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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1917)
THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 21, 1917. kS mill fctf -( ) 111111 lrrM Y y jrj ? HfIft Kv m SSSS N c (JifyZfi' How the United States is Working to Supply "Sausage" Observation Balloons for the Fighting Front and the Part the "Nurse" Plays in the Great Game. BT HEXE EACHE. OF the J640.000.000 appropriated by Congress for air-fighting, no in CnnVlli.T. K 1 J f r ii win xi- 1 1 1 l, A- oted to tho purchase of observation tialloons and. their equipments, includ- ns motor trucks to carry them and :teel tanks to hold hydrog-en- gas for heir inflation. Flyins machines are- largely em ployed to direct, by signals, the fire of irtillery. but by far the most important Ivork of this kind is done by observ- rs in '"kite balloons." held captive four r five miles behind the trench lines md about six miles apart. Relatively, the airplane scout a at a lisadvantage, inasmuch as he can re port only by wireless or by visual si ials. The balloon, on the other hand, s in uninterrupted telephonic commu- lication with the artillery commanders. wire, running through the cable that onnects the gas bag with the ground elow. enables the observer, thousands f feet aloft, to speak directly (by the elp of a switchboard mounted on a notor truck) to the officer in charge of ny Dattery in tne neighborhood. From his post of vantage in the sky he observer can overlook a great ex ent of territory. Assisted by powerful leld glasses and a telescope he is able o note the slightest change in the nemy trench lines, to watch everv novement of bodies of troops and, al nost at a moment's notice, to let loose he fire of hundreds of guns upon any arget that may seem to invite alten ion. The Balloon School. At Kort Omaha is now beinsr estab ished a balloon school where officer nd men will be trained in the business f handling and operating observation alloons. It will work in co-operation vtth the school of fire at Fort Sill, vhere the art of artillery shooting is slight in all its branches. The school fire will give a supplementary course In ballooning- to students who elect for aerial work and many of its graduates will go to the balloon school to com plete their education. Part of the training at the balloon school will be in the navigation of free balloons; for now and then it happens that a captive balloon breaks loose and must be operated as a. free balloon to effect a safe landing. Uncle Sam is to have many balloon battalions, organized as quickly as men and officers can be trained, and their outfit will be in all respects of very latest pattern, including specially de signed motor trucks with windlasses and winding drums to operate the bal loons the machinery in question being driven by the truck's own engine. A battalion comprises three com panies, each operating one bal loon. Recent experience in Europe has shown that there should be 160 men and officers to a company, to pro vide for three "shifts" every 24 hours. The work of the observers (ordinarily two of them together in a car) is espe cially arduous and every few hours the balloon has to be hauled down to re place them with a fresh pair. The Science of the "Sansage." Now the balloons used for purposes of military observation and the direc tion of gunfire are of a kind unfamiliar to most people. They are "sausage" balloons so called on account of their shape and the special quality that makes them useful is their steadiness in the air. A wind of 40 miles an hour will not cause them to bob about to any disturbing extent. To help their stability some of them are provided with a sort of kite-tall carrying several conical canvas cups. Such a balloon is about 80 feet Ions and has a capacity of 25.000 cubic feet. It is filled with hydrogen gas, obtained by the electrolysis of water (which Is two-thirds hydrogen), and stored, un til required for use. In steel cylinders under a pressure of 150 atmospheres. The generating and compressing ma chinery is installed In railroad cars at the nearest rail point, whither the cyl inders are taken to be refilled. A sausage balloon Is calculated to lose 300 cubic feet of ga.9 daily. The loss is replaced at night, a method com monly adopted being to fill (at the nearest field generating plant) small balloons called "nurses." which are conveyed to the hangar and emptied into the big gas bag. A peculiar feature of this type of bal loon is a "ballonet" at the rear end. which contains air under pressure. It is separated from the gas bag proper by a diaphragm. When the balloon Is full of gas the diaphragm Is pushed so far to the rear that there is no air in the ballonet. But when some of the gas is lost by leakage air enters the ballonet through a sort of funnel in the bottom of the "tail-fin" and thus the "sausage" l kept well distended. Ordinarily the observation balloons go up at daybreak and are hauled down at nightfall. But sometimes they stay UP all night to watch for the flashes of V- i 7i mi . .f sal 'l.if iTr ' i 1 . ' ' i'-- , -iV 4 J?tssczj?-e"s7 2V?elr the enemy's guns, with a view to locat ing them. Sometimes two balloons are used as end stations of a base line for calculat ing the range of targets. Or an extem porized wooden tower, conveniently hidden by trees, may be utilized for one end station, a "sausage" doing duty for the other. The signals tele phoned to the batteries for directing gun fire are the simplest possible, the mere words "Over," "Short," "Right," "Left." "Hit." serving the purpose. The observation balloon, on the other hand, is not an easy target for the en emy artillery to hit. For one thing, it is four or five miles distant, and, seen from that far away, a tiny object in the sky. Then, too, with the uncertain breezes, it is constantly changing its position. The only foe It really fears Is the battleplane, attacking with incendiary bullets, incendiary arrows or bombs. But it does not lack capable defenders. On the ground beneath it are anti-aircraft guns. Above it. far aloft in the sky, hover friendly battleplanes. LEGAL SIDELIGHTS FOR LAWYERS AND LAYMEN BT REYNELLE C. E. CORNISH, OP