The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1917-06-14

the bright sunlight, and even as the
startled crowds realized their mission
from the sound of distant reports an
other row Of five swept into sight,
swerving more to the left, so as to
keep to the north Of the railway line,
The most venturesome had time tonote
the arrival of still a third line Of enemy
planes, with another solitary one
bringing up the rear.
eat a spot not far from where l
stood" one man told me, quite q doz-
en- bombs must have fallen within an
area of 200 square yards. But nearly
all fell either in the roadWays or in
The gardens; and though every pane Of
glass for a long distance round was
shattered, the damage done was ex'
traordinarily small, and the only cas-
ualdes of which heard were an old
woman who had her foot slightly In
jured, and a man who also sustained q
slight cut.
"But the sight was appalling IN one
shopping street where most damage
had been caused. For about 200 yards
the street looked a shambles. Women
and children were lying about dead
and dying, and there were screams for
help from one spot where large butch
r's establishment had utterly col
lapsed, burying staff and customers in
the ruins.
1.-TWO bombs had fallen in the centre
of the roadway here, and the explosion
had swept the whole area. Opposite
the butchers was a large diapers
shop which had been crowded with Gus
toners, and here the mortality wac
frighttul. I saw one poor woman hud'
died up against the counter with her
head completely severed"
CUSTOMERS BURIED IN RUINS.
The butchers shop was built priI'
cipaIlS of wood. The result Of the OK.
plosion was to cut it away almost in
its entirety from the adjacent build
ings, and to leave It a mess Of smoking
ruins, with hardly on fragment on an
other. One of the heads Of the firm
was himself among the victims, and
am told that six Of the assistants were
buried with him in the ruins. With
them were many customers and others
who had sought shelter there.
At the draper's shop opposite the
whole front had been blown in, and
the crowded finery in the windows re.
duced to a mass of taitered and be-
grimed rags. One eyewitness told me
that the customers crowded in between
the counters were simply mown down
by the force of the explosion.
at was a terrible sight" an assist
ant told me. Bombs seemed to be ex-
ploding all over the neighbornood. Va
heard them getting louder and louder,
as the aeroplanes came nearer and
nearer to US, and then there was an
awful crash as the two bombs explot-
ed in the street, The whole front of the
shop seemed to be blown in, and ] was
flung right off my feet on to the floor.
zone Of the assistants had a marvel
lous escape. She was in the store
room on the floor above when the ex-
plosion occurred, and the big skylight
lust where she was standing was shat
tered to bits. She was hurled right
down into the shop, distance OF near
" 20 it., but escaped absolutely up'
scratched"
AERIAL TORPEDO IN A HOTEL
Not far away, in street in the CEN
ter of the town, three bombs fell and
exploded in the roadway within dis
lance of 20 yards. The first two OK.
.ploded practically opposite a large
elementary school and the girls county
school. Fortunately at that time of the
evening the premises were unoccupiet
in each case, but If the raid had oc-
curred an hour or SO earlier, when the