The Washington herald., 1917-07-08
Fifteen Children Victims
Of Kaiser's Aerial Raid

! The Germans claim to have bombed
the fort of London. That Is the only
| explanation they have TO give, and
! there are I'D little children who have
suffered from this bombing of a fort.
How little children could have been in
fort passes understanding"
This scornful declaration was made
by the Poplar coroner, Wynne Bax-
ter. in opening the inquests on the
! fifteen little children who perished by
| a bomb falling on an East End school,
says the London Chronicle. The pro-
! ceedings were Of a very pathetic
character. and many were moved to
tears. The courthouse was crowded
with the relatives of the dead little
ones, dressed in dee? mourning, and
several of the leading men in the
borough were present.
81 shall not waste epithets upon the
| inhumanity of the Germans" said the
mayor. in tones approaching anger,
amy more than to say that these
boys and girls have died as truly for
their country and for everything
worth dying for, as any OF our men
at the front or on the high seas"
The mayor added that there would
he a public funeral Of the victims next
! Wednesday from the parish church at
! > o'clock, when the Suffragan bishop
I would officiate. All the children
would be inferred in one grave, so
that they should not be separated
even in death. Later a memorial will
be placed obove them.
II hope" added the mayor, that
this CHASTITY inhuman treatment will
cfa ~
olution to put an end to this sort of
thing for all time"
Mr.. Will Crooks. VI. P. who was on
the scene at the time of the raid, said
that the teachers of the school work
ed heroically. "They were brave be-
yond description: no bravery display
ed on the battlefield could have been
greater than the bravery they dis
played. These are all neighbors and
friends of mine; I can say no more"
and the big-hearted Labor NJ. p. sat
down laboring under deep emotion.
Two More Missing.
DR.. s. o. O'Brien said he was called
! to the school. and found large crater
where bomb had dropped. The chill
dren We're so covered with debris that
they could not be seen. Mrs. Middle
NOhs q ltdNiCls WIN was NoO III W dN-
tend. had worked heroically. although
injured. She pointed out places where
he was likely to find children. Some
of the debris was so heavy that the
assistance of several men was re-
quired before it was properly cleared.
Some of the children extricated were
alive, and were taken to hospital,
whore they recovered. E
The COrnnprs tOId ramqino
are still being discovered. A pair OF
boots has been found. and although
tii" boots have been identified the
body of the child wearing them
{ C'nh0t be found. There must still be
so~'re hodic5 somewhere.
The Doctor: Unless they were blown
to pieces by the bombs, which is not
unlikely. Some of the children were
terribly mutilated.
Miss NJ. Watkins a teacher in the
! infants department, said they had
not the slightest warning, and knew
nothing until they heard the explo-
sion. There was a terrific noise, semi
darkness, and a fearful smell. She
was covered with plaster and cement
The coroner: YoI thought you were
being buried alive? Witness: Yes, and
suffocated, too
Il called to the children" continued
Miss Watkins. land made a way to a
Slimmer of light could see in the
corridor. I got all my children out
without injury, except for a few
scratches. then went back and help
ed to get other children free. / car
ried out four small children. Three
big boys fell through the ceiling from
the boys school into the infants de-
partment below
Stuck to Their Glasses.
Miss Ely, head mistress of the in
fants' department, a quiet spoken,
m .ddle-aged lady. dressed in black,
related that when the bomb fell she
was standing in the corridor on the
ground floor. She at once went to
where the sound came from, and found
children marching out covered with
scot and a red powder. She helped to
get some out OF the classroom. and
then went for assistance. She at
temrtedto account for everybody in the
school, but two children. about years
Of age, had not been discovered. There
were W nd q children In the room.