Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1915-10-18

residential prprerty. some large build
mss devoted TO various kinds Of bust
ness ana comparatively wide streets. In
this area bombs were dropped contain
ing nigh explosives. which in four cases
feti upon the Streets and in the hfth
upon the back premises Of one large
building thronEed with people.
One Of the bombs. which apparently
was Of large size. penetrated the street
into the subways containing gas and wa
ter mains and. in exploding, melted the
gas pipes. setting a light fire which.
though slight in extent. lasted for sew
eral hours. The explosion Of this bomb
damaged the buildings round about con-
siderably and destroyed almost all the
glass in the neighborhood. 1t also was
responsible for number Of casualties
which win be the subject Of an inquest
Those killed swere either sitting in the
front rooms of the buildings or were
working or walking in the streets.
THE second area contains large
block of residential fats. some OF
which are occupied as Offices. Like
many other blocks Of flats in London,
this one has stretch Of garden behind
the buildings, and one-ef the enemy's
high explosive bombs fell in this gar
den close to the flats themselves. One
or two rooms on the ground floor were
totally wrecked and on the first floor
considerable damage was done. Anoth-
er bomb fell on the top Of one Of. the
buildings. demolishing the top story.
In this area there were no casualties,
though several narrow escapes.
THE third area contains two dam
aged business premises. The first Of
them is a large modern building con-
structed of reinforced concrete and
with steel and concrete roof and floor
ing. Two bombs were dropped on this
building. one of them actually on the
roof and one on the pavement iumedi-
ately beneath the doorway. The bomb
in the pavement appears to have ex-
ploded sideways. At any rate, the dam
age done which consisted chiefly of
broken glass and plaster, occurred
mainly in the house on the other side
of the street. The bomb which dropped
on the roof of the building itself did
little damage.
I'm the same area, bomb was
dropped on the roof of a small hotel,
the ground floor OF which was occu-
pied as an Office. In this case the
strength OF the building which was an
old one, was not sufficient to with
stand the force of the explosion, and
| the whole of the hotel. which consist
ed OF three floors of the building. was
entirely blown up. Fortunately in this
area those indoors had been warned
by the sound of previous explosions
and by taking refuge in the lower floor
they escaped injury altogether. In this
area as by a. curious coincident, as in
| the other, the effect of the bombs was
severely felt in a, small restaurant
opened in the interests of Belgian ref
| ugees. The fourth district in which
damage was done is one consisting en-
tirely Of what may be called working
class property, with small low build
ings, some of them used to house
small shops Of various businesses, but
| in most cases occupied and in many
cases overcrowded, by private resi-
dents Of the poorer classes.
I'm this area more bombs were
dropped than in those previously de-
| scribed and the damage done was ex-
clusive,y ssAffsned BY private Araders or
hdnseholders. sssht bshayeh With the ut.
most heroism and GOODNESS and who suf-
| fered damage and. in some cases, loss
| of life. with 20, compensating military
value for the enemy. One group Of
small houses in this area was entirely
destroyed by a single explosive bomb
and in, the ruins above which floats an
evil smell of gas and drains are. to be
| found, torn and covered with dust, ac-
| count books and documents of some
small business, which up to half past
| ElEe on Wednesday no doubt kept alive
tie e.wn\. and his family.
In anSther, spot in this district q
| bomb fell on top of a building used for
keeping dairy cattle. None of the cat
| lie were killed, though one of them was
injured. The dairyman made his way
to the top story Of his house nearby in
which all the windows were broken and
most of the ceilings destroyed by the
sorce Of the explosion, and brought down
his children to safety below. On his
way down stairs on the last journey a
further explosion blew him backwards
| onto the floor Of one of the rooms, but
he succeeded in bringing all his family
they returned to their rooms until they
were awakened again by the sound Of
guns about midnight.
} In the last area covered by the rail -
this time in suburb. there is not a
su:gIe factory or business house and
hardly any shops. There were no mill
fcry encampments, no store sheds, no
aerial defences and not even search
lights. All the property consisted Of
detached or semi-detached houses sur
rounded by small gardens. 1t was in
this district that for some obscure r "a
son the largest number Of bombs were
dropped, and they must have been
! lSInched by the commander Of a Zep-
reIin in his interview on the last raid
| describes as rapid fire. The actual
fire OF bombardment did not last min
Ute and the distance from the spot
where the first bomb dropped to the las.
could not have been more than 500
yards Within so yards no less than
five fell together. while, nearby, three
Tell in single garden which did not
measure more than 80 yards square.
The striking and fortunate feature of
the bombardment In this district. and tn
deed -of the whole attack on this &C.
casion is the number Of cases in which
the bombs dropped not on the buildings.
but on the ground. In only three cases
| In this S,,h,,rto~ or>o ~wou~