Chapter V (4)

Field Marshal von Hindenburg, in congratulating the Emperor on behalf of the army, extolled the Emperor's "wise care for peace" during the first twenty-six years of his reign and Germany's brilliant progress in all works of peace in that period. If the German Army and people had been able for nearly four years in the face of a world of enemies to show such proof of their strength and right to existence as never yet in history had been demanded and given in such measure, he added, they also owed this to their war lord, who had indefatigably watched over the fighting efficiency of his armies. The Field Marshal renewed the unswerving loyalty until death of Germany's sons at the front, and concluded:

"May our old motto, 'Forward with God for King and Fatherland, for Kaiser and Empire,' result in many years of peace being granted to your Majesty after our victorious return home."

Demoralization and Crime in Germany

Evidence that the war has brought a great increase of crime in Germany is forthcoming in many forms. At a conference held in Berlin early in 1918 to discuss "public insecurity" in all parts of Germany, it was stated that most of the burglaries and other crimes were committed during the nights between Friday and Monday. Statistics were given of the payments made by companies which issue insurance policies against burglary and theft. Payments on account of burglaries increased from $400,000 in 1914 to $1,100,000 in 1916, and to about $5,000,000 in 1917. Compensation for stolen goods to the amount of nearly $15,000,000 was paid by the Prussian railways in 1917, as compared with a total of only $1,050,000 in 1914.

Owing to the constant thefts of food in Berlin an official order has been issued that no wheat or flour is to be moved through the streets after dark. The theft of letters is becoming more and more common. One night nineteen letter-boxes in Charlottenburg were broken open, and the letters were destroyed after the postage stamps had been torn off. Owing to frequent thefts of letters at a small town named Mittenwalde, the Postmaster laid a trap for the thief, with the result that his own wife has been sent to prison for six months.

The U-Boat Raid in American Waters

Twenty Vessels, Mostly in the Coastwise Trade, Sunk
Off the New Jersey and Virginia Coasts

One or more German submarines--the number was not definitely established--appeared off the coast of the United States on May 25, 1918, and began sinking merchant ships on a large scale. Up to June 20 more than twenty steamers and sailing vessels, mostly of American register, had been sent to the bottom.

This was the second visit of an armed German submarine to the American side of the Atlantic for hostile action. In October, 1916, before the United States entered the war, the U-53 held up coastwise traffic off Nantucket and sank four British, one Dutch, and one Norwegian ship. The U-53 had been preceded by the merchant submarine Deutschland, which arrived at Baltimore on July 9, 1916, from Bremen and returned with a cargo of nickel and rubber. The Deutschland made a second trip, arriving at New London, Conn., in October.

The appearance off the American coast of the unidentified submarine, or submarines, which made the raid on American and neutral shipping in May and June, 1918, was not altogether unexpected. For several weeks the American naval authorities had been searching for U-boats in home waters in consequence of a dispatch from the British Admiralty stating that two German submarines of the latest type, with a cruising capacity of 10,000 miles, had left the North Sea and were observed proceeding westward, probably in an attempt to cross the Atlantic.

The first information that German U-boats were conducting a transatlantic campaign was brought to New York City on June 4 by Captain Humphrey G. Newcombe and the ten members of the crew of the American four-masted schooner Edward H. Cole, which was sunk with bombs on the afternoon of June 2, fifty miles southeast of Barnegat, N. J. All were agreed that the U-boat was about 200 feet long, of more than 20 feet beam, and with 5 feet freeboard, that it carried a three-inch gun fore and aft, and a one-pounder quick-firer amidships, and that it had a speed of 17 knots. The mate of the Edward H. Cole told how he had noticed a submarine moving around the vessel at a high speed and believed that it was an American craft with Naval Reserve cadets on board, who were trying to have some fun with the sailors of the merchant ship.

