Norwich bulletin., 1919-01-25
STORIES OF THE WAR
Why Crew of Zeppelin Was Noi
 Rescued.

Correspondence of the Associated | Press)-Captain William Martin, of | the British trawler King Stephen who, !! from fear of treachery, refused to take off the crew of the disabled Zeppelin l L-19 in the North Sea in February, 1916, died Il months later of a nervous collapse caused by the mistaken be- lief that he had been poisoned. This and other facts concerning the inci- dent now are available for the first time and it is possible to tell tne story in detail. It is believed in London that the IS, Germans compoSn5 the crew of the L-19 perished.
 The action of Captain Martin evok- ed denunciation of alleged British inhumanity" in the German press which compared the affair to the cele- brated Baralong case. It is claimed in London that public opinion upheld Captain Martin in his position that if he had taken the Germans on board the trawler they would have captured the vessel and unarmed his crew of ten men. It will be recalled that the Rev. Arthur W. Ingram. Bishop of London, publicly declared, i've ought to stand by skipper. The Germans have killed chivalry i'll wartime" Because of his action, Captain Mar [ of letters threatening his life. About | II months after the North Sea incl dent, he became i'll after smoking a ! cigarette from a package sent him by mail and he was convinced JA2c the cigarette contained poison. Analysis i Of the tobacco proved that his fears were unfounded but he never recover ] ed from the shock. The verdict of his l physician was that nc had died from ! sheer fright.
 i The L-19 had taken part in a raid l over the midland counties of England i in which 67 non -combatant5 were killed and IT injured. The Zepplin was | damaged by gunfre and compelled to 1 descend to the North Sea where Cap i tain Martin of the King stephen found 1 her resting in the water. According to l Captain Martins story the Zeppelin's 1 commander offered me a reward if he 1 would take off the German crew but 1 Martin refused saying, T don't trust 1 you
 "I had talked it over with George 1 Denny. my mate Captain Martin is | quoted as saying, and we agreed that i if we lowered a boat and sent some Of the crew to the Zeppelin they would be ! kept as prisoners until We did as the l Germans wished which would probably
 be that in the end we should have them take charge of the ship if they came on board. or if we refused to fetch them off they would carry the
 crew of our boat down with them. I
 was determined to take no risks. l knew what the Germans had done to my class in the North Sea, and, besides Zeppelin crew dropping bombs on houses and killing women and children
 didn't appeal to me. There were IS
 Germans and only ten of us and you i could scarcely imagine their allowing us to take them as prisoners. There l were two to one
 50 I told the commander plainly that nothing he could say would induce
 me to rescue them. It was not a nice feeling to leave IS men to drown even
 if they were your enemies. When the
 commander saw we were leaving and
 that there was no chance of being rescued, he and the others set up a
 howl. Their rage was awful. Shaking
 their fists in despair they kept shout
 ing out" Gott, strafe England. And
 they kept shouting this again and again as long as we were within hear
 ing. The weather had been steadily
 growing worse and as no other vessel
 was in sight, knew the Germans were I doomed, but l felt that l had done the l right thing under the circumstances Shell Feeling Effects of War. ,I Correspondence of the Associated I Press)-The distressing effects of tn.