Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, December 29, 1914, Page 6

A S5 G D s A A ST 0 i i B MGTRRN ' THE EVENING TELEGRAM LAKELAND, FLA., DEC. 29, 1914 furthermore, that the dead weight of the load, after the valve had been opened, would send the dirigible to earth with a speed and aim that noth- ing could avert. Seven days later Durand, with a ' thousand pounds of melinite in his ‘ dirigible balloon, and the parachute attached to the aluminum stern, rose slowly above the French camp lnto the. air. From the walls of the fortress the _besieged general, glass to his eyes, ' watched and wondered at this new maneuver. He had sworn never to surrender, and by herolc privations his men had , managed to conserve still another t day’s supply of water, though nearly all their animals were dead of thirst. It was the general’s intention to cut his way out at the head of his troops on the morrow, and die upon the field—unless it rained. | But the scorched heavens refused | to open. Day and night were ome brazen glow of heat. All night heat lightning played on the horizon, and sémetimes the distant muttering of thunder was heard, but never a drop of rain had fallen. Durand rose slowly into the air, and, as he did so, the airguns of the fortress opened fire upon him. But it 18 the most difficult thing in the world to hit a quickly rising balloon, and neither Durand nor Lamarche had When You T Gents’ Furn You instinctively house with the of high class [ THM 0P THAT FALED. By H. M. EGBERT. (Copyright, 1914, by W. G. Chapman.) It was not the shock of arms, but thirst, ' that threatened to force the | devoted city into surrender. For months the enemy had hurled their lines against the fortress, only to see the gallant troops retire, decimated, bafled by the strong earth- works that promised to hold out in- definitely. And until the city fell the forward march of the victorious army could not continue. General Lamarche was desperate. He could not leave the fortress in his rear untaken and continue his ad- vance toward the capital of the en- emy, for that would mean that his lines of communication would be sev- ered. And behind those walls the en- emy was reforming, ready to renew the war in all its pristine vigor. But for months no drop of rain had fallen. The springs within the city bad run dry. The river had been dammed and diverted by the besieg- ers. And there remained hardly three days’ supply of water. Let Us Be Your Grocers? CHOIVIN We handle only fresh, clean goods and we keep a full line of Fresh Meats, Including Nice Steaks, Roasts, Chops, Breakfast Bacon x % % % Our Hart Schaffoer and selling better this Fall thar your time to get one. Suits are extra good in Q Hams, Brains, Chickens, Vegetabl Are Our Specialty. We Keep Fresh Fruit, aiso anything in Can Goods that you may suggest 0 e e i inciuding Vegetables, Soups, etc. ..Is t» buy your goods where You can get the most for the money. That place is the grocery of G. TWEEDEL PHONE 59 “Don’t fail to see us” before having your Electrical work done. Welcan save you money and give you better ‘‘ stuff’’ than you have been getting, and for a little less money, T. L. CARDWELL, Electrical Contractor EVERYTHING ELECTRICAL PHONE 233 e West Main Strest and New York Avenue}i| o * KELLEYS BARRED Plymouth Rocks BOTH MATINGS Better now than ever before High class breeding birds at reasonable prices. Fgge from high class pens for hatching. ~ Write jme before ordering else- where. H. L. KELLEY, Griffin Fla it\ LTS v resh Eggs Fresh Fru Fresh Vegetables Fresh Meats FRESH BUTTER-~In fact everything is Fresh at our Store except our accommodating force of Clerks We wish our Friends a Happy New Year and Solicit their Business Edmonson & Mills THE BIG_PURE FOOD STORE AND MARKET PHONE 93-279 That the city was in need of water General Lamarche knew; but he did not know how near it was to surren- der. And every day's delay was worth a thousand men to those within. It was at this juncture that he gave audience to the man who had begged for an interview daily during the past month. “Let the fellow come in,” he said reluctantly to his aide. “Well, sir?” he demanded, as the ragged, wild- looking fellow stood before him. “My name is Durand,” sald the man. General Lamarche started slightly. “The aviator?” he asked. Durand bowed his head. Lamarche, llke every Frenchman, knew about Durand. He had been one of the foremost men to develop the dirigible gas-balloon. While others Rose Slowly Into the Air. worked upon the aeroplane, Durand had brought the dirigible almost to perfection. And, at the moment when he was about to see his invention adopted by the French army, he had committed murder—a foul, inex- cusable murder while under the in- fluence of absinthe, to which he had become addicted by reason of the mental strain he had undergone. He was shipped to New Caledonia, but, after serving three years there, he was pardoned and disappeared from the haunts of his associates. That was a year ago, and since then nothing had been heard of him. “I want to do something for my country,” Durand explained. “You shall be attached to the aero- plane division,” answered Lamarche. Durand laughed quietly. “I do not wish to become a private aviator,” he said. “I have a plan by which you ' can capture Fort Gleichen.” “What is it?” asked Lamarche im- patiently. He had had a thousand ! plans submitted to him during- the past three months. “Give me a thousand pounds of melinite,” answered Durand, “and I will blow it into the earth. T will blow away all traces of it.” “If there is a thousand pounds of melinite to spare in France you shall have it, provided you can convince me of the feasibility of your scheme,” the general answered. “It is very simple,” replied Dunnd. “In the mountains of the Vosges, where 1 have lived during the last year, I have my perfected dirigible. 