LURED TO THEIR DOOM

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2717, 11 March 1916, Page 6

LURED TO THEIR DOOM

HOW A ZEPPELIN WAS TRAPPED

GUIDED TO AWFUL ' DESTRUCTION

The lurid fiction-tales of aircraft lag behind tho plain, everyrday facts these days....Kipling mid Wells have done their' bos V but the aviators themselves -havo done just a little better. Take, lor instance, thoe«soof ''Corporal Victor," an English non-commissioned officer who helped to snare a German aerial battleship. Two or threo experiences with a "strange motor-car carrying a queerly twisted rear lamp, whoso appearancc3 wero always followed by a Zeppelin raid in the neighbourhood, led tho Corporal, whose duties took him scouring tho countryside in a "big Six," to come to so mo conclusions. He began to thirst for other views of similar automobiles with upturned ;liglits, and .to look for houses whose ;chimnoys had a. way of acting queerly -shortly- after tho strange automobiles Estopped befoi-o them. Ono night he and liis inechanitiian had tho good luck to 'find both of these. Tho auto was halted at the end of the road before,a quiet (couiitry-liouse. ■ TheCuiding Station. "A'big ; pilie-treo almost brushed , tho window'of the ciiiiing-rooni, which was slightly open .-• at the top. Climbing into its branches, -I was sulficiently near to hear the low conversation, though I was unable to seo the speakers. I could distinguish ai least three voices, and they spoko in German. Having, in happier 'days, .spent,some time in Dresden and Berlin, I am fairly well acquainted with the Teutonic tongue, so I was able to iollow' t)ie,diseussion. I learned that another air raid.had been made on London'that very night, and ono of tho Zeppelins having been damaged, was returning that ivay direct to Germany instead of to "its base at Zeebrugge. It was to be very carefully piloted, as owing to its state it was ilying very low and should arrive over their neighbourhood 'abbi'i'-l o'clock. It was then well past, as far as I. could calcckte:; ."How all this information had so •cpiicky' come into their possession I "did -not-then know, though 1 learned laterToii... . I heard further" details, : t'oo;,i.w:hich 1 explained • the use- of the -car.;and the; -upturned headlight. For qiiite-'half: an-hourl waited, listening .to the flatter of knives and forks; ,to '.tjie: po'j3J)ing',,of corks and wholehearted 'strafing'; of England, which I longed to •interrupt, hut I had something better,on hand. "At length" .I.;heard someone moving about, and it seemed to me as if the chimney went on fire. Then they mad© -to -come-.out. 'In an instant I "was^down, •on.,the soft earth and out of tihe'.gate. A glance at the cliim■noy "showed-it still emitting clouds of sparks..-- •".••••• «•• "We heard their footsteps on the gravel as we' slid quickly away into the shades of the moonless night. Then we let her rip for a mile, and she could hop it, too 1 "'See' their' chimney on fife? 1 queried., . \ ... "'Fir,e.?',, said Max, with withering srorn. 'Magnesium and clectrio light wentrup tEat chimney or I'm no photographer !'—wliich tho little Scot was be* fore ho went- to war. . ; "Wo knew every inch of the road for ten miles, around and every milo to the north and tlie'brown trenches there. By. taking a crossroad and doubling back. t wc got" almost opposite tho houso in the .wood, though rather over half a kilometer to the east of It. " 'Listenl' , . " 'Yes,'that's.it.for suro! Now turn on the lights,' for we had been travelling without their aid. The Lamp of Death. '"The auto-they'had tracked earlier in the evening was a Zeppelin-guider. Now . was their opportunity to substitute for the absent guider and'load the big' aircraft safely astray. That they did more than this was perhaps duo to good fortune as much as to preconceived plan. ' At all events, their big rear-li|hts, - especially arranged for the occasion, were, turned skyward as a hail to '''tlie" wanderer. The airship pau sea a * moment overhead, examining tho machine; but all autos _ look alike from several hundred, feet in the air and in the dark of night, and so suspicion was 'easily allayed. The great shape -loomed out of the darkness, and ■seemed'to;,touch, the tops of the trees .thut lined the'road', as it gently swayed on-the still night air. We flicked our lights off and on once or twice then, moved away. For a moment or two nothing happened in the air, and 1 feared some signal .I did not know was wanting. But again we heard 'the engines ahove rattle into ■life, 'and* tlia't 'they were following our light seemed assured. At the first crossroads I turned ■ sharply to tho "right and the great airship gliding over us did likewiso; then at last I folt a grim satisfaction, and proceeded witli tlie plan I had worked out most carefully during; the week, but had kept to mysolf. "Where to?" queried Mas. .... "Tho -big JS T oberg foundry l" 1 ,' "My; God,, what; an ideal" - 1 Picture to yourself a great straggling works,- spread over many acres, with a dozen tall chimneys scattore.d over the' space j' one of them almost, if not quite, • the loftiest stack in all France'. I tried to ga'go the top speed of which' '.the "Count's ship was capable, and found it could do. barely 40 miles an hour, and tho faster it went the lower it came. According to our information, it should have been able to fly at nearly 80 miles when in proper trim, so it was clear our gunners had hit it pretty hard. Once or./twice they tried to work a searchlight,Jbut' it only gave a momentary flash, then blinked feebly and went out. Everything seemed to be going as I:could wish, and only another .mile lay between us and tho foundry. So unexpectedly, as to make mo start, thero was the sound of something heavy falling to earth; they were evidently throwing things out to lighten the. load. Up it went, higher than over no had seen it go; at the sight my Tleart sank. Still, it was now or never. "Its rise had put it behind us, and 1 . slowed to let it come up level again; tlien *1 accelerated and joyfully heard the strain of the big engines in their effort to keep with us, and it pulled them down once more. Crash!

"Wo were 011 the last quarter mill mid the road ended at the foundry 'The. car was bumping and swaying 01. the cart-broken road like a ship on a stormy sea. .My wrists ached and throbbed, almost paralysed by the vibration. The dark iron gateway that barred our trade seemed, rushing toward lis. .Max clutched my arm, terrified lest I was. going to drive to certain death against them, but with a'stamp of my foot on the lighting switchboard I pressed in the wliole row of plugs, and wo" seemed to pitch into the very doptlis of' blackness. All my brakes went on the wheels looked While the scream of the tires founded like a wail from Hell. "There was tlio sound of falling •bricks as the Zeppelin car struck the first chimney. Thero was a vicious spurt of machine-gun iiro b,v somcono .who understood too late, and wo both found ourselves under the overturned motor-car in tlio ditch where my sudden stoppage had . thrown us. Then . tlio whole earth seemed to tremble as tlio Riant smokestack toppled over to ruin Thero were other sounds, too, which .310 mortal pen "could jwriiav, But from.

that raid on London town at least 0110 Zeppelin never returned to Germany, r.nd there are certain details which it is J lob wise to give at present,." When tliey went to tho house in tlio woods that morning it was found desorted. In its cellar was a very powerful wireless plant; among tho trees, cunningly concealed, were tho wires of tho installation. Instead of a lireplaco in tho dining-room was a powerful oloctrio light projector, which worked up the cliimney. Max was right, too, about tho magnesium; it was thero also.