Barton County democrat., 1914-12-18
GERMAN SHIPS RAID EN-
GLISH COAST AND ESCAPE
Three East Coast Cities Are Badly
Damaged by Shell Fire-Hun-
dreds of Casualties Be-
sides Enormous Da-
mage to Property

casualties at HartlepOol, Scar
borough and Whitby as 48 killed
and 116 wounded. Hundreds of
refugees have arrived at Leith.
many only with coats slipped on
over their night attire.
London, Dec. 16.-Germany
daringly attacked England today.
After a dash across the North
Sea on a misty night, a German
flotilla bombarded HartlepoOl,
scarborough and Whitby, unfor-
titled cities on the east coast of
England, early this morning.
"Some thirty persons are known
to have been killed, while the
number of injured runs well over
100. Churches were ruined.
Hundreds fled in panic while
The invaders prOieciileS thunder
ed and burst, setting on fire the
structures they had set in ruins.
Others, affrighted, took refuge
in cellars.
The gun flashes indicated that
four big warShipS were firing.
One shell that has been picked up
was twelve inches in diameter
and thirty-three inches long.
The exploding shells of the
bold cruisers, who slipped thru
the British fleet and the guard
ships and lodged the mines
thickly Strewn in the North sea,
dug holes in the streets of Scar
borough SO wide and deep that a
railway train could pass through
i them.
Hurriedly called by wireless,
British warShipS haStened from
the nearest points to attack the
enemy, whose invasion had not
been unexpected by the naval au-
thoritieS and experts.
But the German cruiser force,
made up Of the fastest cruisers,
escaped in the mist from the Bri-
tisll squadron sent to cut them off.
While England has apprehend-
led an attack from the air, this
demonstration has caused the
most intense surprise and fierc-
EST anger because unfOrtified
cities were attacked. For only
HartlepOol has a little fort at the
mouth of the Tees.
The alarm that spread through
out the kingdom resulted in call
ing out the national reserves al
Nottingham. In many other places
units of artillery and infantry
were sent to their stations in pre-
paredneSS to resist any possible
attack.
Size of Attacking Force Unknown
The number of the attacking
force has been variOuSly eStimat.
ed at from three to six cruisers
The attack began at HartlepOOl
about five minutes after s this
morning, when most of the people
were at breakfast. Ii was like {
thunderbolt from a clear sky
most persons thinking thunder
storm had arisen. The first shell
had exploded near a man whC
said afterward he thought Bri
tiSh squadron was practicins
gunnery and was making baC
craftsmanship of it. In all, ac
c0rding to best reports, about 81
shells fell in HarElepoOl. 1t wa
reported that nine persons wer,
killed there and many wounded
but in the excitement of the mo
ment this may be exaggerated
The gas works at HartlepOol wor
damaged and several lumbe
yards were set afire.
Dropped Mines to Prevent Pursui
When the German FlOtilla sal
ed from Hartlepool it drOppe
mines with the purpose of pre-
venting pursuit
At Scarborough the evidentpul
pose of the attack was to destrO
the wireless telegraph station
but it failed of its object. AT th
first sound of the firing person
rushed from their houses to tt
All they could see were the flash.
of light from the distant guT
through the mist. But when Il
shells began to fall they fled
the other direction, many of the
to the railway station to take Il
first train to Hull. About fif'
projectiles fell in ScarbOrOug
Among the buildings that suffe
ed were the sea bathing establis
ments, St. Columbus general no
pital, All Saints church and t