1 will load it with a thousand pounds of melinite, which is as much as it will carry, in addition to my own weight. I will steer it above Fort Gleichen, pull the valve open, after calculating the descent, and escape in my parachute. The balloon will-drop squarely into the center of the fort and blow it from the face of the earth.” They talked over the project for ,a while, and the more Durand ex- ' plained, the more feasible his proposal appeared to the French general. Ot course, from an aeruplane, only small hombs could be dropped. But there was no reason why a balloon should not contain a thousand pounds of melinite, an explosive deadly enough to obliterate all trace of the famous stronghold that barred the ad- vance of the army. It was obvious, any fears on that score. If the bal- loon were hit, the melinite would ex- plode in the air and the balloon and aviator would vanish—but no harm would come to the besiegers. At worst, the experiment would harm no- body. | At an altitude of two thousand feet the balloon was safe from danger.' Durand smiled as he heard the great shells whizzing around him. He knew that only a miracle of marks- manship could bring him down. At four thousand feet Durand was only a speck in the sky, hardly to be discerned even through La.marche’! glasses. The French camp strained its eyes upward. The report of the broken man’s exploit, which was to restore his honor and bring, no doubt, the ribbon of the legion of honor, had become universal. And in the beleaguered fortress for the first time an inkling of the airman’s intentions became obvious when a tiny speck was seen to detach itself from the slightly larger mass and drop t.owudl earth. Instantly it had begun the .wm' descent, while the balloon, relieved of its slighter burden, shot upward, in' spite of the rapid escape of gas. The | dirigible ascended five hundred feet before it paused, stood still, and then began its downward rush. Durand had planned his descent so that it should carry him into the French lines. But to his horror 8 sudden breeze drove the parachute, straight toward the inside of the fort- ! ress walls, And then, resigning him- self to the inevitable, he devoted all - his efforts toward saving his life,: rather than attempting to gain the camp of the besiegers, which would mean an instant drop to death. | It was about a minute after he had pulled the cord of the valve when Du- | l rand dropped, unharmed, at the feet of the general in defense of Fort Gleichen. But nobody noticed him, for all eyes | were strained upward to where thel great balloon came whirling down.\ straight toward the fortress. Here ' Durand had not miscalculated. It fell true as an arrow, and the heat llght- ning played about it and— Boom! The most awful detonation that had ever been heard since war began | el filled the whole air with sound. A and shut out the sunlight. Slowly it | drifted away. And everyone knew‘ what had occurred. The dirigible had | been struck by lightning during its descent. An instant later the sun dlsap-’ peared. And suddenly, with the sound | of a million bullets, hailstones the size of pigeons’ eggs whizzed to the earth, followed by a drenching down- pour. ‘ Never had it rained as it rained that | afternoon. The water fell in torrents. It was as though a million Loses ' were turned earthward from the heav- | ens. In two minutes the camps were flooded. The streets of the be-| leaguered town ran water. Men flung ‘ themselves upon their faces and wal- | lowed in the precious rain. From every house buckets, bath tubs, im- | plements of every kind were out-. stretched to hold the life-giving water. { The cisterns overflowed. The .be- | sieged city was saved. l Durand stood before the general | within the fortress. His hope had | failed, by the interposition of the un- expected element, fate, which sends so many schemes agley. He expected death. He was not| even in uniform—a hopeless, ragged | ex-convict, bearing the stamp l shame upon his furrowed face. The general turned to him. “Do you know what is going to happea to you?” he asked. “A firing party, I suppose,” Durand muttered. “No,” answered the general quiet- ly. “You are going to make a halloon for us.” Make Sunflower Useful. In some countries, notably in the Russian provinces north of the Cau- | casus, the sunflower serves other pur poses besides ornamenting gardens with its huge golden blossoms. The seeds are used to make oil, which is employed both in the manufacture of soap and in cooking. The stems and leaves are burned and the ashes used to make potash. Last year the sun- flower factories of the Caucasus pro- duced 16,000 tons of potash. i J‘ W B e G g B G0N E— — in prices. = Come in and Stock and convince yours and Quality of our Merch 2 k%% ‘THE HOME d Hart Schaffaer and Marx s n Don’t forget to ask:f Calendars for 191 Fancy F Shipped to Any Addre Oranges, Grape Tangerines, Mixed Boxe LERZSaL T 2 TS LSl L SEPPSSEPLDEDERPPPPETPTEDID 13 peddagrgrgud Call on us Phone 28 Mayes Grocery L Y D o Ford Lower Prices on Ford Effective August 1st, 1914 to Al 1915 and guaranteed against any f during that time. All cars fully f 0. b. Detroit. Runabout. .. ... ...$440 Touring Car ........490 Town Car... ... ...69d Buyers to Share in P Ail retail buyers of new Ford c August Ist, 1914 to August Ist, share in the profits of the compan extent of $40 to $60 per car, on they buy, FROVIDED: we sell liver 300,000 new Ford cars during riod. Ask usa for particulars FORD MOTOR COMP. Lakeland Auto and Supp ©®OLK CQUNTY AGE