Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-02-03 | Page 25 | Gotha Caught in Glare of Lights

GOTHA CAUGHT IN GLARE OF LIGHTS Made Target for Heavy Guufiro and Driven Quickly Far Out to Sea. By International News Service. IX) X DON, Feb. 2. An ' unsuccessful raid of a recent night was not wholly lacking In spectacular display. The inhabitants of a little KsFe.x vil lage wore fortunate in witnessing the frantic: attempts of a Gotha to penetrate one of our Dig barrages. Heavy gunhre close to the village heralded her-alded the a pproa oh of a rai d . N ea re r and nearer came the sullen droning and It was almost- overhead when the long arm of a searchlight flickered upward, traversing: the skv. It wavered, joined and crossed the arm of a brother light, and at the juncture of the two silvery beams a Goth a was suddenly caught and heid- The raider was immediately subjected to a terrific bombardment. Tlie windows rattled and shook, and the surrounding con ntxv was lighted up by the Mashes of the firing guns, while I up in the searchlight sky tlie Gotha turned and dived and banked in vain- Little red-hot peas flashed all round her, dissolving into smoky puff-balls in the rays. The guns never ceased their roaring. Now the Gotha, a silver wasp in the searchlights, tried to break away from those glaring lights but fruitlessly. If she put her nose up in the air a storm ot ashes appeared above her; if she banked to tlie right a crowd of seemingly red-hot peas drove her straight again. At length the Gotha appeared to have had enough. She banked around in a great circling sweep, and made for the coast, still in the searchlights' beams. She began to grow smaller In size, smaller and smaller yet, until a fresh set of lights picked her up in the distance dis-tance a silver lire fly making for her home. A iter twenty minutes she was lost to view, but the dull thud of the guns and the faint rays of crossed searchlights told of the "warm journey which our gunners gave her as she made for the sea.