The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1914-12-18
GERMANS BOMBARD
ENGLISH COAST
Whitby, Scarborough and Hart
lepOOl Under Fire.
WHITLEY ABBEY DAMAGED.
English Admiralty Declares the
Attack OF No Great Sig
nificance.

Attack OF NO Great Sig
nifcance.
London, Dec. 16.-For the first
time in centuries England has been
struck by foreign foe. squadron
OF swift German cruisers crept
through the fog last night to the
eastern coast and turned their guns
against the Britons.
When day broke they began bonn
bardment Of three important towns
l--Hartlepool at the mouth of the
Tees, Whitby, 35 miles southwark,
and Scarborough noted as a pleas
ure resort, Is miles beyond. Hartle-
pool suffered most. There two bat
tie cruisers and an armored cruiser
were engaged. The British war Office
| fixes the number of dead at Hartle-
pool as seven soldiers and % civil
ians.
At Scarborough, shelled by bat
tie cruiser and an armurcd cruiser
13 casualties are reported while at
Whitby two were killed and two
were WOunueQ.
Men, women and children of the
civilian population were left dead
or wounded struck without warn:ng
while at work. In all the casualty
list totals 110, according to the Of
ficial estimates, of whom 81 ere
known to be dead.
At Hartlepool, churches were damI
aged and the gas works and lumber
yards were set afire, while the alb
hey at Whitby was struck The
Balmoral Hotel at Scarborough re-
ceived the full effect OF a shell. A
number OF houses and shops were
shattered and partly burned in each
of the towns.
The hostile squadron escaped in
the mist after an encounter with
coast guard vessels
ENGLAND ANGERED.
A wave of intense anger has
spread over England because Of the
attack. Bitter 6enumciation is
heard everywhere of policy which
permits shelling of undefended
towns. The fortress at the mouth of
the Tees is supposed to give some
protection to the important shipping
base of Hartlepool but Whitby and
Scarborough are as open to the
enemy as is Atlantic City on the
New Jersey coast.
Scarborough with it's old castle
on a high hill, the big casino with
high tower and the row OF pre-
tentious hotels on the water front
presents shining mark for target
practice. Few visitors were at the
hotels, because of the cold weather,
but one invalid is known to have
! been wounded
! In a direct line the mouth of the
Tees is about $50 miles from Helgo-
land, the German naval base in the
North Sea. The British admiralty
says the German ships were among
their fastest. They chose a night
when thick mist prevailed and
must have left their base at least
two hours before dark. AS they
started to return about O'Clock
there remained about seven hours
of daylight for the pursuit, which.
/ however, was rendered almost i'm
/ possible by the fog. How the Ger
mans evaded all the mines and pa
trolls remain a mystery. although
experts recall that in maneuvers
British ships have performed the
same feat, through the compa "a
lively small space between England
and the Sycili Islands which is not
mined.
NOT DIFFICULT.
The admiralty report announces
that such demonstrations are not
difficult to accomplish but the popu-
lation generally cherishes so great
confidence in the protection of the
british navy that the Inhabitants of
the coast towns made no serious
preparation to meet a bombardment.
Except for the working people.
the English are late risers during
the short winter days. The bonn
bardment occurred between and 8
O'Clock, an hour when many persons
were at breakfast while others were
on their way to work or were open
ing their shops.
The booming of heavy guns off the
three towns drew hundreds to the