El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-04-22
GERMAN G0THi5ATT TACK IN WAVES
BURSTING SHELLSILLUMINE PARIS
Scene Of Terrifying Beauty Follows Greatest German
Air Raid on French Capital; Air Filled With Enemy
Planes and French Aircraft in Desperate Battle
While the City Is Deluged With Shells
by JOHN LLOYD BALDERSTON.

Darts, FRANCE. April 22.-After an
L absence Of some months have re-
turned 10 find Paris in the war zone.
Under the menace Of aerial lombard
ment. thousands Of workers are pre-
pairing by day and night dugol-s.
cellars and caves TO hold the three
millions Of people who live in the
capital. defences against the Gothas
are geing strengthened in ways that
must not be specified. 1T seems. in
walking about the city, as II Paris
expected a German besieginE army
again 10 arrive as in 1870 and open
a commandment
Ten days ago. on leaving London, !
thought it would be long before 1
wrote another air raid story Aftcr
a tedious trip of 30 hours, during
which our channel steamer made
long det0ur 10 avoid an unhealthy
tract of water. the train reached the
outskirts of Paris. and the thoughts
OF several hundred weary travellers
turned towards hotels. baths and beds
But as we sped along strange noises
began TO make themselves heard, and
on peeping from the windows. no
lights at all were visible. not even
the ordinary signals along the tracks.
Train Runs Into Air Raid
The train ran into the Care St La
zare I'm the middle Of the first raid of
the season There were no lights in
the station. There were no porters,
and, OF course, no cabs or taElS out
side il was not a pleasant situation.
Continuous explosions sounded from
outside. both bombs and shells. One
especially loud defamation shook the
high train shed We all knew very
well that the great station where we
were huddled was bound TO be
prime objective of the enemy avia-
tors overhead; we were not surprised
10 learn a few days later that on the
body Of a German captain. shot down
In the forest of COmpieEne as he was
plotting his Gotha hack from Paris.
were found orders instructing him to
bomb the railway terminus.
Most Of the passengers were women.
Their behavior was admirable. The
eXcitabiIty and Droneness TO hysteria
which English and Americans used
TO associate with the Latin tempera-
menr were not In evidence. At
length few porters appeared, and I
nailed one of them and offered him
10 francs TO carry my heavy cam
paigning kit to nv hotel He grum-
1led q little. but fastened it TO his
strap and slung IT over his shoulder.
Il was only by the light of the
flashes thar we could find our way
In the streets outside There were
no lights, and no moon As I half
expected, my guide, when a bomb
fell in the next block and some broken
glass battered about us, stopped and
set down his burden in the street ]
Bomb" he said. Cannon Notorsl 7
You hear them2" The dronirg Of the Z
huge double engines Of the enemy /.
machines filled the sky
No Ilrther. announced the por- I
ter. He was bluffinE. and I knew
he was bluffing. and told him SO. II /
takes more than bombs and motors TO ]
max Frenclman take 10 his heels +
and abandon 10 francs But I told him D
he should have five francs more, for 4
thought the trip worth IT, and he /
picked W my grips and stumbled on
wards The night clerk at the hotei
came out Of the cellar, let us in. and
a chambermaid. proud Of carrying
on as usual showed me 10 my room
was so tired. after the long trip I
from London that 7 went 90 sleep be-
fore the hombardment was over.
sixty in Next Raid.
Next time the Gorhas came. there
were so Of them. and the raid was
more prolonged and more serious than
any previous attack either on Paris
or London I was fortunate enough .
TO see nearly the whole show and al
fer some lapse OF time. ] am now
permitted 10 describe the eXtra0rdi-
nary, fascinating and horrible spec
tacle which unfortunately seems GER
tain 10 be repeated many times be-
fore the end Of the war. This was
the raid OF March II. on an evening
spent by secretary Baker and gem
eral Bliss in the cellar Of the Hotel
Criuon IN the Place de Ia C0ncOrde.
In a little restaurant near the Pa
lais Royale. we were just finishing
dinner I was dining with an Ameri-
can writer and his wife. The mourn
ful and lugubriOus wall Of the warn
Ing sirens rose on the air.
do not know why cardinal Richie
lieu, when he built the great palace
thar lies opposite the Louvre 800
years ago. constructed cellars COW
cred with 30 feet Of solid masonry
The German Of that period certainly
did not throw around explosives
which required such shelter. But
there they are. and we climbed down
the winding stairway into the old
vaults There were two Poilus on
leave, four women with six children.
and three good bourgeois and their
wives, who with ourselves, comfort
ably filled one OF the many caves
that run along beneath the palace. A
tiny candle shed a weird light over
the company The first explosion
sounded DULY above US, and a woman
with shawl over her head screa med
and leaped 10 her feet.
Mouse Not Bombs, the Cause.
We all looked up surprised. These
KaiSerS God Is Nv y