Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1915-08-05

like the droning Of a monster bee. be.
came audible.
The siren burst forth again and at
the same moment, with a deafening
crash the great mortar on the Campo
nile shot its first Illuminating bomb
into the air. Regarded as fireworks 1t
was a wonderful spectacle. but In COM
petition with the light Of the full
moon, which shone in IN absolutely
cloudless sky, 1t was not of very much
effect in revealing the whereabouts OF
the flying enemy.
Tremendous Explosion.
BY this time the hum of the aero.
planes motor announced that the ma
chine had reached the lower end OF
the city. though it was still invisible.
Suddenly there was a tremendous ex.
plosion. A huge column of water at
the mouth of the Grand canal sprang
a hundred feet into the air. Buildings
shook for a radius of half a mile. 1t
was the enemy's first bomb-evident'
ly a monster-and had been intended
for the custom houSe.
| was watching the spectacle from
the steps of nj of the hotels facing
the Grand canal, nearly opposite the
custom house. So great was the force
of the bomb that the wash produced
by it came clear across the canal it.
self, splashed up the hotel steps and
wet me to the knees where ! was
standing On the topmost one.
AS If this had been the signal. with
one crash every gun in the city opened
fire. To us the machine still remained
i~nvisible-in fact we did not see it at
all, but judging from the terrific bonn
bardment and the bursting Of hun.
dreds Of shrapnel all about one spot
in the sky, a most beautiful sight in
the moonlight, the gunners must have
located 1t.
Rained Steel Arrows.
A moment afterward an Englishman
who was standing next to me ex.
claimed: Look! Is it raining?" The
waters of the canal were dashed as
IL by huge rain drops. thought 1t
must be the bullets fired al the ma
chine. which was o just over our
heads, falling hack into the water. but
the next day we found the peculiar
sight was caused by bundles of those
little steel arrows which have already
been launched on the battlefields of
France and Belgium. Numbers Of
them were found sticking into the
sides of the gayly painted wooden
piles to which the gondolas are
moored and which are so c%haracteris-
tic a feature of Venice.
Each arrow was marked Invented
in France, Used in Germany"
The machine continued on, circled
over the city and returned, accompa-
MED on the whole journey by the ear.
splitting bombardment. AS 1t passed
over the arsenal on its way back, it
appeared to unload its whole stock of
bombs at once, for there was a series
of terrible explosions. A huge shower
OF sparks sprang into the air. lighting
up the sky with an unearthly glare.
Another Machine sighted.
Firing from the roofs gradually
ceased and we thought the raid was
over. but again the warning shrek
came from the arsenal and the roofs
broke out into life once more. The
second machine passed over the city
along the anne route without dropping
a single bomb, travelling in a hail of
shrapnel all the way. In the mean
while a few small clouds had drifted
across the heaven.
AS long as the machine remained in
the full moonlight IL was invisible. but
as 1t passed under the clouds we
caught sight of 1t, gliding u~nconcerned.
ly along, a black speck against space.
Like the first machine, this one
headed back for the arsenal where the
aviators seemed to drop their entire
stock of bombs. A series of terrible
explosions, more intense than the first.
took place again, lighting the sky and
throwing great burning flames high in.
to the air. From all directions fire.
boats and cutters steamed past at full
speed toward the arsenal, where sew.
eral fires had broken out. Their pow
erful streams made short work of the
flames.
The extent Of damage done, as far
as l could find out, vas the smashing
to smithereens Of three houses near
| the arsenal. Two men were killed
here and a baby was found the next
morning. peacefully sleeping and en-.
tirely unframed, among the ruins. A
naval tug, moored in the basin of the
arsenal, was struck and two men, one
| officer and n sailor. killed. Two or
three small fires Of no importance and
Immediately extinguished, we're set in
the arsenal itself.