"I thought," the mate continued, "that it would be a good idea to have a little fun with our skipper, who had turned in for a nap in his cabin, and I yelled down the skylight, 'Tumble up on deck lively, Cap! There's a big German submarine close astern, getting ready to attack us.' Then I took the marine glasses and looked through them at the stern of the U-boat, where her ensign was flapping limply against the short flagstaff. For a moment or two I could not make out her nationality, and then a gust of wind came and blew the ensign straight so that I could see that it was the German flag, and then I shouted in earnest to Captain Newcombe, 'It's no joke this time. By gosh, she is a German submarine!'"

The schooners Hattie Dunn and Edna were the first vessels sunk--on May 25. Their crews, as well as that of the schooner Hauppauge, which was sunk three days later, numbering twenty-three men, were taken on board the submarine and kept prisoner there for eight days. When the tank steamer Isabel Wiley was sunk, on June 2, the twenty-three prisoners were placed, with the crew of the Isabel Wiley, in the tanker's four boats and left to find their way to the shore. They were picked up by a coastwise steamer and brought safely back to land.

Captain Charles E. Holbrook of the Hattie Dunn, the first skipper to encounter the U-boat, thus described his experience:

We left New York for Charleston in ballast on May 23, and when,
two days later, we were about fifteen miles south of Winter
Quarter Lightship bowling along under an eight-knot breeze, I
heard a shell pass near the vessel. Then another shell, which fell
perhaps a quarter of a mile away. I was not taking much notice,
because I believed the vessel which I saw about two miles away was
an American submarine at target practice.

A third shell exploded close by us on the weather quarter, and
I knew that, whoever it was, wanted us to stop. I brought the
vessel up into the wind. The submarine, with her superstructure
and conning tower showing plainly above the water, came within two
hundred yards, and I saw that she was flying the two code letters
"A B," meaning "stop immediately."

From a small staff at the rear end of the superstructure fluttered
a small flag of the Imperial German Navy. An officer and three men
came over in a small boat, not over twelve feet long. In perfect
English the officer told us to get into our boats and that we
had but ten minutes allotted to us to get clear of our vessel.
They placed bombs along the sides of our vessel and blew her up
immediately, in the meantime putting an armed German sailor on
board the small boat in which were seven men and myself. This
did not give me time to rescue my personal effects and nautical
instruments. My men only saved what they stood in.

Perhaps I would have been given more time if the commander of
the submarine had not seen the Hauppauge under full sail about
four or five miles away. Like us the Hauppauge was light, and, I
understand, was bound from Portland to Newport News. He destroyed
Captain Sweeney's fine new schooner after ordering him and his
crew to take to their boats, and within a half hour both crews
were on board the submarine and both the small boats had been
placed on the submarine's deck and lashed down.

ON BOARD THE U-BOAT

Captain C. M. Gilmore of the Edna said that when he was stopped by the U-boat an officer came aboard and told him he had ten minutes to abandon ship. During the week he was on board the submarine, Captain Gilmore said the Americans were treated with such extreme courtesy by the Germans that it was evident that the whole matter was being done under orders with the hope of having an effect on American public opinion. Captain Gilmore added:

The officers of the submarine included a spare Captain who was
apparently on hand to take charge of any prize that might be
worth while turning into a raider, the commander of the U-boat
itself, and two others. These gave up their berths to me and the
master of the Hattie Dunn, and the Germans of the crew gave up
their bunks to the sailors and slept in hammocks themselves. The
officers gave us wines, cordials, and fine cigars, and in general
treated us with such marked hospitality that it seemed apparent
that they were carrying out a course that had been laid upon them.
The commander said that he had fuel and supplies for a month in
American waters and intended to stay here for that time before
going back.

