The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1918-03-28
GERMANS BOMBARD PARIS
LONG DISTANCE CANNON FIRES
SHELLS INTO CITY.
People Not EXcited.-Gun Great Me-
chanical Feat, But Failure as
Military Weapon.

Paris. March 24.-The German
monster cannon which has been bom-
harding Paris has been located in the
forest of St. Gobain west Of Laon, and
exactly 122 kilometres approximate
" 76 miles, from the Paris City Hall.
The gun bombarded Paris during the
greater part of Sunday.
The day was ushered in by loud
explosions from ten-inch shells, and
Immediately the alarm to take cover
was sounded. This occurred at $50
O'Clock and. many persons sought
shelter. but greater numbers of them
appeared in the streets on their way
to the churches, which were we'll fill
ed. The women who sell palm leaves
on Palm Sundays did their usual
thriving business.
Citizens Not Frightened.
At first the shells began arriving
at intervals of twenty minutes, and
the detonations, considering the Sum
day calm, seemed louder than those
of Saturday. Their power to disturb
the equanimity of the populace, how
ever seemed less.
For the benefit of that portion OF
the populace which had been led to
believe the Germans had broken
through the lines and were lombard
ing Paris from nearby positions,
semi-official note was issued during
the day. 1t warned the people
against believing. pessimistic reports.
"The French front is intact" said
the note. '"Any assertion to the con-
Jtrary is a lie.
The bombardment of the capital
ended around 1 O'Clock, and as late
as Q O'Clock no explosions had been
heard for more than an hour. The
clear signal was sounded at $3.50
O'Clock.
Firing Increases.
Although during the earlier, hours
of the bombardment the shells ar
rived on twenty-minute intervals, late
in the day they began arriving every
fifteen minutes on the average, and
some of them even fell twelve min
ntes apart.
z In military circles the belief was
expressed that the Germans were US
ing two long distance guns. The Mat
in says the position of one of the guns
was established in the st. Gobain for
est. which would place it somewhat
further than had been believed, and
in the wooded area. This position
would be about seventy miles from
Paris.
I Lively on Streets.
During the early hours of theI
morning traffic in the streets of Paris
was shut down or curtailed, but be-
fore noon both the subways and tram
ways began running again. In the
afternoon the streets of the city
showed great animation.
The government has decided that
in the future the bombardments of
Paris by long distance guns shall not
Interrupt the normal life Of the
capital, but that the population shall
be warned of a bombardment by dis
ttnctiye means, differing from the
usual warnings sent out in cases of
air raids. Drums will be- beaten and
the police will sound whistles. The
public services, the trains in the sub
ways, the tramways and the automo-
bile buses will continue to be operat-
ed normally.
Useless Barbarity.
The newspapers do not conceal
their admiration for the mechanical
feat of the Germans in constructing |
their new weapon, but speak passion
ately of the useless barbarity of the
bombardment. The Matin says 1t is |
consoling to note that the number OF
victims is small, but it asks for re-
prisals on German cities.
Prof. Paul Painleave, former pre-
mier and president of the Academy
of Sciences, told The Excelsior that,
by using tungsten in the fabrication
of the proiectile, the tungsten shells
would be about half the diameter of
steel shells of an even weight, and
that therefore the atmospheric resis-
tance would be less, tsis accounting |
for the extremely long range. He
also touched on the possibility of a
propeller being employed on the pro-
jectile.
Alfred Capus, in The Figaro alludes
to the making of the gun as a great
mechanical feat, but points out that,
as military factor, the weapon Isl