ZEPPELIN ATTACKS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 114, 7 October 1914, Page 4

ZEPPELIN ATTACKS

ATTEMPT UTON ANTWERP. A NIGHT OF TERROR. """" American papers to hand contain accounts of the Gorman Zeppelin night attack upon Antwerp. A protest against the outrage was sent to the New l'ork Herald by Surgeon-Major Louis L. Seaman, of tho United States Army, who was with the wounded at Antwerp. H« cabled from Antwerp on August 26, as follows:

"I am with the dead and the wounded of the Zeppelin slaughter. The Germans attacked the sleeping city like a hyena ii. the night, murdering helpless women and children. In the name of civilisation lei {America protest. This war is only assassination. I appeal especially to the Peace Society." -Mr F. de Cartier, Belgian Minister to China, described the bombardment of th» Koyal Palace by a Zeppelin gombs bgwf deliberate attempt to destroy tho living quarters of the structure. In this section of tiie l'alace at the time were Princess Mario Jose, Prince Leopold, and Prince Charles, children of King Albert. The Princess is eight years old, Princa Leopold is 13, and Prince Charles is 11.

The huge airship hovered directly over the apartments of tho King and his family, and then dropped a bomb. If the hurler of the missile siad not miscalculated the velocity of tho wind, which caused tho Zeppelin to drift, the explosive would have fallen directly over where the children were sleeping. As it was, tho bomb fell about 100 yards away, in the Street of the Twelve Apostles.' Mr de dirtier said he was confident that the American Government would realise the inhumanity of this "barbarous mctb.-. od of warfare!"

| King Albert and the Royal Family left tho Palace for secret quarters. Every, precaution was being taken to protect the. Sovereign from peril. One bomb party wrecked the hospital of Saint Elizabeth, but, fortunately, there were no patients in the building. The bombs exploded with terrific force and threw the inhabitants of Antwerp, into a condition of semi-panic. TRAGIC XICHT WAB. Dr. Charles Carolea, the special correspondent of the London Daily Chronicle, telegraphed the following account of the attack on August 25: "I have just lived through n mosl) tragic night war. For the first time i» history, a great civilised community bag been bombarded from the sky in t'a« darkness of night. Count Zeppelin, whom Kaiser Wilhelni of Germany called tha greatest genius of the present century, has pa-formed the greatest exploits of his life. lie may be proud of his achevcj ment, for be lias mangled and slaughtered non-lei'igerents, men, women, andlittle children, lie has thrown bombaon hospitals, when- the Belgians were tend-? )ng the Gem.an wounded. He has stag-, gered humanity.

"On August 5 the German commander Warned General Lieman at Liege that if the Jorts there did not surrender a Zeppelin fleet would Ull »c at once Oil tho torts. Liege did not surrender, and the Germans have been as good as their word. They have surpassed themselvesm the art. of striking terror, and they have placed themselves outside the pale of humanity. 1 was awakened at one o clock tins morning by a frightful cannonade. A Zeppelin had been sighted about /00ft above the town. lat oneswent out into the streets, and for 11 hours, from one hour after midnight until noon, I scarcely left tho seen* of catastrophe.

I have explored every one of the devastated streets. So far I have found' ten bombs in ten different streets. It is impossible yet to get accurate statistics, but according to my calculations there were about 11(10 houses slightly damaged and about CO nearly destroyed " '