The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-31

generalities about the sufferings Of
the tens of thousands. In the station
at Hartepool l shared the same hotel
porLT with a man who had a drawn
ashcf1 face
"Td been in Africa five years" he
said. II had come home to see my sis
ter l got a telegram of welcome on
any arrival. In London l got another
after the Smelling. I've come for my
sisters body"
Though the British navy kept the
seas safe for him on that long voyage
from Africa. it did not prevent the
house in which his cister lived on the
beach at Hartlepool from being blown
10 pieces by German naval guns and
she with IT,
Towns and towns have been sheled
on the Continent. But their people were
warned. They realized that the battle line
was approaching. Two or three shells al
ways came first as introduction before
general bombardment Every French
man knew what to eXI c,'t IL the enemy
approached. lie had heard his elders
talk about Franco-Prussian war times
At Antwerp there were weeks Of
Smelling on the outskirts; and no more
houses were damaged in Antwerp and
fewer people were killed there than in
Neither Rheims, nor scissors. nor
Arras in months Of intermittent bonn
bardment had as many civilian casual
ties as Hartlepool in half an hour.
Hartlepool people had been eX-
pecting Zeppelin bombs. of course.
Every city in England has been ex-
peCting them. The failure Of the re-
peated German threat uf a Zeppelin
raid to materialize has whcttcd antici-
patton. But the Germans had not sug-
Ecsted any naval hombardmeut.
Hartlepool and also Scarborough and
Whitby had the experience of getting
an earthquake when tornado was on
the programme of horror.
War between soldiers is a profess
sonal business. You expect casualties
a. surely as you expect death for the
bull in a bull fight, or that somebody
will get hurt in a riot This business
Of tossing man organized and premedi-
tatcd death out of the blue on women
and children without a seconds notice
was the most dramatic and horrible
Ehing of the war thus far.
Very clearly. it was planned The
shades of Drake and Morgan and Capt
Kidd should applaud. Not a nice de-
tail of calculation or information was
wanting
The Germans chose battle cruisers
and armored cruisers for their enter
prise. This meant the minimum of
risk; but a big risk nevertheless
these raiders and twenty-five knot
monsters were takng-risks not only
of the mines which strew the sea, but
Of British submarines. If a squadron
of dreadnoughts got between them and
home. they would he sunk. And ar
n1Orp1 Sarg 70 worry N-.luab1a Cor
many has none to spare.
But with a greater speed than dread
rouchts, they can escape If the dread
nuughts give chase and at the same
time they can overwhelm all the lighr
cruisers on watch with their fire
Moreover, they know where the British
dreadnoughts and the British cruiser
patrols are resting. Day and night the
British must watch for just such a
blow, while the Germans choose the
hour and the time. Despite its over
whelming superiority the British navy
Us on the defensive until the moment
that the German battle fleet comes
forth to fight. The British want to
keep their ports open. mine free, for
commerce. They have long coast
line to defend; the Germans a short
fre.
Of Helgoland, their lights masked,
comes this German squadron on the
night that IT'S Information and the
weather bureau say is propitlous. Its
compass guides ii right. Before dawn
It is near the British coast. And the
morning is foggy. Most mornings on
rhe North Sea are at this season Of
the year; If not, then misty.
Any patrol may easily mistake the
squadron for British. If a patrol tries
10 give the word the Germans drown
the wireless with a continual sizzle
from theirs. once before a German
squadron had thrown shells at Var
mouth which had only burst in the
surf. They will not try Yarmouth a
second time. There are three towns
which are to receive attention uhi,
time. IIartlepool Scarborough anC
Whtby
Hlrtlepool and SCARBOROUGH are about
as much alike as Home stead. Pa, and
Atlantic City. one is "A city of engine
and machine and ship building works
thc other is largely summer resort
lIartlepool Is to suffer most, 1t has
more people living closer together t.
suffer Besides, it is a fortified town
That is. it has a few guns, not of large
caIbre Somebody of influence once
insisted that Hartlepool must be de
Tended and SO n was given a littl'
defence. Scarborough and Whitby haC
none.
Maybe there was a Ettle excuse fo
Hartlepool,' said the wife of a Hartle
pool workman, which was prett!
broad minded of her when her roof wa
restng on the floor of her bedrooms
"but can't see what right they had u