Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-03-11
Big Bertha Still a Mystery

each reporting no sight OF raiding air
| men. Stores were closed and parts OF
the subway ceased operating. and all
through the morning. at regular inter-
walls OF Is minutes. the explosions con-
tinued, BY evening 10 shells had fallen
within the city proper and three out
side. The dead numbered Is and the
wounded SO.
II had been an uncanny day. with
shells dropping apparently from no
where. The city was filled with all
sorts OF fanciful rumors. Around about
aperitif time that evening. when Paris
gathered at cafe tables to soothe shat :
tered nerves, II found. tucked away in
the evening papers. laconic official
communiquc to the effect that Paris
today was fred on by long range Ger
man cannon" This conclusion had
been arrived at earlier In the day by
practical minded French and American
artillery experts.
The French recalled the plans of
their own long range gun which had
been deemed too expensive 10 make.
Fragments OF the projectiles which had
fallen In the city were collected and
identified rs being those OF shells and
not airplane bombs. The possibility of
the Germans having a long range gun
was admitted. and the theory. first ad-
vanced. that bombs had been dropped
from small German plane flying at
an altitude higher than that able To be
attained by the French planes was dis
carded. The experts were united In
the conclusion that the projectiles
were being fred from gun within the
German lines about 90 miles distant
Other experts" civilian and even
military. however, had their own opin-
ion and accepted the communiquc with
grain OF salt. Some there were who
inclined TO the small plane theory and
blamed the government for not hav-
ing plane designers able 10 cope with
uermanys airplane builders. French
newspapers had their own ideas, One
had II that II II was a gun. II was a
pneumatic one, nolseless. located with
In the city and operated by spies.
still another advanced the theory
that there were two projectiles. that the
ones which arrived In Paris were auto
matically fIrcd from another projectile
which served as gun, This latter
proiectile, according to the followers Of
this school OF thought. was fred from
a gun within the German lines. Upon
reaching n certain height and distance
the powder within the large projectile
was automatically ignited thereby firing
the hInhllST ltulettif w kEthtcF us
lance. still another theory was that the
guns were concealed In certain aban-
doned quarries or In heavily wooded dis.
tricts near Paris. These were searched
and. OF course. revealed nothing.
The small plane theory seemed 20
have prevailed for time among certain
American officers IN Paris Gen. John.
son iiagood. then chief Of stair. n q, n,
refers To the firat bombardment as fol-
lows: ION Saturday. March ~, We
were informed by telephone that the
Germans were making n daytime raid
ON Paris. that the planes were very
small. aud ~ high IN the air that they
could not be seen,"
uen. liagood. then IN Tours, admits
that when the Paris evening papers.
carrying the oiiicial eomminQue. reach
cd him. he disagreed with the hig~sun
theory, and told his French aide that
1t could not have been a gun that f,red
on Parts that day. That night, he
writes, he began Ia f1aure II out -ei re-
called the lessons no had learned when
an artillery otrloer and arrived At the
conclusion that such u gun was not I'M
possible, Continuing, no writes that he
gave his theory 10 Parts and Was
laughed at
The nisht At March az was to he
one of little aleep for Paris for tier
man alfmen staged real raid, and
ftnally, when The city atd get 10 sleep,
u va Qnlx b hA aroused ~ yAlA hx