The Carolina, a 5,000-ton passenger steamship belonging to the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Line, which was sunk at 6 P. M. on June 2, had on board the largest number of persons of any of the ships destroyed. Passengers and crew numbered 331. All escaped except seven out of the twenty-six who were put on board on a motor launch. The launch encountered a heavy storm and overturned. Christian Nelson, Chief Engineer of the Carolina, who was in charge of the launch, after a great effort managed to right it, but in the meanwhile seven persons had disappeared in the sea. With the aid principally of a young Porto Rican girl, who did not understand English, but who behaved very intelligently and bravely, Nelson kept the launch afloat, although it was waterlogged and the engine would not work. The launch was finally picked up by a British freighter, which took the survivors into Lewes, Del. The rest of the passengers and crew of the Carolina were picked up by other vessels and safely landed. Some of the survivors were more than twenty hours at sea in open boats.

LIST OF VESSELS SUNK

The complete list of ships attacked up to June 20 is as follows:

Jacob H. Haskell, schooner, 1,362 tons.
Isabel B. Wiley, schooner, 611 tons.
Hattie Dunn, schooner, 365 tons.
Edward H. Cole, schooner, 1,791 tons, subsequently raised
and saved.
Herbert L. Pratt, tank steamer, 7,200 tons.
Carolina, passenger steamer, 5,093 tons.
Winneconne, freighter, 1,869 tons.
Hauppauge, auxiliary schooner, 1,500 tons.
Edna, schooner, 325 tons, subsequently towed in.
Texel, steamship, 3,210 tons.
Samuel M. Hathaway, schooner, 1,038 tons.
Samuel C. Mengel, schooner, 700 tons, unconfirmed.
Edward Baird, schooner, 279 tons.
Eidsvold, Norwegian steamship, 1,570 tons.
Harpathean, British steamship, 4,588 tons.
Vinland, Norwegian steamship, 1,143 tons.
Desauss, schooner, 500 tons.
Pinar del Rio, steamship, 2,504 tons.
Vindeggen, Norwegian steamship, 2,632 tons.
Henrik Lund, Norwegian steamship, 4,322 tons.
One seagoing and two coal barges, which struck mines.

All the ships mentioned were sunk except the Herbert L. Pratt and the Edna. Most of them were destroyed by bombs placed alongside after the crews had left. In some cases gunfire was used. The submarine also laid mines, which caused some damage. The commander of the submarine was reported as saying that he was saving his torpedoes for bigger ships. With the exception of the British and Norwegian vessels all were American. The raid extended along the coast from within a couple of hundred miles of New York southward as far as the entrance to Chesapeake Bay.

HUNTING THE RAIDER

As soon as the first news was received that a submarine campaign was being conducted off the American coast, prompt action was taken by the Navy Department. Destroyers, submarine chasers, and airplanes were sent out in large numbers to patrol the coast and search the neighboring waters, but the U-boat eluded detection. New York Harbor was temporarily closed, and, though there was no indication of the presence of hostile airplanes, the lighting of the city was for several nights diminished by darkening the main thoroughfares. There were rumors that the submarine either had a "mother ship" or was using a base on the Mexican coast. Marine insurance rates were not raised, but the officers of vessels in the coastwise trade were granted a bonus by the Shipping Board.

Other Submarine Activities of the Month

The British Admiralty's official statement of all losses of shipping during the month of April, 1918, shows that 220,709 tons of British and 84,393 tons of allied and neutral vessels, a total of 305,102 tons, were destroyed by submarines and lost by accident. The total for the preceding month was 381,631 tons. In April, 1917, the total losses amounted to 893,877. April, 1918, showed the lowest figures for any month since the beginning of 1917. Another satisfactory feature of the situation was that 40,000 tons more shipping was built by Great Britain and the United States than was lost during the month.

Georges Leygues, the French Minister of Marine, informed the Army and Navy War Committees of the Senate on May 25 that the means employed to rid the seas of submarines had become increasingly effective since January and had given decisive results. Tremendous strides had recently been made by the Allies in repairing ships damaged by torpedoes or mines. The Minister added that co-ordination between the allied nations had become so smooth during the past four months that the tonnage restored to the sea exceeded 500,000 weekly. Great Britain had repaired 598,000 tons in one week recently, while France had effected repairs upon 260,000 tons in one month. The increased building and more efficient and speedier repair work were constantly bringing better results in the transport of troops and supplies.

