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Show . : I Squadron Approaches London; Is Beaten Back by Aircraft Defenses; Londoners Out to View the Midnight Pyrotechnics ACTIVITY OF AIR WAR GROWS ON ALL FRONTS LONDON, Sept. 24, 3:39 a. m. One German airship, and probably prob-ably another, was brought down during a raid over the eastern counties of England and the outskirts of London last night, according accord-ing to an official statement. One airship was brought down in the southern part of Essex and, it is reported, another fell on the Sssex coast. The text of the statement follows: "An attack by hostile airships was made on Lincoln-hire and the eastern counties and on the outskirts of London. The latter attack was made from the northeast and the southeast about midnight mid-night and was beaten off by our anti-aircraft defenses. AIRSHIP BROUGHT DOWN AFIRE. "One airship was brought down in flames in the southern part of Essex and a report has been received that another fell on tha Essex coast. The latter report hitherto is unconfirmed. "No reports of casualties or damage have yet besn received." The raiders apparently did not come so near to London as on the occasion of the destruction of the L-21 on September 3. The sound of gunfire was fainter when the distant reports of antiaircraft anti-aircraft weapons shortly after midnight heralded th? approach of the raiders. The observers on the roofs and bridges of the city, however, were treated to quite a pyrotechnic display of shrapnel bursting around a Zeppelin visible in the sky, seemingly somewhere in the remote outskirts of London. ZEPPELINS ARE BEATEN OFF. This spectacle was of short duration, as the Zeppelin made off, finding the reception too hot, and the sound of tho cannonade quickly quick-ly died away. Distant flashes in the sky, nevertheless, indicated that the conflict con-flict had not yet finished, and it was an hour late:' shortly after 1 o'clock in the morning that the Associated Press observer on a city bridge saw a small cigar like object suddenly burst into a glow on the eastern horizon. There was no -vivid flame lighting up the sky, as on September 3, but the crowd of onlookers, still talcing n. sporting interest in the visitation despite the lateness of tho hour, took it for granted that another Zeppelin had met its doom and enthusiastically en-thusiastically cheered the prowess of the defenders. LONDONERS RETIRE CONTENT. Some waited to see if other raiders would fall victims, but there was no further disturbance of the now peaceful star-lit sky, and Londoners quietly returned to their beds, confident (hat they would awaken in the morning to find official confirmation that the portent they had witnessed in the heavens was the destruction of a Zeppelin. In tho last raid by German airships over England, three weeks ago, a Zeppelin was brought down in the London district. The crew of the Zeppelin was killed tnd later buried near the spot where the airship descended in flames. Lieutenant William L. Robinson of the Royal Flying corps was responsible for the destruction of tho raider and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exploit. A British official statement said that thirteen airships purtici-pated purtici-pated in the raid over the eastern counties and the London district on the night of September 2-3. Outside of London two persons were killed and eleven injured. There was some property damage, but no military damage, it was announced officially in Lorclon. Berlin announced the loss of the airship and claimed that the raid had resulted in the bombardment of the "Fortress of London" and Yarmouth and Harwich, as well as factories in the southeast counties. The statement added that good effects were observed. ENGLISH DANCE WITH JOY WHEN ZEPPELIN IS HIT f.ONDOW Sft.l. A dpaf-di from lis - ex l; i f- the t ollnwi n j ra i c d Ti prion of t b" dc-t met imj id a Z'-i- ''At ii idui'li' a Xnpjudiii pa-.-cd ov-r here. We could b';;tr the hmiuiuug of the rn-ilK" ;n;d ,;i .y fhr sr;j ndi I i h t fl H '. en in flu- 1. . Tu m i im I u l;:'cv v.-4 ' ,fr.v it ooil.c in ill" dir. dm., Of Limdr.Tl. H1H WIT' llllll- III'. h e M wrrr i u r-'1 i n t; around the ;tirsli,p, vhb'li d i -;i ppi-;i red ii"rMnnrd. The ,jm , : nd-deirly nd-deirly cen-ed. We held our Ln-jUli!-, r.x- (Contiuucd on Fao NiuotceuJ I'fllPPELIfiSLfiSf" JS RAID 1 EIUD! (Continued from Psro One.) poi'tini? tho s:inu tiling io hapi-fii us at CutVlov. ' ' Thero was iilenl-o. Tin1 Xoppolin h ail i-liMippoiiri'd. I. a tor its menu's wero apnu lu';ii. Alter a tew miunton heavy jjun tiring wji.s hoar.l east ward and shells were seen Imrst in:; ai uuiul j the enrelin. ' Suiiilonlv s re. I spnt flowed in thi sky the si;'e of u toot. All saw immediately im-mediately that the Zeppelin w as a lire. "Flames swept its back and soon it va s a ti re 1" r o m e n d to end. It. looked like a fiery serpent shooting through 1 the sky. with red tlames stabMni,' its sides. Almost immediately t here was a ehonis of weird sounds eominj; eastward, east-ward, teain whistles and sirens were sounded from t he river, sending t orth , screams or" triumph. The stiwrs were' crowded and the people were aetuiilly dime in with happiness. It was a pandemonium pan-demonium of joy, ' ' The Zeppelin 's tail seemed to co t upward, with its nose dowu. Suddenly amidst the tlames its biu'lc seemed to i break. The Zeppelin made a headlong S dive to the pround, its tiery tail oseil- lating. Flames Ht the sky. "Within j hall a minute the llanunji wreck smashed to the pround, a red furnace. The sky burned altogether about rive minutes' before the monster dropped.'' |