THE AMERICAN ACCOUNT.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 168, 16 July 1915, Page 7

THE AMERICAN ACCOUNT.

DOCKS AND ARSENALS NOT INJURED. tSpeclal to "Star.") SAN FRANCISCO, .lune 23. First-hand authentic details of the Zeppelin havoc wrought in JjOndon were brought to the United States by passengers on the American liner St. Paul, which arrived in New York. Among the ' travellers on the steamer was H. D. ' Watson, representative of a New York ' automobile company, who declared that " a. large number of persons were killed and wounded in the West End of lion- f don in the Zeppelin raid of May 31. "The Zeppelins." he said, "passed over iSouth ' Kensington, the richest section of Lon- ' don. 1 went there tbe next morning. The porter of the Hotel St. James told T mc he had assisted iv tilling two tram- ' cars full of dead and wounded. How c many were killed and injured 1 do not j know." The mail bags aboard the steamer St. f Paul brought a. remarkable and graphic ■ story of the Zeppelin raid, corroborating , the statements of Watson. » The Loudon papers sent proofs of long i accounts of the raid, together with i many photographs of the havoc wrought, to the official censor, but they never i were returned. Instead, an official statement was issued by the Government tor : publication in the issues of .lune Ist ; i brielly announcing that there had been [a raid, and the papers were warned ; against publishing anything additional, i The statement was amplified by another one lor publication on .lune 2. in which it was stated that four were dead, a number injured, and that several tires had followed the dropping of the bombs. While the (ierman wireless report to the] t'nited States said that bombs were dropped on the docks, the fact is. that none came within half a mile of the waterfront, due air raider was within a mile ot" the Hank of Kngland and less than three miles from Buckingham Palace. Westminster Abbey, and the Houses of Parliament and other Uovernment buildings. Their course must have led the Zeppelins within two or three miles of Woolwich Arsenal, where great quantities of munitions are bring made, and of the famous old naval observatory and school at (Ireenwich. both of them beside the Thames. Ihe following is an account of the scenes in the east of London the morning following tbe raid itself: "Parading the narrow streets were great crowds, mostly women and children. Here and there was a gutted factory or residence. In the doorways stood many women relating their experience to all passers-by. Policemen attempted to regulate the traffic, and the sound of tramping soldiers could be i beard. Thousands of pairs of eyes looked toward the sky—looking for l I something that they could not hope to I see. Kvcrywhere were excited groups, j telling of the- raid. ! "-Of course we were frightened." said one woman, 'but what i- the good of j ! worrying.' | "That wa- what -he had to say after 'passing through what une would have imagined was a nightmare experience, for a bomb bad plunged through a build I ing adjoining that which -he occupied. DRIVEN OLT IN NKIITT. "That was the spirit in which the; I residents of the raided district told of I their experiences. Thev 1 told of bombs! crashing on the roofs ol" their bouses: of I great explosions that shook the neighbourhood like an earthquake; of hastily dressing and trooping into the streets: | of great crowds assembled and tongues j of llame shooting far above the highest buildings and tons ot water hissing as it encountered the flame. "The occupants of a bouse adjoining a large shoe factory, now a mass nf grim and blackened ruins, talked bravely as they walked about among the ruins. ■• •There was very little excitement,' they said. 'We jumped from our beds, and dressed and picking up what thing? we could carry, ran from the danger zone and sought refuge .n the homes of | relatives anil friend-.' BOY OF NINK IS KILLKD. I "Samuel Reuben, a little boy of nine years, of I'i. Cannon Street Rixid, Com mereial Road. F... was killed in Christian Street. His body is at the London Hospital, where eleven of the injured were also taken. "Seven bombs were dropped in White- ! chapel and Shoreditch. A woman. Mrs. MeOuineSs. was passing up the stairs to her apartment when a bomb struck the I building. •• -The children! Oh. my (jndl' .-'-c screamed. •At that moment her little son rushed out a mass of llames. •A bomb dropped on the home of \V. B. Stevens, No. .1. Kingnland Road. The family was at supper and did not knowthat their house bad been struck until a policeman rushed in. The bomb bad j struck the bedroom of the house."'