The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1914-12-18
1t Is Believed. That 100 or
More Persons Were Kill
ed by the Germans
INQUEST BEGUN
AT HARTLEPOOL
les, But Escaped with Slight Dam
age - British Ships Which Pursued
Were Struck by Shells.

z LONDON, Dec. Is. An inquest
began at Hartlepool yesterday over the
bodies of the victims of the German
bombardment killed in Hartlepool and
West HartlepoOl. In opening the court,
the coroner said that never before in
English history had an inquest been
held under similar circumstances, and
that he hoped the occasion would never
occur again. The Smelling of the Har-
tlepools, he added, afforded a faint
idea of what Belgium and France had
suffered through the German inya-
sion
The evidence, though mostly of q
formal character, brought to light some
pathetic cases. An old woman was
picking up coal dropped from cars on
the railway embank ment when she was
killed by shell. An old man and his
two daughters We're Just starting
breakfast in the kitchen when a shell
burst in the room. killing all three of
them. \ young woman went to the
house of her aged mother, intending
to conduct her to place of safety.
Entering the passageway, she stumbled
across her mother 5 body \ she'll had
pierced the roof and killed her. An
elderly man who thought the gun-fir-
ing WAS that of British ship at prac-
tlcc sat down unconcernedlv to break
fast. \ she'll carried away the corner
of his house, killing his two little
grand
The verdict rendered by the cor
oner's jury was that the deaths OF the
~ persons We're due to bombardment
of the twin boroughs "bv an enemy
who, under cover of Il dense foe. fred
shot and she'll into the towns, killing
many unarmed civilians. -
Although at a late hour last night
the official estimate Of the casualties
was 50 persons killed and about 30
injured, many of the wreck ed houses
have not been explored. and il is he
heved that the list of dead eventually
will reach 100. Eight soldiers, two OF
them eunners in the coast defense. aud
two sailors, are among the killed
Army officers who examined the ruin
caused by the bombardment estimate
that the Germans fred POO shells.
chiefly of the 9-inch and I2-inch kind.
Several l2inch shells which had not
exploded were found Yesterday in the
soft earth. The Hartlepools We're raked
from three angles by the enemy. LA
ing off the peninsula, which the Ger
mans approached from the south. both
wv Lo Nt4t SHtIltu bN the forward
guns as the cruisers advanced.
It is officially reported at Berlin
that the German vessels which bonn
barded Hartlepool. Scarborough and
Whitby We're hit several times by the
coast batteries, but that the damage
sustained was slight.
1t is now believed that the German
squadron included at least four battle
cruisers Of the uperdreadnought class
and two armored cruisers. The she'll
ing of the Hartlepools and Scar
borough was simultaneous, but Whit
by was visited by the warships after
they had left the other towns.
The light cruiser Patrol and the de
Stroyer Doom were among the British
ships which attacked the raidin@ Ger
man cruisers and both were struck by
shells. They lost FIVE men killed and
- wounded. No details are given III
the admiralty, which simply issues a
list Of the casualties. The two vessels
mentioned could have only small
chance of doing any serious damage to
the larger German ships engaged.