es_
published the following telegram at the head of its Foreign
Intelligence:--

ASTOUNDING OCCURRENCE IN RUSSIA.

_Destruction of Kronstadt by an unknown Air-Ship._
(_From our own Correspondent._)

St. Petersburg, _March 8th_, 4 P.M.

Between six and seven this morning, the fortress of Kronstadt was
partially destroyed by an unknown air-ship, which was first
sighted approaching from the westward at a tremendous speed.

Four shots in all were fired upon the fortress, and produced the
most appalling destruction. There was no smoke or flame visible
from the guns of the air-ship, and the explosives with which the
missiles were charged must have been far more powerful than
anything hitherto used in warfare, as in the focus of the
explosion masses of iron and steel and solid masonry were
instantly reduced to powder.

Two shots were fired as the strange vessel approached, and two as
she left the fortress. The two latter exploded over one of the
powder magazines, dissolved the steel roof to dust, and ignited
the whole contents of the magazine, blowing that portion of the
fortification bodily into the sea. At least half the garrison has
disappeared, most of the unfortunate men having been practically
annihilated by the terrific force of the explosions.

The air-ship was not of the navigable balloon type, and is
described by the survivors as looking more like a flying
torpedo-boat than anything else. She flew no flag, and there is
no clue to her origin.

After destroying the fortress, she ascended several thousand
feet, and continued her eastward course at such a prodigious
speed, that in less than five minutes she was lost to sight.

The excitement in St. Petersburg almost reaches the point of
panic. All efforts to keep the news of the disaster secret have
completely failed, and I have therefore received permission to
send this telegram, which has been revised by the Censorship, and
may therefore be accepted as authentic.

Within an hour of the appearance of this telegram, which appeared
only in the _Times_, the Russian Censorship having refused to allow
any more to be despatched, the astounding news was flying over the
wires to every corner of the world.

The _Times_ had a lengthy and very able article on the subject,
which, although by no means alarmist in tone, told the wo