that Republic must be at best. China of the last generation might have submitted, but not the awakening China of today. It is conceivable that an independent Philippines may be pro tected from armed aggression by means of treaties of neutrality, though faith in the efficacy of such documents has weakened somewhat as a result of cer- . tain events which transpired .in Bel gium. But what treaty or set of treaties can protect them from this peaceful economic invasion!