"BIT OF OUR OWN."

Taranaki Daily News, 18 April 1916, Page 8

"BIT OF OUR OWN."

,THE BOMBED ZEPPELIN, 1 i LONDON MISSED. London, April .3. Many harrowing tales are tc hand of death and mutilation and destruction by the Zeppelin bombs. A great deal of house and shop property' Was destroy-.I ed. The explosive bombs were of ter- I rific strength, ripping up roofs like sheets of paper, and wrecking many buildings. Steel fragments flew to great distances. The windows of whole terraces of houses were blown out, and in one instance a single bomb smashed every window for 100 yards, Drought down ceilings and tore off doors. A mother and two children were killed in their sleep. Their house was a mass of bricks and mortar, entangled with bits of broken furniture and bedclothes. IN DARKEST LONDON. Although London was not visited it was plunged in darkness as soon as rumors of the arrival of the Huns w ; ere received; and it was a strange sight to look over the vast metropolis from an eminence, and see only the tiny glimmers of light here and there, the empty streets, and the darkened trams and motor buses slowly crawling along. The train services were suspended hours, and crowds of passengers waited on the platforms in the gloom, which was only relieved by an occasional official with his lighted lantern groping his way to his duty. When at daylight, the waiting, crowds learned that one .of the Zeppelins had been brought down off the coast, there was a keen feeling of pleasure everywhere. The general thought was: ,; We are getting a, hit. of our own back at last." The Times correspondent in East Anglia says that the first bomb was dropped on his town at 8.20 p.m. The place was almost in darkness, and it is supposed that the noise made by a factory hooter that was sounding a warning betrayed the whereabouts of the town. One bomb wrecked a working man's cottage, which was empty, and killed two women and one man in the street, and injured others. A second bomb fell in a river near by. There were two airships, and after the two bombs had been dropped both disappeared. UNLUCKY TOWN. Another east coast town was more severely treated. Three men, one woman and three women were killed and twelve people injured,, while shops and dwelling houses were smashed. The streets were crowded with residents anxious to get a sight of the Zeppelins, which flew very high, The open country in this district >vas bombarded promiscuously. A Zeppelin appeared above a little village, and was so far up in the air that it appeared to be creeping in and out between the stars. It hovered for half an hour, apparently trying to spy out its prey, dropped a bomb in a field and flew off. The last seen of the visitors was at about three in the morning, when two airships passed over like hawks going to roost. The Daily Mail points out that it is well to rejoice over the splendid shooting of the gunner who brought the Zeppelin down; but two new Zeppelins arc . hatched weekly. Reports coming in from the raided districts describe mstny instance? of damaged houses, but none of panic. The curiosity of the people to see the Zeppelins overcome their fear. The majority of the bombs fell in 1 fields and open spaces, and frequently failed to explode. Huge crowds visited the spots where those that did explode had caused immense craters. Relief, grim amusement, and annoyance were the only felings noticeable. But there were many sad incidents. Nevertheless the people in the towns where the casualties were worst only express horror at the wanton slaughter of women and children. At one of the inquests a witi ness described the discovery of a mother nr«l her two children in a wrecked house. The father was away fighting at the front.