The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-11-12

military damage this one actually accom-
 plished.
 Between 20 and 90 people were killed by the bombs About 20 houses were de- stroyed. But only one bomb fell in the areas of war works, despite their vast ness The one which reached them fell within a works and set alight a pile of railway ties It did absolutely no other harm there, and beyond this there was no military damage, unless the killing of certain workmen employed in munl- tions factories could be so considered. This, be it remembered, is not a mili- tary report, but the statement of B neutral who was given every opportunity for investifation.
 PANICS ARE CAUSED
 Was there panic? There undoubtedly was.
 As the bombs fell in a very thickly populated and pathetically poor section there were shouts from men, shrieks from
 women and cries from children-a. vast excitement in that particular area. But panic such as this is not general nor lasting. Elsewhere in this particular town and in other places where the Zeppelins went the people were not touched by panic.
 In London, now well accustomed to Zeppelin raids the visitors arouse keen interest and people by the million stay up late at night when they are ex- pected, watching and waiting for their appearance, and fervently hoping a hope, which lately has more than once been gratified, of seeing one brought down.
 I talked with a man about the loss of life in the city which I visited
 Twenty of 30 killed said he. But ;c hot T,a I1,.o,, Jor 1,ot many in two minutes sometimes
 So it seems to be with every raid. The loss of life, of course. has been deplor able, but all the killing by Zeppelins has not helped Germany in the slightest de- gree, except perhaps through keeping up the spirits of the German people. And this advantage to Germany has been, l am sure, more than outbalanced by the hatred aroused in England where each Zeppelin raid only more firmly convinces the people that Germany must be shown no mercy These raids will affect the final settlements unfavorably to Germany, undoubtedly.
 It is curious that it so often happens that the destruction of propery by Zep- pelins is in the poorer districts. This is not merely claimed by Brit ish officialdom. It is the fact. I per sonally have verified it. Possibly it is DeCduSe the LeppellnS necessarily 1OllOW rivers and railways.
 Tt went to this Midland town unher- aided to see for myself what had hap pened I took enaugh by way of creden- tials to get through the cordon of sem tries which everywhere guarded the ruins of houses. With a guide who knew his way about I motored for nearly three hours from one place to another
 There was not suggestion of official -~l ..,;z AL. the people in the streets, several of whom had bandaged arms or heads, and they told me what had happened. Except for one or two places where bombs had been dropped without damage being done as in a cemetery l visited all the points which had been struck
 I knew precisely how many dead there were according to the official figures. During the tour I checked the list until I had reached that number. Then I went to the city norgue and asked how many bodies had been brought there. The num- Der talied exactly with the official fig ures, and further investigation showed that all of the dead had been taken to the morgue, for all were poor people and not of the class whose bodies would be taken to private undertaking establish ments.
 So there was no window dresng'' for
 
 about this raid.
 A horrible lot of facts I gathered.
 FOLLOWED TRAIL
 I followed the trail of the Zepp from beginning to end. It took me through district that at best would be pathetic enough in its squalor and poverty it's slatternly women. it's bedraggled children rolling and playing on it's cobble pave ments and hard sidewalks, without it's present atmosphere of death and destruc- tion
 Long rows of houses were here, one pre- cf9ely like it's neighbor on either side, or even all it's comrades across the street. All were of brick and mortar, but film silly built with thin roofs and floors-fine food for a smashing 200-pound bomb dropping from 10000 feet. The weight alone, without the explosive, dropped from such a height would have demol- ished any of these dwellings.
 Such houses as one sees from railway windows when the train passes through the poorest section of a great city were these, or such as one looks down upon when going through an American coal mining town. There were miles of them, workmen and their families. A woman, surrounded by children, who was moving what was left of her house. hold goods out of a gaping place which had left only two walls and no roof, told me that it had fetched the landlord about a dollar week in rent.
 It is miraculous that the bombs which crushed many of these houses did not start conflagration. A fire gaining any sort of headway inevitably would have swept away row after row of the in- flammable structures
 We came first to house that had been hit full on the roof with an explosive bomb. That house simply existed no more, while those adjoining had missing walls, so that the passerby saw the in teriors, as one looks into rooms upon the stage.
 All up and down the street windows had been shattered by the force of the great explosion, yet on the wall of one of the adjoining houses the fragile man. tie of a gas lamp was undamaged. A vacant lot across the street was filtered with straw from cheap mattresses blown straight across the street. Two women one of 60 and the other of 30 years, had lived in this house. The explosion carried them clear through to the cellar, where they survived for time. Rescuers called to them and got answers. Nut when things were cleared away they both were dead.
 Down the hill and around the corner was another great gap in a similar row of dwellings. It was as obtrusive as missing front teeth in a mans jaw.
 Here I learned terrible story. By prearrangement certain neighbors had agreed to take refuge in the cellar of this house if a Zepp raid should occur. When the warning whistles were sounded ,;,,n NFf hon J i,,