The bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1916-10-13

match TO new incandcscent gas
burner. She slid down toward the
ground, and it all happened IN about
fifteen Seconds. .,'. III,
u made for The spot where she fell,
and found her huge heap Of broken
metal. There was smoIdering in some
places. Shortly afterward the fire
brigade arrived on the scene and the
hose WAS played on her for some
time" ef..'
Sees zeppelin Fall. ,a.r
Another eye witness says. - an,
u saw Il Zeppelin completely
focused by several powerful search
lights. 1t appeared to be ut great
height, but it seemed that, it must be
hit at any moment, SO splendid was
the craftsmanship Of our gunners.
Presently the Zeppelin disappeared In
the low-lying clouds, and while the
searchlights continued to play on the
spot where the Zeppelin had been
focused glow spread over the SKY
and gradually extended ind Increased
IN its intensity until the whole heav-
ems Wore Illuminated. = : = - A--.zL
In the center Of this magnificent
glow was Il. huge flame. which soon
became larger and larger 1t was
quickly apparent thut the Zeppelin
was well nilame. The airship tilted
at an angle of some 50 degrees. and
in q few seconds the contlagration ex-
tended the full length OF the airship.
Almost as suddenly the huge blnze
subsidized into dull red glow, and the
spectacle was at an end"
Yet another spectator saw it thus:
'rM air was full Of the reports OF
anti-aircraft guns and falling bombs,
Suddenly great blaze Of light up
peared in the sky at an altitude OF
many thousands Of feet. A great COL
umn Of flame shot up, and a great
cloud Of smoke could be seen rolling
above the fire. The flames shot up
hundreds of feet. ,
AS the raider slowly fell to the
earth its appearance suggested huge
fiery parachute. The blazing mass
gathered speed as it fell while the
flames alternately expanded and con-
tracted. BY the time the airship was
within thousand feet of the ground
all the gas had apparently left the
bag. and only the solid framework
and the gondolas containing the
wrecked engines and the scorched
and lifeless bodies Of the crew reached
the ground" ~, .' g..
Conferred in Light Ball.
Another watcher on hill north Of
London thus describes the plight OF
the Zeppelin before it was hit:
sWhen the guns opened fire the Yep
pelin had already been centered In the
ball Of light created by the myriad
arms Of pale lights which shot up sud-
denly from the darkness Of the city.
The Zeppelin was at great height
so great, indeed. that it seemed just
like bar Of polished steel. about
the thickness Of an engine piston rod,
and there it remained, apparently mo-
tionless and undecided which way to
go, while the guns peppercd 1t without
cessation. &2
:."Shells burst around 1t, in front and
behind it, above and below 1t. It
made to turn as If in the direction OF
the coast, but a shelf burst oninously
near its nose and caused 1t to swing
round in the opposite direction. Its
tail dipped and it made to ascend still
higher, when shell burst directly
over it. Another descent was neces-
sary, and three shells burst stimuli
taneously> below it.
Behind it and in front Of 1t two
shells burst at the same time. The
Zeppelin wrigg'ed like some leviathnn
lin the coils. 1t seemed impossible for
it to go north, SOUTH east or west. and
there it stood for Il second or two.
helpless to move, with the shells
bursting all around It,"
Aeroplanes In Pursuit.
One who witnessed the end from a
country lane ON the northern outskirts
of London ut distance Of eight or
nine mikes heard the Zeppelin pass
over first and then aeroplanes in pur-
suit. He said:
III there was no explosion from
bombs the lack of noise from this
source was made up by the whir Of
aeroplanes in pursuit. They took up
the chase through the white fog. The
Zeppelin flew off and darkness once
more reigned.
"Then the country became as light
as day and a glow of red illuminated
everything. For few moments the
fame was so intense that 1t was easy
to read the print of newspapers, and
the objects in the thick fog were mag
nifled two or three times their usual
size. It was a fantastic scene. "A
roar followed and darkness again fell.
A moment later the whole scene was
again enacted and then the country
side was once more swallowed up in
darkness" 3d.,
A flying officer said the destroyed
Zeppelin appeared to him to be larger
and longer than the usual type al
though he was not in position to say
that it was a super-Zeppelin.
The second Zeppelin, slightly dam