Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-09-20
HOWL0NDON MEETS
RAID BY zEPPEL|NS
Americans Who Witnessed At
tack of September 8 Arrive
in New York.
FEARS OF PEOPLE SOON
GIVE WAY TO CURIOSITY
Exploding Bombs and Roar Of Guns
Light Up Sky and Cause
Incessant Din.

A handful of persons from the
millions who saw the first Zep-
pelin raid over the heart of Lon
don on the night Of September 8
reached New York today aboard
the steamship Orduna, with thrill
ing stories of the fight in the sky
between the invaders and British
aircraft and other details of the
damage inflicted, which had hith-
erto' been suppressed by the Brit
ish censor.
There were said to be three
Zeppelins in the fleet, although
those who told the story today
had seen but one. They circled
over the theaters and hotel dis
trict of London, dropping explo-
sives and incendiary bombs. One
of the latter, it was said, de
stroyed by fire an entire block of
warehouses within FIVE minutes
walk of St. PauPs.
Shell Rips Through Tenement.
An explosive bomb ripped through .
six-story tenement In the center Of the
city. shattering the building from top
to bottom and killing q dozen or more
men, women and children as they
slept.
Several bombs, according to the eye
witnesses, fell near three hospitals in
q cluster. the central one OF which was
ed soldiers. All three buildings were
rocked to their foundations and not
pane Of glass was left intact. The pa
tients had to be moved into the street.
where they lay for hours on their cots
while the damage was repaired.
Pfeced together from accounts given
by the Ordunss passengers. the story
Of the air raid was a. folaowss T
11:1S o'clock on the night OF Septem-
ber s. q raid the previous night having
reached the eastern section OF the city.
but not the heart. Persons asleep in
the Metropole, the Victoria and other
hotels In the center Of the city were
awakened by the incessant whirr Of
aeroplane engines as the British air
fleet took wing to repel the invaders.
strand, most Of the theaters were pour
ing their crowds into the street.
Disagree as to Panic.
According to some passengers panic
impended when the first word Of the
approaching aircraft was passed from
mouth to mouth in whispers. The lights
were turned Oh, and men and women
in evening clothes fought for taxicabs
and other vehicles to take them home.
Other passengers said there was mo
panic, but that q great wave of fear
darkened city before the anti-aircraft
guns began to pop away.
Suddenly. from every section OF Lon
don the sky was swept by long white
beams from scores OF searchlights The
tops Of these beams were not long in
resting upon what they sought. When
the Zeppelin was found a dozen or more
searchlights focused their rays upon
II, stretching back to scattered points
in the city like the long white ribs
Of a fancy fan.
Roar Of Guns and Bombs.
Two searchlights finally centered on
Zeppelin, while the others continued to
search the sky for more aircraft. Already
the air was dotted with aeroplanes, which
could be seen frequently as they crossed
the searchlight beams. circling upward.
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. Paurs Cathedral, in Hol-
born. in Cheapside, in Bloomfield street.
not Tar from the Liverpool street station
and near the water front OF the Thames
river in that section Of the city in which
k%1
:-rhe Zeppelin seemed to float lazily
above ,,s" said Miss A 8. latham Of
sydney Australia, who was staying at
the victoria Hotel. near Charing Cross.
1T reminded me Of nothing % much as
"My wife and watched the Zeppelin
from a balcony Of our hotel. the Metro
poIe" (which 10 near the National Gallery
and tho strand); said Alexander A.. McNab
over the hotel and dropped bombs around
US"
Come Out Of Their Cellars.
There was hardly space Of nve Sec
onds during the ten minutes or more that
the searchlight beams rested on the raid
er. eyewitnesses said, that the sky was
not liRhtened by flashes Of exploding
shells AZ the noise Of cannonading grew
louder those who had fed at first to eel
lars eained courage and came out into the
streefs They were in almost every stage
Of undress, and Thousands Of men. women
and children walked the streets. or stood
in groups, casing upward. dressed only
in their night clothes.
The bursting shells, lighting the sky like
meteors, shattered Into sudden hre all
around the Zeppelin. The splits Of flame
time the Zeppelin maneuvered over the
Koiforn section Of London. circliuR at