michale the reason your 1916 manual dosnt cover crosswinds is because no one ever landed in a crosswind. an airfield was just that, a field.
you can learn to land a taildragger to a small extent by learning to land a trike and holding off and off rather than just letting it arrive. same with take off, try holding a constant nose attitude without lifting off, let the a/c fly off itself
ps did you buy your manual on ebay.