Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-13
UNDER BOMBARDMENT.
Farming Settlement In Line With
Target at Practice Range.

The citizens of the little village of Snow
den's Va a few miles below Fort FOote,
on the Potomac. had an experience last
week through which none of them cares to
go again Snowden's is a farming settle
n,ent, where several houses are built in
close proximity To each other along the
river front Thursday and Friday last the
community suddenly found itself under a
bombardment almost as fierce that Of
the Beers at the beleaguered city Of Lady
smith In Natal. Eight-inch shells fired
from siege guns at the government artil-
lery post at Fort Foote shrieked and
whizzed about the inhabitants, their houses
and barns, and naturally brought terror in
excessive abundance The residents of the
place decare that their lives and property
were placed in peril through careIessness on
the part of some one connected with the
government service
1t is stated that the artllerymen sta
toned at Fort Footc were recently ordered
to do some practice shooting with eight
inch siege guns. target was placed two
miles below the fort in the Potomac river,
and about 300 yards from the Virginia
shore. The settlement of Snowdens, one
half mile below. was in the direct line of
fire. IT was not through any exceptionally
bad shooting on the part of the artillery
gunners that the shots carried so far be
yond their mark, but the officers in charge
evidently did not reckon on the skipping
prOpenSlIeS OF smells striking the water
at anything OF an angle.
The first the inhabitants knew of their
danger was asst Thursday morning, when
the shells began to pass through their
yards and over their buildings Capt.
SuOwdcn. while in his orchard, startled
by the shrek of d shell which passed di-
rectly through the top of the apple tree
UNDER which he was standing. The pro-
jectie finally lodged in Il nearby hillside,
from which 1t was afterWard dsinterred.
1t measured eight inches in diameter and
twenty-four inches in length. The shell is
Low held as Il souvenir of a narrowing
incident. number Of additional shells
struck on Capt. SnoWden's place, while
some went further still, anding in the yard
Of Mr.. George Zimmerman. one missed
that gentiemans barn by about SIX feet.
No one happened to be in the yard at the
time and there was luckily no damage
Naturally, the knowledge that they were
being fired upon put the people of Snow
den's in a terrible fright Capt. Snowden
made his way into the city early Friday
morning visited the War Department ana
made quick protest. He told the
target practice would be stopped at once
but before word could be conveyed to the
troops at Fort Foote the firing was re-
Sumed. and another bOmbardment of Snow
den's resulted. One of the shells from the
second hiring struck i'll the yard of Mr.
Van Ness, where it was shattered, a fray
ment making its way into his house
You might have thought that Aguina do
had suddenly been discovered in our midst"
SAID a resident OF SnoWdens to reporter
for The Star today. and that the army
was trying to force him to surrender II
was more from good luck than care IN
placing the target that lives We're not
sacrificed The official responsible for the
placing of the target must have known that
the houses beyond would be in danger from
the skipping shells The houses are in pla In
view from the target. The people of our
section of Virginia are as patriotic as any
you may find in the whoe country and
! want our Sunners to be the very best shots
| in the world, but prefer that they do their
| practicinS in more secluded spots'