Chapter IX: Part 9

According to the official account at least fifty airplanes took part in the raid, and some of these returned again and again, bringing fresh cargoes of bombs throughout the night. The Austrian lines are so near that the trip to the bomb bases and back again requires only twenty-five minutes, and this was the average length of the intervals between the bombardments. G. Ward Price, a war correspondent, in describing the experiences of that night, wrote:

"Suddenly another crash re-echoed throughout the city, and the din of the bombardment started once more. I followed the quickly vanishing throng through an archway, where a green light marked a place of shelter. For two hours I was part of a close-packed throng in the dark vaulted room. There were women and wide-eyed children there in plenty, tired out with the long standing, which for them lasted until dawn, but none showing alarm, though, in addition to the nerve trying din outside, a constant shower of pieces of shell and flying bits of masonry whirred and pelted and pattered down incessantly outside.

BRAVE WOMEN'S LAUGHTER

"Toward 2 o'clock I made another move toward the centre of the city. I heard the drone of an attacking airplane drawing nearer over the still lagoon, and a policeman beckoned me into the vestibule of a high palazzo in one of those narrow Venetian alleys between tall black rows of houses which are like a communication trench of masonry. All was cheerfulness in this marble anteroom, a family of young daughters laughing and chattering with their mother while the noisy night crept slowly on. Taking advantage of another lull, I reached my hotel, but not until 6 o'clock, when the dawn was well advanced, did the tumult of this eight-hour-long bombardment cease.

"And yet this morning, as one went about in the warm sunshine seeing the places which the bombs had destroyed, the people seemed untroubled enough. Troops of black-shawled girls went chattering by, and the boys were playing a sort of 'shove-halfpenny' game, using as counters the shell splinters they had found scattered about the city ways."

Since then there have been many other raids, but none so prolonged. The black-shawled women whose laughter defied the nightly peril have gone for the most part, taking with them the alert "bambini," who at that period still shouted at play in the streets. Only armed defenders are left, with those who are absolutely necessary to aid them. The muffled echo of distant guns is heard by day and the crash of bombs by night. Just outside the city is a little cemetery where are gathered the bodies of the Italian and French aviators who have died defending these shores. The marble pavement of the Piazza and Piazzetta is torn in places, and the swarming pigeons of other days have dwindled sadly, for no tourists come to feed them. In the sky over the lagoon, where the gulls once reigned supreme, airplanes now keep watch against the ceaseless threat in the direction of the Piave.

Taking Over the Dutch Ships

The United States Seizes for the War Period 500,000 Tons of Dutch Shipping

The April issue of CURRENT HISTORY MAGAZINE contained a brief reference to the intention of the United States and British Governments to seize the Dutch shipping in their ports on account of Holland's refusal to carry food cargoes for fear of offending Germany. The two Governments took action March 20, 1918, when all Dutch shipping in American and British harbors was seized by the naval authorities of the two countries. The total of shipping acquired is estimated at 750,000 tons, 500,000 being in American waters. The largest Dutch steamship, the Nieuw Amsterdam, which was in New York Harbor at the time, was not seized, but was permitted to return to Holland with a cargo of food, as it had been agreed when she made her outward voyage, during the pending of the negotiations, that, whatever the result, she would be immune; moreover, all Dutch shipping outward bound to American waters at the date of the seizure which had not yet reached port were also to be permitted to return to their home ports.

President Wilson's proclamation directing the seizure stated that "the law "and practice of nations accords to a "belligerent power the right in times of "military exigency and for purposes "essential to the prosecution of war, to take over and utilize neutral vessels lying within its jurisdiction." The President also made a formal statement in which he reviewed the negotiations with Holland for the restoration of her merchant marine lying idle in American ports to a normal condition of activity for the transportation of foodstuffs. He had sought to have these Dutch ships carry food for Switzerland, for Belgian relief, and for Holland as well. He stated that on Jan. 25, 1918, the Dutch Minister proposed that

one hundred and fifty thousand tons of Dutch shipping should at
the discretion of the United States be employed partly in the
service of Belgian relief and partly for Switzerland on safe
conduct to Cette, France, and that for each ship sent to Holland
in the service of Belgian relief a corresponding vessel should
leave Holland for the United States. Two Dutch ships in the
United States ports with cargoes of foodstuffs were to proceed
to Holland, similar tonnage being sent in exchange from Holland
to the United States for charter as in the case of other Dutch
ships lying in the United States ports.

The President stated that shortly afterward Holland rejected her own proposals, presumably through fear of German submarines, every suggestion thereafter was postponed, and answers were delayed, until finally, on March 7, it became clear that Holland was prevented by German coercion from fulfilling any agreement to put her ships into service; it was then concluded to exercise the sovereign rights of a belligerent under the international law of "angary," and to place the Dutch ships under American jurisdiction. The President concluded as follows:

We have informed the Dutch Government that her colonial trade
will be facilitated and that she may at once send ships from
Holland to secure the bread cereals which her people require.
These ships will be freely bunkered and will be immune from
detention on our part. The liner Nieuw Amsterdam, which came
within our jurisdiction under an agreement for her return, will,
of course, be permitted at once to return to Holland. Not only
so, but she will be authorized to carry back with her the two
cargoes of foodstuffs which Holland would have secured under the
temporary chartering agreement had not Germany prevented. Ample
compensation will be paid to the Dutch owners of the ships which
will be put into our service and suitable provision will be made
to meet the possibility of ships being lost through enemy
action.

