Evening star., 1915-09-18
ON LONDON
Of ZEPPELIN RAID
Official Account Issued to
Show No Military Damage
Was Done.
A MAJORITY OF VICTIMS
WOMEN AND CHILDREN
No Public Building or Other struct-
ure Used for War Purposes
Has Been Hit.

ure USED Tor war purposes
Has Been Hit.
LONDON, September 1s.-An ofhcfal
description of some Of the effects Of
the last Zeppelin raid upon the London
district, written by an impartial OBJ
server at the request Of the home Sec
retary, Sir John Simon, and issued here
for publication, follows:
while it is absolutely necessary In
the interest OF public safety to main
tain the rule that no unauthorized ac-
count shall appear. the real character
Of the outrages will be better UNDER
stood from a collection OF incidents.
each verified on the spot and vouched
for by the authorities as accurate. The
homo secretary takes this opportunity
of stating explicitly that the total cas-
ualties resulting from these air raids
have been correctly stated IN all cases.
Tho Information is based upon an ex-
haustive inquiry by the police.
Localities Kept Secret.
"In a letter some months ago First
Lord Of the Admiralty Balfour set forth
the reasons which prevented the gov
ernment from disclosing the exact To-
calities in which damage has been
done in the various Zeppelin raids.
These reasons remain valid and there
is no intention of departing from the
rule adopted to prevent Information pc
ing made available for the enemy. ell
ther in regard to the routes taken or
the places and buildings on which
bOmha were drODDed,
"The experience in the raids last
week, combined with German omcial
reports, demonstrate that commanders
of German aircraft often are grossly
in error as to their movements. and
they have no means OF estimating the
effect of their promiscuous lombard
ment materially or morally.
'In every case where damage has
which suffered. and in most cases this
has been Of the small residential kind.
Almost all the unfortunate people who
have been killed not only were non
combatants, but non-combatants of a
class who hitherto. in the honorable
practice of civilized warfare. have been
exempt from attack-women, children,
small shopkeepers, workingmen II the
sacrifice of whose lives serves no mill
tary purpose, either morally or ma
terially.
Area of 700 Square Miles.
Tho folly and futi1ity of the raids
last week may we'll be imagined when
1t is remembered that the London dis
trict. taken for convenience as the area
administered by the metropolitan po-
lice, is just short of 700 square miles
in area. 1t was by dropping hastily, at
random in the dark, explosive and in
cendiary materials somewhere on this
enormous surface that the enemy pro-
fesSed to have accomplished an i'm
portant military purposes.
THE fact is that no public institu-
ton of any kind was hit, nor was any
power station or arsenal. No damage
was done affecting the use Of any
rectly with the conduct of the war.
1T is true two hospitals narrowly es-
capped damage. but 1t is only fair to
say in behalf of the officers of an army
which has done its best to destroy the
cathedrals Of Belgium and France
ceeded in hitting only one church.
80 far as the moral effect of the raid
is concerned, it is feared that from the
standpoint Of Berlin it was a complete
failure. If Count Zeppelin himself ac-
companied the raiding aircraft, as has
been reported from Holland, he will be
disappointed to learn that only
minority OF the vast population OF Lon
don was aware of the presence of his
airship; that among those who heard
the gunf1re and saw the Zeppelins the
feelings everywhere aroused were in
terest and curiosity rather than fear.
Not Alarmed by Raids.
That London and it's suburbs as a
efforts of these raiders is in no way a
. of
less brutality of their actions or the
tragedies which have followed.
Here are a few pictures of the eff
fects accomplished by the officers and
crew of the last airship which visited
the London district. Somewhere in
London there is a little street with
public house at the corner.
''Outside 1t Wednesday evening, after
the place was closed, man and WON
went away to buy supper the man
waited for her and there fell at his
feet the first explosive bombs
They killed the man outright and
surrounding roofs. They blew in the
front of the public house. reducing the
stock to mass of broken glass.
'On the floor above they twisted an
iron bedstead. in5uring a woman who
was sleeping there. and reduced what
had been the carefully kept living
rooms of small family to a mass of
SCOT. dust, plaster and broken glass
In what conceivable respect did this
contribute to the progress of the war?
Children Killed in BED.
'1n another part of the area over
which the airship passed there is
big block of workmen's dwellings
which are crowded day and night with
children. A bomb dropped on the roof.
Directly under the roof was a little
fat in which four children had their
sleeping quarters. After being put to
bed two of them got up secretly to
make tea in an adjoining room.
THE bed they left now is a mass
Of charred and blackened sheets. with
the mattress torn to pieces. They es-
capped by a miracle, but in a small bed
room adjoining the other two children
were instantly killed.
These buildings are strong and the
bomb did not penetrate far. You hard
ly can notice the damage to the roof
If you pass in the street. That was
all that was happening when the cap
tain Of the German aircraft professed
to think he was visiting docks and
vitality damaging the port of London.
"At another place an incendiary
bomb dropped through the roof of Il
stable and fired a motor car into which
IL fell The stableman and his wife,
in spite of the fire which Immediately
became serious, turned loose eleven
horses which were in the stable. A
watch dog also was rescued, as was