THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 21, 1917.
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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
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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.