It is our earnest desire to safeguard to the fullest extent the
interests of Holland and of her nationals. By exercising in this
crisis our admitted right to control all property within our
territory we do no wrong to Holland. The manner in which we
proposed to exercise this right and our proposals made to
Holland concurrently therewith, cannot, I believe, fail to
evidence to Holland the sincerity of our friendship toward her.

The seizure of the Dutch ships was accomplished without friction on March 20 by manning them with American naval officers, with the co-operation of the United States Shipping Board. The Dutch crews were released, and many of the officers and sailors returned to Holland a few days later.

The action of the American and British authorities produced much agitation in Holland; the Dutch newspapers bitterly denounced the action as unwarranted. A statement appeared in the Official Gazette of the Netherlands Government on March 30 in which the seizure was characterized as an act of violence. The statement asserted that the act was "indefensible from the viewpoint of international law and unjustifiable." Denial was made that an agreement failed through German pressure. The Dutch official statement ended as follows:

The powers in question, owing to the loss of ships, felt
constrained to replace the tonnage by obtaining the disposal of
a very large number of ships which belonged not to them but to
the Netherlands. They became aware that the Netherlands
Government could not permit the ships to sail in the interest of
the associated Governments except on the conditions imposed by
neutrality, but which were, in the judgment of the Governments,
not sufficiently in accordance with their interests. Therefore,
they decided to seize the Dutch merchant fleet in so far as it
lay within their power.

The Netherlands Government deems it its duty, especially in
serious times such as the present, to speak with complete
candor. It voices the sentiments of the entire Dutch Nation,
which sees in the seizure an act of violence which it will
oppose with all the energy of its conviction and its wounded
national feeling.

According to the Presidential statement, this procedure offers
Holland ample opportunity to obtain bread grain. This is so only
apparently; for would it not be an irresponsible act, after the
experiences of Dutch ships in American and British ports, to
permit other ships to sail to these ports without adequate
guarantees that these experiences shall not occur?

The American Government has always appealed to right and
justice, has always come forward as the champion of small
nations. That it now co-operates in an act diametrically opposed
to those principles is a proceeding which can find no
counterweight in the manifestations of friendship or assurances
of lenient application of the wrong committed.

The United States Government proceeded at once to put the commandeered ships into service. On April 12 Secretary Lansing issued a statement answering the Dutch protest in detail. After pointing out that the Netherlands Government had not questioned the legality of the action taken by the United States, Secretary Lansing showed that it had involved no element of unfriendliness and was justified by the evidence in the case. Events had proved that to have granted bunker coal and food cargoes on ordinary terms would have released foodstuffs in Holland for sale to Germany and "would in fact have been an act beneficial to the enemy and having no relation to our friendship to the Netherlands."

Air Raids on Paris and London

A Historical Summary

Paris experienced one of the most disastrous air raids of the war on the night of March 11, 1918, when nine squadrons of German airplanes, aggregating nearly sixty units, took part in an attack on the city and suburbs. Several buildings were demolished and set on fire. The number of persons killed was 34, and there were in addition 79 injured, 88 of these casualties being in Paris.

In addition to the bomb victims, 66 persons were suffocated through crowding in a panic into a Metropolitan (subway) Railway entrance to take refuge from the raiders. These were for the most part women and children.

A fog which had covered the city in the morning settled down again in the early evening. It was thick enough to cause the general belief that there was little chance that the Germans would attempt an air raid. This belief, however, was shattered at 9:10 o'clock, when the warning was sounded of the approach of hostile aircraft. The raid ended shortly after midnight, with a loss to the Germans of four machines, which were brought down by the French anti-aircraft defenses.

Mr. Baker, the United States Secretary of War, was in conference with General Tasker H. Bliss, the American Chief of Staff, in a hotel suite when the air alarm was sounded. Secretary Baker was not disturbed by the noise of the sirens or the barrage of the anti-aircraft guns, but the hotel management, fearing for the safety of himself and his party, persuaded the members to descend to the wine cellar, where later they were joined by Major Gen. William M. Black.

Mr. Baker, in the course of a statement the following day, said: "It was my first experience of the actualities of war and a revelation of the methods inaugurated by an enemy who wages the same war against women and children as against soldiers. If his object is to damage property, the results are trifling when compared with his efforts. If his object is to weaken the people's morale, the reply is given by the superb conduct of the people of Paris. Moreover, aerial raids on towns, which are counterpart of the pitiless submarine war and the attacks against American rights, are the very explanation of the reasons why America entered the war. We are sending our soldiers to Europe to fight until the world is delivered from these horrors."

THE ENEMY MACHINES

George Prade, a leading French authority on aircraft, told a newspaper correspondent that the German airplanes used in the attack on Paris were the result of a construction program decided on by the German Staff last Summer to meet in advance what is generally known in France as the American aviation program.

When it was announced that the Americans had decided to construct an enormous air fleet for service on the western front, the German War Staff developed plans for much more powerful machines. In June and July, 1917, they began the construction in series of more than 2,000 engines much higher powered than those in previous use. These consisted of Mercedes engines of 260 horse power with six cylinders and Maybach and Benz, both 250 horse power, and with six cylinders. These engines took the place of heavier but less powerful six and eight cylinder engines, ranging from 225 to 235 horse power. The Germans thus not only gained in power, but definitely adopted a plan for planes with two motors and two independent propellers. Each new machine was built with three chasses, a middle one carrying the crew, and two outside, each carrying an engine and a propeller. Three distinct types were developed, known, respectively, as Gothas, Friedrichshafens, and A. E. G.'s.

