The Benson signal., 1916-10-14

at the same time the greatest failure.
Previous raids on England carried out
by two or even one airship have exact
ed far more severe toll of life and
wrought tremendous damage as COM
pared with what was done by the fleet
OF 13 Zeppelins which came to Lon
don early one morning recently, while,
on the other hand, for the second time
in the history of the present war two
of the mighty Zeppelins were actually
brought down and one was destroyed.
On one other occasion a Zeppelin
was forced to come down and was lost
in the Thames, but this time the air.
ships actually met their finish through
the good work of the British Flying
corps, after what was beyond doubt
the most thrilling battle in the air
which has ever occurred.
The real story of the raid and the
battle in the air cannot be told, at
least for the present, and all attempts
to describe what happened during the
night must be limited to the accounts
which are sanctioned for publication
by the official press bureau.
What the Airships Did.
The sum total of casualties and dam
age caused by the Ii Zeppelins is as
follows:
Killed-Thirty persons.
Injured-About 100 pers0as.
twenty-five houses and some out
buildings slightly damaged in the Met
ropolitan police area.
Two water mains cut.
number of cottages and a church
damaged in other areas.
A fire at some gas works.
Remarkable scenes were witnessed
in London while the antiaircraft guns
were blazing away at the raiders.
From the roof of the Savoy hotel, the
correspondent obtained perfect view
of the airships brought down. They
presented wonderful sight, caught in
the glare OF more than dozen search
lights, Illuminating them from every
angle. The light flashed as a signal
by the victorious airman was plainly
discernible above the destroyed raider
and a minute later flames were seen
to burst forth from the huge airship.
while shells were bursting all around it.
The giant machine, now only mass
OF flames, fell rapidly, meteorlike, to
at the time when it met it's doom that
its fall seemed slow.
Throngs on Streets.
In London theaters, restaurants.
cafes and bars close promptly at mid
night under the new Defense of the
Realm regulations, but although 1T was
then after two o'clock in the morning
the streets were packed and wild
roar of cheers hailed the fall and de-
structiOn of the unwelcome raider.
Hurrying from the roof to the
ground floor of the hotel, the CORE
SpOndent, although having already seen
three air raids on London, witnessed
never-to-be-forgotten scenes. Stair
cases and corridors were thronged
with people aroused from their Slum-
bers, but few indeed were those who
displayed the slightest sign of fear.
Women, who shortly before mid
night had been dancing in the ballroom
of the Savoy, elabOrately gOwned and
bejeweled, were camping on the stairs
in scanty night attire. OF men there
were few to be seen. In private cars,
taxicabS or even afOOt they had al
ready started for the spot where the
remains of the Zeppelin and the bodies
of it's crew were then being consumed
by the flames.
The little suburb of Cuffley, near En-
field, about eighteen miles from the
center of London, where the Zeppelin
met it's fate, jumped into sudden fame
and became the scene of a continuous
pilgrimage of sightSeerS from all parts
Of the metropolis.
Those who expected to carry off
souvenirs of the event, however trif-
ling, were disappointed, for every par
ticle of the wreckage that had escaped
the attention of early collectors had
safely passed into official custody.
Flock to the Scene.
The scenes at Cuffley were of a re-
markable character. Hundreds of
thousands of persons focked to see the
wrecked raider, and such was the con-
gestiOn on the local railway that an
order had eventually to be issued that
all bookings must cease. When night
came hundreds were stranded and
many made the return journey partly
ON foot.
The superintendent of aircraft con-
StructiOn and other high officers con-
Inected with the flying services were
early upon the scene and spent a con-
siderable time inspecting the machin-
cry parts of the Zeppelin which had
up to then been recovered.
Gen. Sir Sam Hughes, Canadian min
lister of militia, was among the first to
inspect the wreckage. The airship
came to earth with such force that
much of the machinery, including the
engines, each of which weighs a quar-
ter of ton, was deeply buried in the
earth. The work of digging these val