CALM LONDONERS

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 553, 28 December 1915, Page 7

CALM LONDONERS

ZEPPELINS AND PANIC!. One of tbe aims of the German newspapers m dealing with Zeppelin attacks on London is to make neutrals believe that they cause panic among a population already represented: as m a state of nervous pessimism (writes the Rotterdam correspondent of the 'Daily Telegraph'). The difficulty of these attempts is that Dutchmen put them to the test of their experience of the unreliability of German reports. One of these (the London correspondent of the 'Nieuwe Rotterdamsche. Courant') pays the following tribute to the demeanor and behaviour of Londoners: — " ; " There still seems to be a question whether Zeppelins can excite panic here. I repeat again, with the greatest emphasis, that they are not successful jn that. I myself, on the evening of the. latest attack, walked along the darkened streets as soon as we heard the cry from the special constables 'Lights out!' I nearly ricked my neck looking skywards, and from time to time could hear the firing of guns. Was it possible to feel panicky? It was impossible. Everyone we spoke to was much more full of interest and) impatience beoause everything i was so quiet than anxtety. In places where ' bombs fell people felt differently, but m open spaces m the west people stood just as on September B—full8 — full of interested excitement, and looking upwards, ' where the silvery ship hung m the air. "In theatres which even lost some windows by explosions people remained calm, aud thc performances were not stopped. At the first performance of ' Faust ' Margaret did not even stop her song when the noise of the guns filled the air. Au orchestra m a well-kncwn hotel continued playing while

broken panes of glass clattered down through the explosion of a bomb. Tlie people, after a moment of silence, burst out into cheers, and made the orchestra play the National In short, the Zeppelins have not yet caused any panic among English people."