The length of wings ranges from 72½ to 86 feet. The propellers in earlier machines were placed at the rear, but now they are on the front of the cars. Machines of all three types carry either three or four men, and are fitted with three appliances for launching bombs. The projectiles vary enormously, ranging from aerial torpedoes, the smallest of which weighs two hundredweight, down to small shrapnel bombs. Each of these machines carries a minimum of 153 gallons of petrol and 15 gallons of oil, sufficient for at least a four hours' flight. Their average speed is between 80 and 90 miles an hour.

Referring to the question of hitting any given target, M. Prade said it was practically impossible to strike any particular objective when a plane was traveling at a rate of thirty-eight to forty yards a second. A bomb must be dropped more or less at random, which is the reason why such form of warfare is simply criminal. It is impossible to tell where the bomb will fall. Three men are generally sufficient to handle a machine, one for each engine and a third to drop bombs. The fourth man carried is generally a pilot, who is able from his knowledge of Paris districts to direct the airplane more or less accurately toward objectives.

Big raiding machines generally are accompanied by a large number of smaller two-seated, single-motor planes of 180 to 260 horse power, such as are generally used for reconnoissance purposes. These planes, of which the Hanover is the newest type, are usually of only thirty-eight to forty feet wing spread, but can get up to 20,000 feet carrying four small bombs.

The raid of March 11 was preceded on March 8 by an almost equally formidable attack on Paris, the casualties being 13 killed and 50 injured. One of the raiding machines, an airplane of the Gotha type, was found in the Forest of Compiègne, where it had fallen while returning from the raid. All four of its occupants were killed. They included Captain Fritz Eckstein, the commander of the raiding squadrons, and an officer of the Kaiser's White Cuirassiers from Potsdam. Three other machines were brought down. Altogether, fifteen trained aviators, mechanics, and pilots were either killed or made prisoner.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SKETCH

Bombardment in 1917 played a more and more important part in aerial operations. The Germans had for some time expended their principal efforts upon aviation on the battlefield; besides, up to 1916 they were averse to night flying. But by the beginning of 1918 they had brought into existence a system of aerial bombardment supplied with powerful machines, and had developed an increasing series of attacks on the French troops, on the camps at the rear, and, alas! on the cities of France. Nancy and Dunkirk are sad examples of their work.

The German squadrons known as Kampfgeschwader, furnished with special trains that transport them to any desired point and placed under the direct authority of the Quartermaster General, make use of great triplanes armed with machine guns and supplied with automatic bomb throwers; the Gothas, which, with their two Mercedes motors of 260 horse power each, can carry 1,200 pounds of explosives and gasoline for five hours, and the Friedrichshafens, whose two Benz motors of 225 horse power each can carry enough gasoline for four hours and twelve bombs totaling half a ton in weight.

It was with these machines--employed in mass formation--that the Germans attempted their great bombing operations in the Autumn of 1917, notably the expedition in November, when in a single night seven groups of airplanes made successive attacks on English cities; also the raid of Dec. 19 on London, when twenty machines took part in the attack on London and caused serious damage, including the work of an incendiary bomb that set fire to a factory and burned it to the ground. It is with these machines which they are still improving, and which they are multiplying by the bold creation of series, that the Germans have vainly sought to hold command of the air during their offensive in Picardy.

The example and threat of the enemy had their effect in France. The French bombarding groups, which, born at the end of 1914, had in 1915 achieved famous flights into the heart of Germany, were compelled, with the advent of aerial combats, to renounce daylight operations, as these had become impossible or too uncertain for their slow and heavy machines, insufficiently armed, and had turned their attention to perilous night expeditions. But, despite successful raids and effective destruction, the French bombing operations remained more or less unsatisfactory.

In the course of 1917 the use of the flying squadrons was finally adapted to the diverse needs of the battle front. In the French offensive at Verdun, while tactical aviation guided the waves of assault, regulated the artillery fire, and furnished information to the General Staff, while the swift airplane chasers, by a vigilant barrage, prevented all observation by enemy machines, the bombarding groups daily took part also in the action by hurling flames and destruction on railway stations, munition depots, storehouses at the rear, and sowing panic among the troops that were preparing to attack.

Equipped at length with machines that combined the indispensable characteristics of speed, power, and armament, enabling them to hold the air in daytime, the French bombardiers attacked arsenals in the interior of Germany, and the British war dispatches of Dec. 25 mentioned a daylight raid of allied air squadrons upon Mannheim, where several fires followed, with heavy explosions at the central railway station and in the factories.

The night groups, which had long made their raids only by moonlight, at length grew accustomed to flying in complete darkness. They multiplied their expeditions against enemy cantonments, railways, aviation fields, factories, and military and industrial centres. The task that remained at the opening of the Spring of 1918 was the fuller co-ordination of the groups of bombardiers.

By that time the French had an excellent daylight airplane as well as successful night machines, and announced the early completion of still better ones. Their projectiles were not inferior to those of the Germans, and their supply was up to the demand. Thus they faced the German offensive fully equipped to hold their own so far as air supremacy was concerned.

RAIDS ON LONDON

London, as well as Paris, received frequent visits from enemy airplanes in February and March, 1918. On the three successive nights of Feb. 16, 17, and 18 German raiders attacked the British metropolis. Twenty-seven persons were killed and forty-one were injured. Many of the German machines failed to reach the city owing to the great improvement which had been effected in the aerial defenses both on the coast and around London itself. Both the anti-aircraft guns and the airmen helped to diminish the casualties. The third night's raid resulted in an entire absence of both casualties and damage to property.

Seven or eight German airplanes made a raid over England on the night of March 7. Two of them reached London and dropped bombs in various districts. Eleven persons were killed and forty-six injured in the metropolitan area. In addition a certain amount of damage was done to dwellings and some people buried under the wreckage.

