Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-10-18

THE BURNING OF
THE ZEPPELIN
From London Spectator.


The bringing down of the Zeppelin
at Cuffley is. of course, OF no military
Importance. Nevertheless. 1T remains
n of the most dramatic n most
moving incidents of the war. In war.
as in life generally. there are Incl
dents which not only go we'll as re-
CARDS their results. but which contrive
to take the stage triumphantly. Every
thing seems to fit in, and to combine
to make them magnificent. They re-
main in the moral lisnelight all the
time. Other Incidents, though they
may in reality have been equally strik-
Ing, through some accident or other
remain obscure.
In the case OF the destruction of the
Zeppelin not an lement of the heroic
ana the picturesque was wanting. Hall
London formed tle vast proscenium
for this tragedy of the air. and saw
on the aerial stage the triumph of right
over might-saW with their natural
eyes David smite Goliath and hurl him
i'm flaming ruin TO the ground. Never
befole iii human history had men sat
in such Il heater and seen sue Il cur
taiu rung down from the starry heights
above them. But what made this
drama OF the open heaven memorable
ahoVe all RECORD was the cheer that
greeted its close. Those who had the
indispensable good fortune to hear that
soul shaking sound heard something
III " u IhstlllS anu -
no ear mad ever heard before. and, i'll
may be. viii never hear again. 1T had
no kinsilip with battle cheers such as
that which rent the air at the battle
of Lake Regillus:
Then burst from that great concourse
A shout thai shook the Towers,
And some ran north and some ran south,
Crying The day is ours
Ii vas no such cheer as that. no
paean of victory, no acclamation of
fhn r,nDntI,Tarc frharn urnc cnr,nfbinpr
In it fax more instructive. far less ra-
tional. and so far more mysterious
and W inspiring. 1t BODIED a great
deal moie than any cheer of victory,
though it may hay had in 1t some
thing of the note of triumph. 1t was
such as is given when the inhabitants
Of a bcleaguered city hear. as they
heard at Lucknow. the first sure news
of their relief. No one in a thousand
of those who saw and cheered had felt
any fear. Therefore they could feel
no sense of relief. The lordliest city
of the world shouted for "a great deed
gallantly accomplished. cheered as men
cheer from pent up feelings when n
goal is nobly won in a football match,
or when some mighty stroke sends tho
ball flying beyond the furthest boun-
dary at Lords oil the Oval. And here
was a goal won and a hit made tina
.ranscended all games that could ever
be played upon the earth. The cheer
inc like a oar to those who were
hear or anon those who made it. like
a cry of wOnde and amazement 10
those who heard it from affair. But al
ways it meant n thing-"Well PLAYED.
England"
We have dwelt upon the awful
grandeur of the drama for those who
saw it near at hand and realized what
they were seeing. There was an ele-
ment of strangeness almost beyond
words reserved for those who watched
distant spot. Think what the sight
must have been for watchers on lonely
downs. sentries at the gates of NUM-
ton factories or by guarded bridges,
men working on railways. policemen
and special constables or duty at
tage. who had h good luck at half
past 2 last Sunday morning to turn
their eyes towards London. In many
cases they could only catch a faint and
indistinct boom of guns. They had not
even heard that u raid had begun.
of what was happening-and then
suddenly the sky burst into flame and
they saw something. which they in
stinctlveiy felt must be a great Zeppe-
lin. fall like Lucifer from heaven-a
portent OF ruin and of fire. These soli-
tary spectators had o n to confide in
Or question. Yet somehow or other
they were quite confident that they
had been participating in one Of the
greatest spectacles as yet seen by NOR
tai eyes. assisting at a great historic
scene. Though in the wars of the flu
ture the destruction Of Zeppelins may
become as common as the sinking Of
ships by sherlfire or torpedo, nothing
can eveT surpass the bringing down of
the airsnip last Sunday morning.
Everything shaped its course to make
that incident an episode vivid beyond
all Former experience. C%uriously
enough. however, the vast array of
those who saw and cheered did not
realize till later that the work Of de-
struction was accomplished by a gal
liant lad only just out Of his teens-a
lad who. like the shepherd boy of
Judaea. had slung his stone and hit
h Giant between the eyes. Except
.hat the minds and emotions of most
mefl and women We're too full already
to carry more, what would have been
ti.eir sensations at the thought Of what
y - happening above them? In the
vast and lonely spaces Of the sky.
around and above the Zeppelin, a youth
was limbing the staircase of the air
to fight their battles n to save their
lives. In the empyrean. with no sup
port but his w brave heart and
strong hand. their soldier was meet
Ing the enemy's fire, and might at any
moment fall from a height of two
miles. and be even as those who a few
minutes later lay on the soil Of Hert-
fordshire with their bodies beaten out
of all human shape! All honor to Lieu
tenant Robinson and to his gallant
comrades In arms on the other aero
planes. who showed as much courage.
though they had not the good fortune
to be as successful. AS they one and
all would be the first to admit. deeds
Involving as great risks have been al