The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1914-12-31
mot EXCITED
OVER INVASION
When News Came Of sombardment Of
Scarborough. The People OF
England Were Very
Calm.
RACES ARE KEPT GOING
Similar Situation In America Would
Have Set tho Population
About Half
Crazy.
RACES ARE KEPT GOING
by VIM. G. Shepherd, United Press

BY VIM. G. Shepherd, United Press
StAn Correspondent.]
LONDON. Dec. 20. (By mail to New
York.)-Never trouble trouble, until
trouble troubles you-and even then
not much. That's the way England
took the coming of the Germans to
Scarborough.
was in the United Press once,
through which runs the tides Of Eng
lands and thu world e, news, when the
first flash came in over the private
telephone that runs from the admir-
atty. 1t was the simple announce
ment that German ships had lombard
ed three towns on the east coast and
that the situation was developing"
Pom. Pom. And this was all we
got out of the fact that the Germans
had come. The Germans had come to
England. That awful moment had
arrived of which play writer's and
story writers had written for years.
The Germans had come. on the coast
of England was German feet Eng
lishmen were undoubtedly being slain
In their homes-the homes they have
$50 proudly proclaimed were their
castles. And for the first time in 200
years the moment had come when
his castle was not safe. went over
to the ticker to see how 1t was hand
ling the story. / was wondering what
such a moment would mean in the
United States. Suppose the news had
just flashed over the wires in America
that the enemy's ships were lombard
ing San Diego, Los Angeles and San
Francisco and the navy department
had announced that the situation was
developing" A messenger boy stroll
ed leisurely in. A mad American cor
respondent jumped Mt him and tore
his message open. 1t was from west
coast correspondent of the United
Press who said that Scarborough
was being shelled by Germans" More
messages came In, borne by languid
messengers. They all bore out the
admiralty report. The Germans were
Smelling Scarborough, Whitby and
Hartlepool
looked again at the ticker. Has
the situation developed into great
naval battle? r. says the ticker;
then a." then &C." then az" then
IN" then C. Then comes the
word results" Racing Results"
and the Englishmens castles being
shot to pieces! Would an American
newspaper mix baseball scores with
news of an attack upon San Francisco.
l don't know. People are acting queer
ly all over the world these days. Any
how the ticker continues: Two
o'clock race; Ignotus, first; Lean. sec
ond; six lengths. only two finished"
If it had been only big race. But
it was tiny affair in which the win
ner got $435 and loser SIG. / looked
up. In messengered another boy. He
was seized and pried from his mes
II he'd happened on Chinese hop
wired that message just came from
wired that message just come from
Scarborough and that train had
left that town in the midst Of the
Smelling. 1t had some wounded aboard.
The Germans had come to English
shores; they had filtered through the
ranks Of the greatest fleet in the
world And, II similar thing had
happened in America the folks there
would have gone mad with excitement.
The ticker started again.
'Three o'clock race II said.
don't know how that race came out.
went into the streets. The newspaper
posters said England attacked by
Germans" but l am telling the truth
when I say that saw five men, in the
first block, buy papers and stick
them in their pockets without reading
them.
wight came on. London settled IN
to pitch darkness. The taxicabs CROP
ed around with their dim headlights,
but their groupings were all toward the
theatres and darkened Picadilly. And
when I heard music f1ating from a
restaurant door, the weight fell away
from me. I should worry?
London wasn't. A tune ran through
nv head. Then came the words:
I'm the guy who put the glin in Pick
adilly;
I'm the king who canned the lights
of Leyster Square:
Pm tha lid who mt old IOpdontOwn