WHEN THE ZEPPELINS COME OUT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2525, 28 July 1915, Page 6

WHEN THE ZEPPELINS COME OUT

From tho beginning of the war tho Germans' have been endeavouring to strike terror into the hearts of tho British public by threats of air raids on an unimaginable scale. German writers have, taken a special delight in describing the terrible destruction that might be caused by a licet of Zeppelins operating over London, and there have been frequent rumours that preparations arc being made for a great attack on the metropolis. Raids have beca- uHHie fi'sm .yia« iu tint#? ovoi' .various fiai'te of England, but

the people refuse to be panicstricken. They are well aware of the danger. iThey know that German airships arc capable of causing loss of life and a good deal of damage, and they do not ignore tho fact that the enemy may be planning some big surprises. Yet tlicj; go about their ordinary business in tho ordinary way. They have becomo accustomed to the idea of air raids. The novelty of the thing has worn off, and tlw people have come to the conclusion that the possibility •of airship visits is one of the risks of modern warfare, and they facc the situation with surprising unconcern. The latest prediction 'of > a terrible time coming when a great host of remodelled German airships will sail out with the Kaiser's fleet is no more likely to throw Britain into a state of consternation .than previous stories of a similar character, notwithstanding the fact that it has emanated from such an authority as the niece of Count Zeppelin himself. This lady is so anxious that the British public shall not be taken by surprise that she has informed them when the great event is to take place—about October 1. "Soon after that the whole world will be crying for peace." So the nicco of Count Zeppelin tells us. The British, public, we imagine, will sleep none tho less soundly on account of this lady's threats of what is in store for them. In one of' his essays, E, L. Stevenson writes with wonder of t'nlj fatalistic calm of people who dwell in the neighbourhood of a volcano,. "In'that tremendous place he found that the danger was forgotten simply becauso it was always present." So it is with this great war. People are be.coming familiarised with the dangers which confront them, and familiarity, while it may not in this case breed contempt, develops a form of indifference to tho daily risks with which they are faced. The airship peril is real enough when it comes, but the average man's frame of mind, if he thinks about it at all, is that it will be quite time enough to worry when the bombs begin to drop in his near neighbourhood,