Zeppelins were again employed by the Germans in a raid on the east coast of England on March 12. One of them dropped bombs on Hull, while the two others wandered for some hours over remote country districts at great altitudes, unloading their bombs in open country before proceeding out to sea again. This was the first Zeppelin raid on England since Oct. 19, 1917. The Germans had sustained such heavy losses in Zeppelins that they had substituted airplanes. [An account of the fate of the Zeppelins is included elsewhere in this issue.]

BRITISH REPRISALS

Reprisals by British aviators have been frequent and drastic. The British Air Ministry, in one of the detailed statements which it issues from time to time, presented the following list of raids into Germany from Dec. 1, 1917, and Feb. 19, 1918, a period of eleven weeks:

Date. Wt. of
1917. b'mbs
Dec. Objective. Locality. Population. in lbs.
5 Rly. sidings. Zweibrucken. 14,700 1,344
5 Works [B]Burbach 1,096
6 Works [B]Burbach 2,216
11 Boot factory Pirmasens 34,000 1,594
24 Factories Mannheim 290,000 2,252
1918.
Jan.
3-4 Railways Nr. Metz 100,000 760
4-5 Railways Nr. Metz 100,000 2,940
5-6 Town [A]Courcelles 1,344
5-6 Town & rlys. [A]Conflans 2,180
14 Munition factory
& rlys. Karlsruhe 140,000 2,800
14-15 Steelworks Thionville 13,000 2,105
14-15 Railways Metz 100,000 524
14-15 Railways [A]Eringen 280
16-17 Railways Benadorf 280
16-17 Town Ormy 255
16-17 Searchlight Vigny 26
21-22 Steelworks Thionville 13,000 1,220
21-22 Rly. sidings Bensdorf 2,210
" Rly. junction Arnaville 1,344
24-25 Steelworks, rlys. and barracks.
Thionville 13,000 1,120
" Treves 48,000 809
24-25 Railway Oberbilig 280
24-25 Factory Mannheim 290,000 672
24-25 Railway Saarburg 9,800 280
24-25 Steelworks Thionville 13,000 1,344
25 Barracks and
station Treves 48,000 1,350
27 Barracks and
station Treves 48,000 230
Feb.
9-10 Railway [A]Courcelles 1,844
12 Town Offenburg 15,400 2,838
16-17 Rly. station [A]Conflans 1,488
17-18 Rly. sidings [A]Conflans 2,240
18 Steelworks Thionville 13,000 936
18 Barracks and
station Treves 48,000 1,250
18-19 Barracks and
station Treves 48,000 2,206
18-19 Rly. and gas
works Thionville 13,000 650
19 Station Treves 48,000 2,400

A See Metz.
B See Saarbrucken.

James I. Macpherson, Parliamentary Secretary of the War Office, stated in the House of Commons on March 19 that British airmen had made 255 flights into German territory since October, 1917. The 255 flights constituted 38 raids, and only 10 machines were lost. The aviators dropped 48 tons of bombs.

According to a dispatch from The Hague dated April 3, the damage caused by raids in the Rhenish cities was much more extensive than had been admitted. Places where bombs actually fell were described as "unrecognizable." Of the bombs dropped at Coblenz in the most recent raid, eight did considerable damage. One fell upon a station, one fell amid a company of soldiers going to get food, and others practically destroyed half of the barracks where French prisoners were confined in 1870. In Cologne a branch factory of the Baden Aniline Works was partly destroyed and a number of people were killed and wounded. Great damage also was done at Mainz. It was also reported that much damage was done at Düsseldorf. After the raids the authorities made every effort to clear up the wreckage as rapidly as possible, and the town was made to resume normal life immediately.

In connection with military operations on the western front, official reports showed that the Allies had gained great successes in destroying enemy airplanes. The enemy losses in January, 1918, were 292; in February, 273, and in the first seventeen days of March 278. For the week ended March 17 the British Royal Flying Corps alone destroyed 99 German airplanes and drove down 42, losing 23 of its own machines.

One of the most surprising air raids was that of March 11 on Naples, in Southern Italy, far from enemy lines, when a dirigible dropped bombs on the city. Private houses, asylums, and churches were damaged or destroyed and 16 persons killed and 40 injured.

Among the most savage attacks on Paris by aircraft was that in the night of April 12, when two hostile machines got through the anti-aircraft barrage and succeeded in killing 26 persons and injuring 72. One of the torpedoes burst a gas main in the street where it fell, but firemen promptly extinguished the fire that ensued. The American Red Cross was first on the scene of the explosion, and in a very short time had the victims safely removed to a hospital.

The Tale of Zeppelin Disasters

What has become of the German airship fleet initiated by the late Count Zeppelin is now known to the Intelligence Department of the French Army, which has given out a complete list of the 100 or more dirigibles constructed since the first one was launched over Lake Constance.

Up to August, 1914, the total of Zeppelin airships built numbered twenty-five, while since the war the two great works at Friedrichshafen and Staaken have produced between seventy-five and eighty. As the mean period for the building of a Zeppelin is known with certainty to be two months, there must always have been four new airships on the stocks at the same time.

Most of the Zeppelins launched into the air before the war came to grief, thus leaving in the service of the German Army and Navy a fleet of less than a dozen when fighting began. Since then nearly all the dirigibles, old and new, have been handed over to the German Navy, which has used them for many kinds of work, such as bombing expeditions, protection of mine layers and small torpedo boats at sea, chasing submarines, searching for mine fields, and, last and most important, reconnoitring for the High Seas Fleet.

