The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-10-18
Official Press Reports Five Dis.
tinct Areas Suffered in At
tack From The Air
BUT TWO COMBATANTS
AMONG RAID VICTIMS
Most of III Sufferers Were
Women and Chi!dren--Peo-
pie Renamed Cool Despite
Bursting OF Bombs

London. Oct. 1.-THE official press
tonight, Tor the first time, allows tas
Tact TO be known that there were i've /.
successive Zeppelin raids last Wed.
nesday evening--one at a time when
tl' ater and amusement places were
filled and The second bout lnidnighr
The account sa - bo,nbs were drop.
pea by the air raiders upon five dis.
enct areas but does not state thetr
location. The absence. OF panic, even
Il. theaters, where the bursting 81
bombs and guns could he plainly
E'lrd. is emphasized. At one place,
th'> statement says, bomb dropped
through the street into the subway.
containing gas and water mains.
Here fire resulted from the bomb
melting gas pipe. a summary Of
the account follows
The darkenlng of the metropolis
tan area. combined with the height
at which the air craft were travelling.
prevented the enemy from discover
ing the exact position OF places Of
Importance.
The official report issued In Ber-
lin proves that the raiders are gross
ly in error as To most cases where
bombs We're dropped. Except for one
chance shot. the damage was confined
to property not connected with the
conduct of war,
l25 Victims Noncombafants-
"Of the 81 persons who were kill
ed or injured, no one save one or two
soldiers were eombatants.
The population of London
though hundreds of thousands heard
the bursting OF the bombs and guns.
remained cool ana there was no panic.
There were even less signs of excita-
ment than on The previous occasions
and the official warnings were better
observed
when the air craft had passed ana
the guns had ceased, most people
went quietly to bed. and they were
andisturbed by the second raid which
occurred al midnight over another
part of London.
I'm the theatera. where the firing
and explosions were plainly heard
there was a commendable absence OF
panic.
In five distinct areas damage was
done In the first area there is little
residential property Bombs, were
dropped containing high explosives
which in four cases fell into the
street. and in a fifth case upon the
back premises OF large building
thronged with people. One large
bomb penetrated the street into the
subways containing gas and water
mains. In exploding the bomb melted
the gas pipes. resulting in a fire.
Where Damage Was Done
"one explosion damaged buildings.
and destroyed all glass in the neigh
borhood. There was a number Of
casualties here, those killed either
sitting in the front rooms Of the blljia-s
tngs or working or walking in the
street
The second area contains a large
block of residential flats and offices. A
high explosive bomb fell into q gar-s
den close TO the flats. One or two
rooms on the ground floor were total
" wrecked. On the first floor cons
bomb fell on top OF one Of the huild-
ings, demolishing the top story. No
casualties occurred here. but there
We're several narrow escapes
In the third area two bombs vera
dropped on a large modern building.
One fell upon the roof and the other
to the pavement. The latter exploded
sideways. Damage occurred mainly in
houses on the other side of the street.
little damage.
Hotel Blown Up.
"a bomb was also dropped upon q
three -fioored hotel. The building was
old and unable to withstand the force
OF the explosion. The whole hotel
was blown up. The occupants had
taken refuge to the lower floor and
escaped injury The effect OF the ex-E
plosion also was severely felt in .
Belgian refugee restaurant ---
I'm the, fourth area the damage
done was TO property which in most
cases was occupied by working caassss
people. many of the houses being over
crowded by the poor people, Here
large number OF bombs were dgopaet
and the damage done was exclusively
suffered by private traders and haaiSe-1
holders who behaved with the utmost
herolsn and coolness. There Waas
some loss. of life.
One group of small houses was
entirely destroyed by single ex-s
plosive bomb One bomb fell on top
81 "A building keeping dairy cattle
None of them was killed and none
injured. The dairyman. with great
presence of mind made his way 70
the top story adjoining the damages
house and brought down his children
TO safety.
The last a-Se affected by the Zep4
peIin raid was in suburb in Whlcnl
there are detached and semi aetachea
houses. Here the largest number a.
bombs dropped must have been ~
rapid fire The actual hombardmNnks
lasted a minute The distance fram
the first bomb to the last could srFstl
have been more than coo yartiNsI
Within sixty yards Ave bombs tell tQsss
gether three in garden thirty yard4s
square. sgssss
THE striking and fortltnate deAtNxes
OF the whole hombardmeut IN tfl4s
number OF cases In which ko3nb4 fAy|
to the ground instead at up6M NJ } II
ings. Only three houses IN IN 1
area We're STRUCK S,s.& NJ
MANY Ae4ealshine Eeea
''There were MANY astont1S Y
s>pes. = bomb tell into 4 sssl