THE PORTLAND BAR. TIPPING. And now the law busies Itself in dispensing Justice as to social etiquette. If you are in doubt whether to tip the waiter or re imburse the too attentive hallboy just consult your favorite lawyer or run into the nearest law library and con sult, say for instance, the case of Sloat v. Rochester Taxicab Company, 13, N. T. S. 904, and read what the court has to say on the subject, in part as follows: "Many times a guest at a hotel, a passenger upon a sleeper, or a person receiving service from the employe of another is glad to recompense a pleas ing manner or an extra service by a reasonable tip; but according to the present custom tips are not usually the voluntary act of the person who gives them. The employe, with tne knowledge and consent of the employer, furnishes a service which compels the payment of a tip, and if the tip Is not paid the service is so grudgingly and unsatis factorily given that the person served is willing to pay it the next time. The person rendering the service considers that the tip Is his as a matter of right and involves no particular favor; an extra large tip may be appreciated, but the ordinary tip is considered a pay ment of money actually due. The usual tips have come to be considered a part of the cost of entertainment at a hotel or upon a sleeper or public conveyance, and it Is realized both by the person paying and receiving them that they are a part payment of the wages, which the employer compels the person served to pay." Legs and the Law. If you hire a boy to run an errand for you. does he go on your legs or his own? Foolish question! Well, the Supreme Court of Missouri did not think so, and neither did the parties in the case of Phillips vs. Western Union Tel. Co.. 195 S. W. 711, for the plaintiff in the lower court recovered a verdict of $10,000, which was reversed on the defendant's appeal to the higher court. The boy whose legs were responsible for the trouble was an employe of the defendant telegraph company. It seemed that he ran out of the office with a telegram in his hand, and in passing the corner newsstand snatched a paper. Looking back over his shoul der to observe the results of his coup, he ran into the plaintiff, who was at the curb, and threw her down. She sustained serious injuries and sued the company on the ground that they were liable for the negligent acts of their servants. The case rested upon the question whether the act committed lay within the scope of the master's business. The defendant insisted that it did not, saying In part: "That human legs, while safe and proper instruments of transportation when carefully used, are, like automo biles and other things of a similar na ture, dangerous when used negligently, and the master has as much control over the legs of his servant as over his own animal or machine." The court held that the boy "was not traveling on the street by permission of his co defendant, but in- the exercise. of a pub lic right valuable to himself as a fa cility for gaining a livelihood as well as to his employer. Had he not pos sessed this right, his employer could not have conferred it nor taken it away. It went with his service as far as it was necessary to the performance of the duty involved, and no further. In all other respects and for all other purposes It remained his own. "Boys engaged in employment fre quently encounter their juvenile ene mies, and we who employ them do not think of worrying over our financial responsibility for the result. The youth who goes to the postofflce with our letter on a Fourth of July morn ing may carry a bundle of firecrackers and distribute them freely along the route, or the festive drummer on a holiday occasion may fall over a slight and quiet traveler, or the boy who carries a parcel may, at the same time, try to control his boon companion, the bull pup, with a string. Many of us have seen very painful accidents re sulting from such conditions, but have seen no legal authority for holding the master liable in damages growing out of the rollicking movements of his servants on the street, even though his own business may have taken them to the very place at that very time, unless he instigates the wrong which caused the injury." WIFE KISSED BY MISTAKE Result of Oscillatory Aim Is Seven Black Optics. ST. PAtTXi. Oct. II. Seven black eyes were the weddlnj? decorations at the Cords-Wood nuptials Tuesday nlg-ht and early yesterday, morning, accord ing to witnesses and two detectives from Central Police Station who ar rived in time to witness the finale. It all started, witnesses say, when W. W. "Williams, formerly of 345 Charles street, kissed his own wife, by mistake. V. F. Cords, of Blue Earth, and Miss Hazel Wood were married at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. E. E. Rus sell, 237 North Smith avenue, and Mr. and Mrs. Williams were among the guests. There were other guests, too, and one of them, feminine, was pretty. Williams, witnesses said, followed the pretty one to a balcony. This was in spite of warning glances from Mrs. Williams. Now it was dark on this balcony, and soon a resounding smack was heard. Then followed a thump. Mr. Williams, it la said, administered the kiss and Mrs. Williams the thump with an empty beer bottle. For Williams, it appears, had kissed his own wife, by mistake. Williams' rig;ht optic was closed by his wife's blow. He retaliated and his wife's left optic likewise was shut. Mrs. Cords came to Mrs. Williams' assistance. Her blow went wild. Mrs. Russell then interfered. A wild swinar from her fist landed in Mrs. Cords' right eye. Mrs. Cords then ad ministered a tap which connected with her mother's right eye. Mrs. Russell once more landed, the blow closing Williams left eye, when he unintentionally stepped within range. Whereupon Mr. Williams presented his wife with another discolored optic. Meanwhile the police had been sum moned. Detectives Joe Pugleasa and Hermann Vail-ended the hostilities. Dr. Le Roy Brown, ambulance surgeon, ac companied them. The fair damsel over whom the op tical contusions started, had disap peared. And yesterday, bis wife said, Williams also vanished. No arrests were made.