Disaster has attended the flight of an overwhelming majority of these air monsters, no fewer than thirty of which are known to have been destroyed in one way or another, as is shown by the following list:

L-1--Destroyed just before the war, when it fell in the North
Sea near Heligoland.

L-2--Burned at Buhlsbuettel just before the war.

L-3--Descended at Famoe in Denmark at beginning of the war, and
was burned by its crew.

L-4--Descended at Blaavands Huk, Denmark, at beginning of the
war, and was burned by its crew.

L-5--Brought down on the Belgian front in 1915; part of crew saved.

L-6--Burned at Buhlsbuettel in its hangar in September, 1916.

L-7--Brought down by British destroyers off Portland, crew being
drowned, in 1915.

L-8--Brought down by machine guns in Belgium, part of crew being
killed, in 1915.

L-9--Burned at Buhlfriettel in its hangar at same time as L-6.

L-10--Struck by lightning near Cuxhaven during its initial
flights, and lost with its crew.

L-12--Destroyed at Ostend in 1915 when returning from a raid on
England.

L-15--Brought down in the Thames, England, in 1916.

L-16--Destroyed on Oct. 19, 1917.

L-18--Burned in a hangar at Tondern in 1916.

L-19--Fell in the Baltic while returning from a raid on England.

L-22--Burned accidentally while coming out of its hangar at
Tondern.

L-23--Fell on the English coast.

L-25--Destroyed while being employed as a training balloon at
Wildpark.

L-31--Fell in London in 1916.

L-32--Brought down in London in 1916, (Sept. 23-24.)

L-33--Brought down in England, Sept. 23, 1916, and crew interned.

L-35--Brought down in England.

L-39--Brought down at Compiègne, France, March, 1917.

L-40--Fell in the woods near Emden.

L-43--Brought down in July, 1917, at Terscheling.

L-44--Brought down afire at Saint-Clement, Oct. 20, 1917.

L-45--Brought down and burned at Silteron, Oct. 20, 1917.

L-48--Brought down in England, June, 1917.

L-49--Brought down at Bourbonne-les-Bains, Oct. 20, 1917.

L-50--Fell at Dommartin, Oct. 20, 1917.

L-57--Broke up on its first voyage.

The last named is the highest number believed to have been in the service. Missing numbers in the list given above are accounted for as follows:

L-11--Put out of service in 1917 and believed to be in shed at Hage.

L-13--In the shed at Hage since May, 1917.

L-14--School airship at Northolz.

L-17--Believed to have been destroyed at sea.

L-20--Dismantled.

L-21--Dismantled; believed burned at Tondern.

L-24--Dismantled.

L-26--Planned, but never constructed.

L-27, L-28, L-29, and L-30--Planned, but never constructed.

L-34--Believed destroyed off England.

L-37--Attached to Baltic squadron, but believed destroyed.

L-38--Whereabout unknown.

L-41, L-42, L-46, L-47, L-51, L-52, L-53, L-54, L-55, and L-56--In
service in the North Sea.

No information is obtainable as to the fate of the remainder of the Zeppelins, nor as to whether their construction was ever completed, but the few other types of dirigible airships used by the Germans have not been better served by fate than their more renowned sisters.

The Schuette-Lanz dirigible is something like a Zeppelin, but with a framework of bamboo instead of aluminium. There have been eight of these in use since the beginning of the war, and their fate or present condition is shown in the following list:

S L-3--Long since out of service.

S L-4--Struck by lightning in the Baltic.

S L-6--Believed to have fallen into the Baltic.

S L-8--In service in the Baltic.

S L-9--Burned at Stolp.

S L-14--In service in the Baltic.

S L-16--Believed to be still in service.

S L-20--In service.

There was also one Gross semi-rigid dirigible, which was put out of service at the end of February, 1915, and three Parseval non-rigid airships, one of which was destroyed in Russia, the second used as a schoolship, and the third understood to be still in service.

Paris Bombarded by Long-Range Guns

The Disaster on Good Friday

Paris, though accustomed to the perils of German air raids, was amazed on the morning of March 23, 1918, to find itself bombarded by one or more guns of unprecedented range, which were dropping 9-inch shells into the city and its suburbs at intervals of twenty minutes. The nearest German line was more than sixty-two miles away, and the possibility of artillery bombardment at such a range was at first doubted in all the allied countries, but by the following day the fact was established that the shells were actually coming from the region of the Forest of St. Gobain, seven miles back of the French trenches near Laon, and about seventy-five miles from Paris. The French artillery at the front at once took measures to locate and destroy the guns, but without immediate results.

The first day's casualties from the long-distance shells were stated to be ten killed and fifteen wounded. The second day, which was Palm Sunday, was ushered in by loud explosions from the new missiles, but by church time the Parisians had already discounted the new sensation and thronged the streets on their way to the churches. The women who sell palm leaves on that day did their usual thriving business. During the early morning hours the street traffic was partly suspended, but by noon both the subway and the tramway cars were running again.

The shells were found to be doing comparatively little damage in proportion to their size. The municipal authorities announced on the second day that the German bombardment should not be allowed to interrupt the normal life of the city, and that the people would be warned by special signals, differing from those for air raids, and consisting of the beating of drums and blowing of whistles by the policemen. On Monday, when the police began to use the new system of alarm, they were the object of much good-natured chaffing on account of their awkwardness with the drumsticks.

Twenty-four shells reached Paris the first day, twenty-seven the second, fewer the third, and thus the bombardment went on daily, with occasional casualties and little effect on the habitual life of the city. The famous palace of the Tuileries was damaged by one of the shells, and other public buildings were struck. The damage was largely confined to the Montmartre district, the amusement centre of Paris, and nearly all the shells fell within a section about a mile square, indicating that the gun was immovable. One shell dropped in front of the Gare de l'Oest, a railway terminal, killing six men.

