rman
defenses on the Belgian coast, in conjunction with the British
artillery in the Nieuport district. Unabated fighting raged along the
whole front, and it was all summed up in the German official
communique of September 20, 1915, with commendable brevity:

"The hostile vessels which unsuccessfully bombarded Westende and
Middelkerke, southwest of Ostend, withdrew before our fire. Several
hits were observed. Along the land front there were no important
events."

Nevertheless, important events were shaping themselves about this
time. German artillery attacks increased in violence against the
British front. Aeroplanes were particularly busy observing all moves
on the board. In Champagne the Germans kept the French occupied with
heavy shells and "lachrymatory projectiles." These projectiles have
been described as "tearful and wonderful engines of war." They are
ordinary hand grenades with a charge that rips open the grenade and
liberates a liquid chemical. When that happens, the effect of the
fumes brings water to the eyes of the men in such quantities that they
are quite unable to defend themselves in the event of an attack.
Shooting is entirely out of the question. The stinging sensation
produced in the eyes is not pleasant, but it is not painful, and the
effect wears off in a few minutes. The troops humorously refer to
these grenades as "onions."

On September 21, 1915, a party of French airmen carried out the most
daring of the many raids on German towns and positions they had
hitherto accomplished. An aero squadron flew to Stuttgart, which is
about 140 miles due east from Nancy, and dropped thirty shells on the
palace of the King of Wuerttemberg and the railway station of the town.
They were fired at from many points, but safely completed their double
journey of nearly 300 miles. Before this exploit, which was undertaken
as a reprisal, the longest distances traveled by raiding squadrons of
French aeroplanes were those to the Friedrichshafen Zeppelin
factories on June 28, 1915, involving a double journey of 240 miles
from Belfort; and to the explosives factory at Ludwigshafen, on the
Rhine, which represented a distance of 230 miles from Nancy and back.
The Berlin official report thus describes the event:

"At 8.15 this morning enemy airmen with German marks on their aeros
attacked Stuttgart and dropped several bombs on the town, killing four
persons and wounding a number of soldiers and civilians. The material
d