The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1916-05-07

/ Britain Is in almost complete darkness
during the night, so that the where.
abouts OF towns may be concealed
from their airships; nor can It be a
secret that railways cease running
when raid is signalled, so as moi
to act as guides, or that motors are
forbidden to carry lights at night. And
1t surely is evident that these precau.
tons must hinder the transport OF
munitions and the movements OF mu.
milton workers during the hours OF
darkness. II one were able to count
up all the working hours lost from
this cause one would certainly find
that the output OF munitions OF all
sorts has been prevented to an appre-
ciable extent from increasing as II
might have done had all the lights OF
England been kept full on night after
night. '.
/, 1t is true that airships bombs have
not destroyed any important NUM-
ton factory nor have they caused any
enormous casualties among troops In
camp, nor have they sunk ships, nor
blown up naval ammunition stores,
but they have undoubtedly done work
of military value.
One may brand Zeppelin crews as
baby killers and jeer at their bad
workmanship, or scoff at their mis-
taking country village for a manu-
featuring city. but the fact remains
that they have done useful work from
their point Of view.
The reports circulated by the Ger
man wireless" Boosting of havoc
wrought In places which have never
even seen a Zeppelin, are, of course,
deliberate lies, but they are lies with
a distinct purpose in view. They are
intended not only to encourage the
German people, but to impress neu-
trail nations with the power OF Zeppe-
Inns and they have that effect. The Ger
mans know that Great Britain cannot
prove that they are lies without giving
away precisely the information the
Germans want as to where the bombs
really fell, and the British official
statements that the German stories
are inaccurate" "bombastic," et.., are
no more likely to be believed by the
Swedish. or Routnanian or South
American or even North American citi-
zens than are the German statements.
Perhaps British statements are even
less believed, for throughout the war
the Germans have deliberately and
very carefully "doped" neutral ma
lions with lies which It is almost i'm
possible to disprove without telling
Just what the Germans would like to
know ah6ttt mopv 4hipua
It is Just as well to look this fact
squarely in the face, for it is all Of a
piece with the policy Of German air
ship raids, and II helps one to un-
derstand the real value OF their air
ships as both a political and as a mill
tary force. f's' " h'i..t
Moral Effects Of Zeppelin Raids.
From the British point OF view.
apart from their harmful effect on
the increase OF output OF munitions,
the various airship raids have really
been OF considerable value. At the
time Of writing something over three
hundred people have been killed and
over seven hundred injured in Great
Britain. according to official state
mens, by airship bombs, a fact which
is regrettable, and would never have
occurred at all II those in high places
had realized what some OF US have
been preaching ever since Mr.. Bleriot
flew over the channel in 1903, namely
that Great Britain Is no longer an is
land and that the command OF the air
is as necessary to the British empires
bare existence as the command OF
the sea. Nevertheless, II Britain had
held such a command of the air and
had STAYED OF aerial attack as effec-
lively as the navy has STAYED OF naval
attack, 1t is doubtful whether the
people of Great Britain as a whole
would ever have awakened to the vital
Importance to the country of an effect
i've air fleet.
II the Germans had the political
foresight to have saved up their Yep
pelins till they had feet OF a hun
bred or two Of them ready to launch
on England at once, as they would
have had by the end Of 1916, they
would have not only done immense
moral and material damage, but they
would almost certainly have found
the English. according to national Gus
tom unprepared for them. AS it is,
they have sent their ships over first
of all one or two at time, and then
half dozen at time, so that En-
gland has been able to take the meas
ure OF their effectiveness gradually,
and has been warned In spite Of itself
to prepare defenses accordingly The
result has been that the Germans
have lost ships time after time, and
in due course they will find that II is
impossible to navigate over British
ground at all, at any rate with air
ships. Small, fast aeroplanes are
another matter altogether, and are
outside the scope OF THIS article!
Educatiye Value.
AS for the effects OF airship raids
on the people themselves, it IS grail
tying to find how little the people
have been frightened. In fact, the
educative value of the raids entire
ly outweigh any harmful moral effect
they may have had.
Naturally, there has been certain
amount Of panic where bombs have
fallen in thickly populated districts.
but such an amount of panic Is nat
ural where an unseen. death Is de-
scending from the heavens unexpect-
eddy. Thow cricket ball into the
air near a group of schoolboys and
then shout "Headsi" See how many
will run aimlessly in panic and how
| connarafiyely faw will utnnd md