The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-03-25
GUN is rs MILES FROM PARIS.
Bombardment Has Continued for Two
Days-Marvel at the Invention.

Days-Marvel at the Invention.
! Paris, March 25.-The German
monster cannon" which has been
bombarding Paris, has been located in
! the forest of st. Gobain, west of I.aon
and exactly 122 kilometers lapproxi-
| mate1y Seventy-Six mileS) from the
Paris city hall.
The gun bombarded Paris during
the greater part of Sunday. The day
was ushered in by loud explosions
ately the alarm to take cover was
sounded. This occurred at 6:55
! o'clock. and many persons ought shel-
| ter, but greater numbers of them APP
peared in the streets on their way to
the churches, which were almost as
| we'll filled as usual. The women, who
sell palm leaves on Palm Sunday. did
4 their usual thriving business. At first
the shells began arriving at intervals
| of twenty minutes and the detona-
| tons, considering the Sunday calm,
seemed louder than those of Saturday.
| Their power to disturb the equanimity
of the populace. however, seemed less.
| the people refusing to be distracted
from their Sunday habits to any great
extent. For the benefit of that por-
ton of the populace which had been
led to believe the Germans had broken
| thru the line and were bombarding
Paris from nearby positions, a semi
official note was issued during the day.
This warned the people against be-
lieving pessimistic reports.
| Not Thru French Front.
1.-The French front is intact said
the note. Amy assertion to the con-
trary is a lie"
The bombardment of the capital
| ended around 1 o'clock and as late as
/ 3 o'clock no explosions had been heard
for more than an hour. The clear
signaT' was sounded at $40 O'Clock.
Altho during the earlier hours of the
bombardment, the shells arrived III
twenty-minute intervals, later IN the
day they began arriving every fifteen
minutes on the average and some of
them even fell twelve minutes apart
In military circles the belief was ex-
pressed that the Germans were using
| two distance guns
] The Matin says the position of one
of the guns was established in the St.
| Gobain forest. which would place it
somewhat further south than had been
believed and in the wooded area. This
| position would be about seventy miles
| from Paris.
| Seek Shelter in Paris.
| During the early hours of the morn
ing traffic in the streets of Paris was
shut down or curtailed, but before
1 noon both the streets and the city
showed greae animation. During the
day large numbers of persons, unable
| to secure means of transport to take
I them to their destinations, walked in
order that they might keep their ap
pointments. AS is usual when aircraft
warnings are sounded, large numbers
/ of the populace sought shelter IN the
| subways and in Easements of houses.
The government has decided that in
the future the bombardment of Paris
| by long-distance guns shall not inter-
rupt the normal life of the capital, but
that the population shall be warned of
a bombardment by distinctive means,
| differing from the usual warnings sent
| in nf Drums
| be beaten and the police will sound
| whistles. The public services, the
trains in the SubwayS, the tramwayS
| and the automobile buses will con-
tinue to be operated normally
Prohibit Crowds Forming.
The new warning is to be known as
warning number three. 1t will mean
that any formation of crowds in the
streets is prohibited and that all shell
tiers, except the subway stations will be
open. The end of any kind of raid
will be announced as before, by
special trumpet call and the ringing OF
| church bells
The comment of the French press
this morning was about evenly divid-
ed between the big gun which is bonn
harding the city from back OF the Ger
man lines and the terrific battle rag
ling on the British front. The tone OF
the comment on the bombardment
was of establishment at the feasibility
of the performance. AS to the Dattie,
a favorable ending of it is confidently
expected.
The newspapers do not conceal their
admiration for the mechanical feat of
the Germans in constructing their new
weapon, but speak passionately of the
useless barbarity of the bombardment-
The Matin says it is consoling to
note that the number of victims is
small, but it asks for reprisals on Ger
man cities.
Shell May Have Propeller.
Prof. Paul Painleve. former premier
and president of the Academy of Sci
ences, told the Excelsior that by using
tungsten in the fabrication of the pro-
iectile the tungsten shells would be
of about half the diameter of steel
shells of even weight and that,
therefore, the atmospheric resistance
would be less, this accounting for the
extremely long range. He also touched
upon the possibility of a propeller be-
ing employed on theA projectile.
Alfred Capus. in the Figaro, alluded
to the making of the gun as a great
. mechanical feat, but points out that as
a military factor the weapon is entire
ly inefficacious. The Petit Parisien
comments on the bombardment as an
extremely minor incident as compared
with the gigantic battle in progress on
the British front
Is French Invention?
LIE Petit Journal says that Jules
Verne had foreseen this gun and it de-
cIares that, moreover, it is a French
invention.
More than a year ago" it adds
1--WE discovered the secret of firing our
cannon more than 100 kilometers. The
secret lies in the greater suppression
of the atmospheric resistance"
The Echo de Paris declares the