The casualties, however, were comparatively few until March 29, when a shell struck the Church of St. Gervais at the hour of the Good Friday service, killing seventy-five persons and wounding ninety, some of whom died later. Fifty-four of those killed were women, five being Americans. The shell had struck the church in such a way as to cause a portion of it to collapse and fall upon the worshippers at the moment of the elevation of the Host.

PROTEST FROM THE POPE

The intense indignation of all France at this new outrage on noncombatants was voiced at once through the press and in speeches in the Chamber of Deputies. The authorities of the Catholic Church were deeply stirred, and Pope Benedict sent a protest to Berlin against the bombardment of Paris, and especially against the destruction of churches and the wholesale massacre of civilians. Cardinal Amette, Archbishop of Paris, arriving at the scene of the catastrophe a few moments after the explosion, expressed the general feeling when he exclaimed: "The beasts! To have chosen the day of our Lord's death for committing such a crime!" The Vatican sent Cardinal Amette the following dispatch:

The Holy Father, deploring the fact that the bloody conflict,
which already has caused everywhere so much suffering, has
again, on the very day of the Saviour's Passion, found more
innocent victims, who are still dearer to his heart owing to
their faith and piety, expresses his deepest sympathy. He sends
the apostolic blessing to all the faithful in Paris, and desires
to know if it is necessary to send material aid to the families
in mourning.

The Cardinal also received the following letter from Grand Rabbi Israel Levi on behalf of those of the Jewish faith:

Your Eminence, I am the interpreter of the feelings of all my
French co-religionists in saying that I share in the mourning
which has come to so many families devastated by sacrilegious
barbarism. We are one in pious indignation at the crime, which
seems to have been intended as an insult to what humanity holds
most sacred.

Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, voiced the sentiments of New York Catholics in this message to the Archbishop of Paris:

Shocked by the brutal killing of innocent victims gathered at
religious services to commemorate the passing of our blessed
Saviour on Good Friday, the Catholics of New York join your
noble protest against this outrage of the sanctuary on such a
day and at such an hour and, expressing their sympathy to the
bereaved relatives of the dead and injured, pledge their
unfaltering allegiance in support of the common cause that
unites our two great republics. May God bless the brave officers
and men of the allied armies in their splendid defense of
liberty and justice!

Among those killed in this disaster was H. Stroehlin, Secretary of the Swiss Legation. The German Foreign Office later made an indirect expression of regret to Switzerland for this act, but sought to justify the bombardment on the ground that Paris is a fortress. The Kaiser sent a special note of congratulation to the managers of the Krupp works regarding the success of the weapon.

AMBASSADOR SHARP'S REPORT

William G. Sharp, the American Ambassador to France, visited the wrecked church shortly after the disaster and sent a detailed report to Secretary Lansing at Washington. The State Department, on April 3, issued the following:

The Secretary of State has received from Ambassador Sharp in
Paris a graphic report of his visit to the scene of the horrible
tragedy which occurred on the afternoon of Good Friday in a
church by the explosion of a German shell projected from far
back of the enemy lines a distance of more than seventy miles.
The appalling destruction wrought by this shell is, as the
Ambassador remarked, probably not equaled by any single
discharge of any hostile gun in the cruelty and horrors of its
results.

In no other one spot in Paris, even where poverty had gathered
on that holy day to worship, could destruction of life have been
so great. Nearly a hundred mangled corpses lying in the morgues,
with almost as many seriously wounded, attested to the measure
of the toll exacted. Far up to the high, vaulted arches, between
the flying buttresses well to the front of the church, is a
great gap in the wall, from which fell upon the heads of the
devoted worshippers many tons of solid masonry. It was this that
caused such a great loss of life.

As the Ambassador entered the church, where but a few hours
before had been gathered the worshippers, he could easily
picture the scene that followed the explosion. The amount of
débris, remaining just as it fell on the floor, covered the
entire space between the lofty columns supporting the arches at
each side. Only a miracle could have saved from death or serious
injury those who escaped the falling mass. The scene was that of
some horrible shambles, and it was not until well into the night
that all the bodies were recovered. Upon the floor in many
places could still be seen the blood of the victims, among whom
were many prominent and well-to-do people.

The Ambassador called to express his sympathy to his Swiss
colleague, whose lifelong friend, the Secretary of the Swiss
Legation, was killed while leaving the church. The Minister was
deeply affected as he spoke of the great loss to him through the
Secretary's death. The Secretary was well known in Washington,
where he served with the Swiss Legation from 1902 to 1904, and
was very highly esteemed by all who knew him.

In conclusion, Mr. Sharp says that the exceptional circumstances
under which this tragedy occurred, both as to the sacred
character of the day and the place, have greatly aroused the
indignation of the people of Paris toward an enemy who seeks to
destroy human life without regard to the immunities prescribed
by the laws of civilization and humanity, and, instead of
terrorizing the people, shells of the great cannons, as well as
the bombs dropped from the German airplanes, only serve to
strengthen the resolve of the French to resist, to the last man,
if necessary, the invasion of such a foe.

CHARACTER OF THE GUN

Portions of exploded shells examined in the Municipal Laboratory of Paris indicated that the calibre of the new German gun was a trifle less than nine inches, and that the projectiles, weighing perhaps 200 pounds, contained a comparatively weak charge of high explosives, arranged in two chambers connected by a fuse, often causing two distinct explosions a minute or more apart. It was stated later by German military scientists that it took each shell more than three minutes to travel from the mouth of the gun to Paris, and that on its way it had to rise to a height of more than twenty miles from the earth. Three Paris experts found that at least two of these great guns were being used. According to German prisoners, one of the guns exploded on March 29, killing a German Lieutenant and nine men.

