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Show RUMORS CURRENT OF BATTLE OFF THE SCOTCH COAST HARTLTJPOOIj, England, Dec. 17. via London, Dec. IS. .1:05 a. m. Although at a late hour tonight the official estimate of the casualties was eighty-two persons killed and about 250 injured, many of the wrecked houses have not been explored and it is believed the list of dead eventually even-tually will reach too. Fight soldiers, two of them gunners in the coast defense, and two sailors are among the killed. The panic-stricken residents of the sister sis-ter towns ha-e returned gradually to their homes from the country and are standing stand-ing about in sad groups watching the search of the demolished buildings for dead and Injured. Mayor Fryer issued a proclamation to-dav to-dav stating that where families cannot meet the funeral expense of their dead tiiev will be paid for from the war-relief fund. Tho dead are evenly divided between be-tween the two Hartlepools, and plans are 1 under consideration for a common funeral for all. Many Rumors Afloat. Throughout the day rumors were cur- I rent that German and English fleets were firing off the Scotch coast. No sounds I of gun firing were heard here, but the , rumors excited the crowds, which were i willing to believe predictions that the Germans soon will shell this coast again. ;ftmy officers who examined the ruins caused by the bombardment estimate that the Germans fired 200 shells, chiefly of the nine-inch and twelve-inch variety. Several twelve-inch shells which had not exploded were found today in the soft earth. The Hartlepools were raked from three angles bv the enemv. Lying off the peninsula,' which t he Germans approached from the south, botli towns were shelled by the forward guns as the cruisers advanced. ad-vanced. Abreast of the peninsula the Germans poured a broadside fire over the entire length of the sister towns. As the cruisers made their escape to the northeast they poured a fire from their rear guns on the north side of the peninsula- Destroyei's Observable. Many dest rovers were visible beyond the Germans during the bombardment. At first these were believed to belong to the hostile suuadron, but competent observers ob-servers say tiie Germans fired both seaward sea-ward and toward the shore, which seems to indicate that the Germans slipped between be-tween the English flotilla and the coast during the heavy fog that prevailed just before the bombardment. , Two large German cruisers and one-small one-small cruiser did tbe shelling here. C. Nielsen, the American consular agent, narrowly escaped death during the attack, at-tack, the houses adjoining his being crushed, together with their occupants. "The most remarkable feature of the bombardment was the calmness of the nubilf while the nhells were falling," said Mr. Nielsen today. "At first we thought It was a naval battle, but when I the people realized it was a bombardment there was no panic. Many -persons stood outside their homes watching. I saw a postman continuing bis duties and a datrvman delivered our milk as usual during the shelling. Our cook, unmoved bv th destruction all about, continued I the breakfast preparations and an-i an-i nouucod that the meal was ready just I before tbe bombardment stopped. Nerves Went to neces. "After the shells quit singing, the nerves of tbe public went to pieces and hysterical people took to the country." The shore 'guns acquitted themselves creditably and were not injured by the German fire. Persons who witnessed tbe fighting between the shore guns and the cruisers say the smokestack of one of tiie cruisers' was smashed and that many shots landed on another while it was standing broadside to the shore batteries. It is estimated that the cruisers were about 4000 feel off shore during the heaviest heav-iest part of the shelling. |