New Britain herald., 1915-09-20
LONDON DAMAGED BY ZEPPELIN RAID
Forty Persons Killed and 200 h.
 jured, Claim 0rduna Passengers

New York, Sept. 2O.-A handful Of persons from the millions who saw the first Zeppelin raid over the hearb of London, on the night of September 8, reached New York today aboard the steamship Orduna, with thrilling stories of the fight in the sky be- tween the invaders and British air. craft, and other details of the darn- age inflicted which had hitherto been suppressed by the, censor.
 There were said to be three Zep- pelins in the fleet, although thoso who told the story today had seen but one. They circled over the theater and hotel district of London. dropping explosive and incendiary bombs. One of the latter, 1t was said, caused the destruction of an entire block of warehouses within five min- utes' walk of St. Pau1s cathedral An explosive bomb ripped through a six story tenement in the center OF the city, shattering the building from top to bottom and killing dozen or more men, women and children as they rlept.
 Three Hospitals Destroyed.
 Several bombs, according, to an eye
  cluster, the central one of which was the Ophthalmic hospital, full of wounded soldiers. All three buildings were rocked to their foundations, and not a pane of glass was left intact.
 Pieced together from accounts given by the Orduna's passengers, the story of the air raid was as follows:
 "The raid occurred between 1O:45 and 11:15 o'clock on the night of Sep- tember 8. Persons asleep in the Met ropole, the Victoria and other hotels in the center of the city were awak- ened by the whirr of aeroplane en- zines as the British air fleet took wing to repel the invaders Just as the Zeppelins appeared over the Strand most of the theaters were pouring their crowds into the street. There, according to some passengers, a panic impended. With the first word of the approaching aircraft the lights were turned off, and there was a hurrying for vehicles to take the people to their homes.
 Searchlights in Play.
 Suddenly, from every section of London, the sky was swept by long, white beams from scores of search lights. It was not long before two lights rested upon a Zeppelin while the others continued to search the sky for more aircraft. Aeroplanes could be seen frequently as they crossed the searchlight, circling up ward The roar of guns from the city was punctuated at intervals by the explosions of bombs which fell in Newgate street, not far from St. Pauls cathedral in Holborn, in Cheap side, in Bloomfield street and near the Thames water front
 'AThe Zeppelin seemed to float lazi1y above us" said Miss A. s. Tatham of Sydney, Australia, who was staying at the Victoria hotel, near Charing Cross. Tt reminded me of nothing so much as great fat sausage"
 My wife and I watched the Zep- pelin from a balcony of our hotel, the Metropole," (which is near the Ma tional Gallery and the Strand), said Alexander McNab of Bridgeport, Conn. ''1t went directly over the hotel and dropped bombs around us."
 Only Lightly Clad
 There was hardly space of five seconds during the ten minutes or more that the searchlight beams
 
 said, that the sky was not lighted by flashes of exploding shells As time passed those who had fled at first to cellars gained courage and came out into the streets. They were in almost every stage of undress, eye witnesses said, and thousands of men, women and children walked the streets, or stood in groups gazing upward dressed only in their night clothes.
 The bursting shells, lighting the sky like meteors, shattered into sud- den fire all around the Zeppelin. The spits of flame seemed to be finding their target. Meantime, the Zeppelin maneuvered over the Holborn section of London, circling at least twice. The maneuvers ended when a shell burst almost directly under the aircraft's s bow.
 Lost to Searchlights.
 A swerve, a sudden dip and Zep- pelin was lost to the searchlights. A moment later the airships was spotted, and she appeared to be going down by the head. For few seconds she hovered uncertainty, then righted, pointed her nose slightly upward, and ascended so rapidly that within a minute or two the search lights could find her no more.
 London went to bed that night with hot wrath, but not in fear, those pas sengers said. The next day, at re- i cruiting stations which had been empty the day before, there were long lines of men waiting. eager 10 join the army.
 City Block in Ashes. Back of the Cathedral, where there are many warehouses, there were wis., ible effects of the raid. An entire city block was in ashes. The burned build ings had been filled with clothing and other supplies for the British army.