In their jubilation over the new weapon the German newspapers stated that the first bombardment of Paris had been witnessed by the Kaiser and by the builder of the long-range gun, Professor Fritz Rausenberger, who is an artillerist, manager of the Krupp Works, and builder of the famous 42-centimeter (16½-inch) gun used to demolish the Belgian forts at the beginning of the war.

The violence of the concussion of the new weapon was indicated by the statement of American scientists that every shot was found to be recorded by seismographs all over the United States; in other words, the shock of each discharge caused the needles of earthquake detectors three or four thousand miles away to record small dots on the smoked paper used in these instruments.

Paris, though embittered by the new form of attack, refused to be frightened by the long-range shells. The attendance at the churches on Easter Sunday was even larger than usual. The police authorities issued an order on April 4 that theatre matinées and afternoon entertainments of all kinds should be temporarily discontinued; but, owing to numerous protests, this order was modified next day, and the usual daytime performances in the theatres were allowed on condition that the bombardment had not begun at the hour of assembly, and that the place of amusement be evacuated immediately if the shelling began during the performance. In the weeks that followed the bombardment became more and more desultory and ineffectual.

It was recorded on April 9 that French aviators had discovered the location of the new guns at Crepy-en-Laonnais, near the road from La Fère to Laon, and that continual bombardment of the spot was causing the increasingly intermittent nature of the German long-range fire. The French had learned the location to a yard, and from a powerful battery ten miles away they were dropping enormous shells weighing half a ton each into the low hills where the German monsters were hidden. There were three of the supercannon, and a few days later an air photograph showed that two French shells had fallen on the barrel of one of them, putting it out of commission. Tremendous craters had been made around the others, and one French shell had fallen on a main railway line, blocking it a whole day. A correspondent who visited the French battery engaged in this work wrote on April 13:

"It is stated that these German guns are ninety-six feet long. At the moment of firing, other big guns let fly simultaneously, to confuse the French, and a smoke screen is emitted in the vicinity to hide the pieces from aircraft. Up to yesterday there had been no firing at night, lest the flashes show the position of the cannon. How necessary this precaution is may be illustrated by my experience last night, when I saw the whole northern sky constantly lit up by the guns on the eighty-mile front of the German offensive."

After April 13, when the Germans knew that their secret was fully known, they began bombarding Paris by night, though without any increase in effectiveness. Up to the middle of April a total of 150 long-distance shells had fallen in Paris, and the only ones that had caused any notable casualties were those which struck the Church of St. Gervais, an infant asylum, and an old man's bowling green.

The Irish Guards

By RUDYARD KIPLING

[Read at a matinée in London in aid of the Irish Guards' War Fund, for which it was written by Mr. Kipling.]

We're not so old in the Army List,
But we're not so young at our trade,
For we had the honor at Fontenoy
Of meeting the Guards Brigade.
'Twas Lally, Dillon, Bulkeley, Clare,
And Lee that led us then,
And after a hundred and seventy years
We're fighting for France again!
_Old Days! The wild geese are flighting,
Head to the storm as they faced it before!
For where there are Irish there's bound to be fighting,
And when there's no fighting, it's Ireland no more!
Ireland no more!_

The fashion's all for khaki now,
But once through France we went
Full-dressed in scarlet Army cloth--
The English--left at Ghent.
They're fighting on our side today,
But before they changed their clothes
The half of Europe knew our fame
As all of Ireland knows!
_Old days! The wild geese are flying,
Head to the storm as they faced it before!
For where there are Irish there's memory undying,
And when we forget, it is Ireland no more!
Ireland no more!_

From Barry Wood to Gouzeaucourt,
From Boyne to Pilkem Ridge,
The ancient days come back no more
Than water under the bridge.
But the bridge it stands and the water runs
As red as yesterday,
And the Irish move to the sound of the guns
Like salmon to the sea!
_Old days! The wild geese are ranging,
Head to the storm as they faced it before!
For where there are Irish their hearts are unchanging,
And when they are changeful, it is Ireland no more!
Ireland no more!_

We're not so old in the Army List,
But we're not so new in the ring,
For we carried our packs with Marshal Saxe
When Louis was our King.
But Douglas Haig's our Marshal now
And we're King George's men,
And after one hundred and seventy years
We're fighting for France again!
_Ah, France! And did we stand by you
When life was made splendid with gifts and rewards?
Ah, France! And will we deny you
In the hour of your agony, Mother of Swords?
Old Days! The wild geese are flighting,
Head to the storm as they faced it before!
For where there are Irish there's loving and fighting,
And when we stop either, it's Ireland no more!
Ireland no more!_

The Guilt of Germany

German Ambassador to Great Britain in 1914 Proves That His Country Forced the War

Prince Lichnowsky, who was the German Ambassador to Great Britain when the war began, is the author of an extremely interesting and important historical document which became public in March, 1918. It is in the form of a private memorandum written by the Prince, in which he frankly and definitely admits that the guilt for starting the world conflict rests upon his own country. The document, through some unrevealed agency, reached the Stockholm newspaper Politiken, the influential mouthpiece of the Swedish Socialists, and was printed in installments.

The publication created a profound sensation throughout Europe. It evoked passionate rebukes of the Prince in the Reichstag and drew forth an important utterance from the former German Foreign Minister, who failed to refute its supremely important revelations. It was reported early in April that the German Government had taken steps to institute proceedings against the Prince on the charges of revealing State secrets and of treason to the State.

