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38 RICH FIELD FLYER

HOLIDAY PASS IS USED BY MANY TO LEAVE THE FIELD

Scores of Officers and men Enjoy Vacation.

On December 20th, the officers and enlisted men of Rich Field were notified that according to instructions from the office of the Director of Military Aeronautics, they would be able to avail themselves of a holiday pass from December 21st to January 2nd inclusive, making application at Headquarters for same. 

It is needless to say that there was a general rush to take advantage of this opportunity and there was quite a large exodus from this field even as early as Friday evening. 

The following named officers were able either to go home or to the homes of their relatives or friends:

Major J. W. Good Lieutenants G. J. Johnson, H. G. Andrews, W. J. Burke, M. O'Leary, G. O. Berg, J. C. McDonald, A. Leonard, I. Marschack, H. L. Rhoades, E. A. Phillips, H. Rouse, L. C. Hollondquist, A. Clark, R. W. Cumming, L. F. Muter, C.D. Calley, D. M. Fraser, W. D. Perry, H. V. Laughlin, C. R. Mainwaring, W. J. Bingham, W. W. Hosp, M. J. Moll, P. M. Isbill, S. L. Harris, G. A. Patten, O. M. Johnson, W. J. Atkinson, D. W. Salter, C. S. Price, D. A. Jewell, H. M. Peace, E. H. Miller, T. W. Levy, W. R. Moor, W. Godlove, E. J. Ryan, J. R. Moore, L. G. Russell, D. E. Conklin, B. L. Eastman, S. F. Maddux, G. W. Pratt, S. G. McEniry, V. M. Cobb, H. Ingersoll, C. O. Shull, W. C. Moore, B. A. Rogers, S. E. Andrews, F. W. Weymouth, G. B. Pollock, R. L. Massey, W.G. Church, C. H. Houston.

About 233 enlisted men and 56 cadets also were given passes. 

THE K. P.'s GENERAL ORDERS

1. To take charge of these spuds and all gravy in view.
2. To watch my plate in a military manager, keeping always on the alert for any stray sausage that comes within sight, smell, or hearing.
3. To report any bread sliced too thin to the Mess Sergeant.
4. To report all calls for "seconds."
5. To quit the table only when satisfied there is nothing left. 
6.  To receive, but not to pass on to the man next to me, any meat, cabbage or beans left by the non-coms, buck privates or cuckoos. 
7. To talk to no one who asks for onions.
8. In case of fire in the mess hall, to grab all eatables left by others in their escape. 
9. In any case not covered by instructions, to call the squadron clerk or sergeant major. 
10. To allow no one to steal anything in the line of grub. 
11. To salute all chickens, beefsteaks, pork-chops, ham and eggs and liver.
12. To be especially watchful at the table, and during the time of eating, to challenge anyone who gets more prunes than myself. 

DISCHARGED SOLDIERS ARE URGED TO REMAIN MILITARY

May Wear the Uniform For Four Months After Leaving Service

The work of demobilizing our great Army has commenced, and many soldiers will be discharged from this Field shortly. Soldiers so discharged will be permitted to wear their uniforms for four months after their discharge. During that time, they are not distinguishable from those in the Service. It is hoped that soldiers discharged from Rich Field will appreciate that slouchiness of dress and laxness in military courtesy while still in uniform, not only reflects discredit on the individual and the organization of which he was formerly a member, but upon the whole military establishment. 

Complaints have reached the War Department regarding the lack of military courtesy, negligence regarding uniform regulations, such as wearing Red Cross sweaters outside, overcoats unbuttoned, etc. All this is no doubt due to thoughtlessness on the part of the individual. While it may not be obligatory upon soldiers after discharge to salute officers, yet as long as the soldier is wearing the uniform of his country, furnished him by the Government, it should be a matter of pride for him to do so. 

It is hoped and believed that when this matter is called to the attention of the men of Rich Field, who are about to be discharged, that their pride in their organization in the Army and in their own honorable part therin will cause them to be as punctilious regarding matters of military courtesy and military appearance as they were before separation from the Army, and that their conduct will at all times be such as to reflect credit on themselves and the Army of which they have been a part. 

It is also desired by the War Department, in order to avoid needless complication, that so long as they remain in uniform, discharged soldiers carry with them their discharge certificates.

PROMOTION OF RESERVE OFFICERS TO CONTINUE

Secretary Baker Outlines Policy of The War Department 

In an interview, granted to newspapermen recently, Secretary of War Baker outlined the War Department's policy as affecting promotions and appointments of officers, as follows:

"The order prohibiting promotions and appointments to commissions found a great many men who were in process of preparing for a commissioned service in the training schools, and a substantial number of officers who, having made good in the particular grade in which they were serving, had been recommended for higher grades, their papers being in the process of passing through the Adjutant General's office when promotions were suspended.

"The policy of the Department with regard to these cases is to let the men who were in training for commissions complete their training course if they desire, and on graduation from the schools to commission them in the reserve with the grade attained in the school, if they want it. In those cases of men in the service who have been recommended and approved for promotion, the policy, so far as it is possible to carry it out, is to give them on going out a commission in the grade to which they  have been recommended, so that if a man is a lieutenant and has been recommended and approved to be captain, if he wants a reserve commission, and if he should be called back into the service he will be called back as a captain.

"The object of the Department is to allow no man to lose rank by reason of the signing of the armistice, if he had in fact matured for the new rank. If he was in the process of maturing, we want to continue, so far as possible, to give him the opportunity to win the new rank."

STORAGE BATTERIES
By Sergeant Sidney C. Mack,
Radio Detachment No. 9.

Storage batteries, as used for airplane radio work, and those used on the automobile of today are very similar in construction. The battery used on the airplane is made leak-proof, which is indeed essential to the safety of the person piloting the ship. Dilute sulphuric acid, H2HS4, a liquid which possesses great oxidizing powers, is the electrolyte used. Should a drop or two be spilled on any of the important working or stress wires on an aeroplane, it would in the course of a few hours eat its way through the wire and probably cause a serious accident.

In charging and discharging batteries, considerable care should be exercised, because they may very easily be ruined. In charging, connect the positive lead of the charging set to the positive post of the battery, and the negative lead of the charging set to the negative post of the battery. There are several ways of determining the polarity of charging set or battery is no voltmeter is to had. (1) Place the terminals in doubt in some salt water, exercising care not to get a short circuit, and the terminal which produces the greater number of bubbles is the negative. (2) If the doubtful terminals are on the battery, the positive is lead peroxide, the PbO2, and is chocolate-brown, while the negative plate is spongy lead, Pb, and is gray.

The time universally decided upon as best for charging batteries is eight hours. Hence if a battery has a capacity of 80 ampere-hours, 10 amperes for 8 hours would be the proper charging current, slightly reducing amperage near the finish of charge.

All batteries discharge direct current, so direct current must be used in charging. Never use alternating current unless some means of rectifying is at hand. Alternating current passing through a battery will buckle the plates and ruin it in a short while. 

Keep the terminals clean at all times. 
Remove vent plugs when battery is undergoing charge.

In connecting batteries or cells in series, be careful not to get poles reversed. 

The specific gravity or density of a battery when discharged should not read below 1.180 and when fully charged should read 1.300.

The voltage of each cell in a storage battery, regardless of the size of the battery, when fully discharged should not read below 1.6 and when fully charged 2.6 volts.