The memorandum was written by Prince Lichnowsky about eighteen months ago for the purpose of explaining and justifying his position to his personal friends, and only half a dozen typewritten copies were made. One of these copies, through a betrayal, reached the Wilhelmstrasse, and caused a great scandal, and another was communicated to some members of the Minority Socialist Party. But how it happened that a copy got across the German frontier remains a mystery. Internal evidence, however, leaves no doubt in regard to the authenticity of the document. It is entitled "My London Mission, 1912-1914," and is dated "Kuchelna, (Prince Lichnowsky's country seat,) August, 1916."

Prince Lichnowsky begins with a recital of the circumstances which led to his being appointed to London after many years of retirement from diplomacy, and a description of the European position as he then found it. The moment, he believes,

was undoubtedly favorable for a new attempt to get on a better
footing with England. Our enigmatical Moroccan policy had
repeatedly shaken confidence in our peaceful disposition and
aroused the suspicion that we were not quite sure what we
wanted, or that our intention was to keep Europe in suspense,
and, when occasion served, to humiliate the French. An Austrian
colleague, who was long in Paris, said to me, "If the French
begin to forget révanche, you regularly remind them of it by
treading heavily on their toes."

After rejecting M. Delcassé's attempt to come to an agreement
with us in regard to Morocco, and declaring that we had no
political interests there, an attitude which was in full
accordance with the traditions of the Bismarckian policy, we
suddenly recognized in Abdul Aziz a Kruger No. 2. To him, also,
like the Boers, we promised the powerful support of the German
Empire--at the same cost and with the same result. For both
affairs ended, as they had to end, unless we were already then
resolved to undertake a world war--namely, in withdrawal.

Our attitude promoted the Russo-Japanese and the Russo-British
rapprochements. In face of the German peril all other conflicts
fell into the background. The possibility of a new Franco-German
war had become evident.

THE BRITISH PROGRAM

After describing the futility of Germany's Moroccan policy, Prince Lichnowsky goes on:

When I arrived in London, in November, 1912, public opinion had
calmed about the Morocco question. Mr. Haldane's mission had
certainly failed, since we had demanded a promise of neutrality
instead of satisfying ourselves with a compact which would
secure us against a British attack or an attack with British
support. Sir Edward Grey, however, had not given up the idea of
reaching an agreement with us and, as a beginning, made an
attempt in this direction in the economic and colonial spheres.
With Herr von Kühlmann as expert intermediary, an exchange of
views took place concerning the renewal of the Portuguese
Colonial Agreement and the Bagdad Railway, the object of which
was to divide the aforesaid colonies, as well as Asia Minor,
into spheres of interest. The British statesman desired, since
the old disputes with France and Russia were settled, to reach a
corresponding agreement with us. His aim was not to isolate us,
but to get us to take part in the already established concert.
Having succeeded in throwing a bridge across the Franco-British
and Russo-British divisions, he wished also, as far as possible,
to remove the causes of friction between England and Germany,
and, by a network of agreements--to which might well eventually
have been added an agreement on the unfortunate naval
question--to secure the peace of the world.

This was Sir Edward Grey's program. In his own words "Without
prejudice to the existing friendly understandings with France
and Russia, which pursued no aggressive aims, and involved in
themselves for England no binding obligations, to reach a
friendly rapprochement and understanding with Germany." In
short, to bring the two groups nearer together.

In this connection two schools of opinion--the optimists, who
believed in the possibility of an understanding; the pessimists,
who considered that war was sooner or later unavoidable. To the
former belonged Mr. Asquith, Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Haldane, and
most of the members of the Liberal Cabinet, as well as the
leading Liberal organs, like The Westminster, The Chronicle, and
The (Manchester) Guardian. To the pessimists belonged,
primarily, Conservative politicians like Mr. Balfour, who on
repeated occasions allowed me to know his opinion, and leading
soldiers like Lord Roberts, who preached the necessity for the
introduction of compulsory service; also the Northcliffe press,
and the important English journalist, Mr. Garvin. During my time
in office, however, this party refrained from all attacks, and
maintained, both personally and politically, a friendly
attitude. But our naval policy and our conduct in 1905, 1908,
and 1911 had created among them the belief that some day it
would come to war. The first school, exactly as among us in
Germany, are now accused of foolishness and short-sightedness,
while the second are regarded as true prophets.

Prince Lichnowsky goes on to describe the situation during the Balkan war. There were two policies, he says, open to Germany--to act as an impartial mediator and seek a stable settlement in accordance with the wishes of the Balkan peoples, or to conduct a strict Triple Alliance policy. He himself recommended the former, but the Wilhelmstrasse determined on the latter. Austria wished to keep Serbia from the Adriatic; Italy wished to prevent the Greeks from reaching Avlona; Russia supported the Serbs, France supported the Greeks. Germany had no motive whatever for supporting her allies, and thus bringing about a bad settlement, except the desire to consolidate what, in Prince Lichnowsky's opinion, was a palpably worthless alliance--worthless because it was obvious that Italy would break from the alliance in the event of war, while Austria was absolutely dependent on Germany in peace and war without an alliance.

The best way to increase Austria's dependence was to cultivate friendly relations between Germany and Russia. The Kaiser, for dynastic reasons, was in favor of the division of Albania between Greece and Serbia, but "when I, in a letter to him, urged this solution, I received from the Chancellor a severe reprimand to the effect that I was supporting Austria's enemies, and should refrain from direct correspondence with the Emperor."