Twelve German submarines were sunk or captured in British waters by the American and British destroyers during the month of April, which was a record. This means that twelve U-boats were officially reported and recognized as sunk and that evidence, either a cap bearing the name of the submarine, a portion of the craft, or a live or dead German, was produced when each case was recorded.

In addition to this number, at least two other U-boats were destroyed during that period. One was sunk on April 8 in the North Sea while making an attack on a convoy to Holland. Another U-boat, making the total fourteen, was sunk on Friday, April 26, during the forenoon while attempting to attack a convoy of transports filled with American troops on the way to France. In the case of these two U-boats no débris or other direct evidence was recovered, and the British Admiralty accordingly withheld official recognition.

Senator Swanson of Virginia, a member of the Senate Naval Committee, made the statement on June 7 that the allied and American naval forces had destroyed 60 per cent. of all German submarines constructed. Senator Lodge of Massachusetts on June 15 said that since Jan. 1, 1918, the United States Navy had sunk twenty-eight German submarines.

The American troop transport President Lincoln, 18,168 gross tons, was sunk by a German submarine on May 31 while returning under convoy from Europe. The ship was struck simultaneously by three torpedoes and sank in eighteen minutes. Three other vessels were in company with her at the same time. The crew and passengers abandoned the ship in excellent order. All passengers, including the sick, were saved. One of the American destroyers which went to the rescue saved 500 persons, and another destroyer the remainder of the survivors. The number missing was twenty-seven, comprising four officers and twenty-three enlisted men. One of the officers was taken prisoner by the submarine.

The British armed mercantile troop-ship Moldavia, with American troops on board, was torpedoed and sunk on May 23. Of the American soldiers fifty-six were reported by the British Admiralty as "unaccounted for." The British transport Ausonia was torpedoed and sunk on May 26. Forty of the officers and crew were reported missing. The British transport Leasowe Castle was torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine May 26 in the Mediterranean. Thirteen military officers and seventy-nine of other ranks, and of the ship's company the Captain, two wireless operators, and six of other ratings were drowned.

Out of the Sleep of Death

Rescue of a Submarine Crew Imprisoned Fathoms Deep for Three Days

By an act which must stand among the most heroic in the records of the war, Commander Francis H. H. Goodhart sacrificed his life to save the crew of a British submarine, fast in the mud in thirty-eight feet of water. It was in the first week of May, 1918, that the commander's vessel found itself in this perilous plight. When the air supply of the imprisoned men was about exhausted, Goodhart entered the conning tower, giving instructions that he was to be blown upward in the hope of reaching the surface and bringing aid to the imperiled crew. As he entered the tower with the senior officer a small tin cylinder containing instructions for rescuers was fastened to his belt, and the commander's last words were: "If I don't get up, the cylinder will."

Air at high pressure had been forced into the conning tower, and the lid was opened. Taking a deep breath, Commander Goodhart was shot upward, but he struck a portion of the superstructure and was killed.

The senior officer, who had intended to remain in the submarine, was forced from the tower by the air pressure and reached the surface safely. The remainder of the crew was rescued soon afterward. A posthumous reward of the Albert Medal for gallantry in saving life at sea was conferred on Commander Goodhart.

The sufferings of the crew were thus described by one of the rescued sailors in a letter to The London Telegraph:

When the first night of imprisonment passed, and it appeared from
our watches--we had artificial light enough to see the time--that
the dawn of a new day had come with no sign of release, some of
the company threatened to chuck hope. But others of us put as
bright a face on a black outlook as we could, and gave them such
cheer as a waterless and breadless situation would allow. Of
course, too, we had to remember that our air supply was running
out.

Speak of dropping sovereigns down a well! Every tick of my watch
I knew was as a lost sovereign, so far as air was concerned. But
those of us who were blessed with big batteries of optimism did
our best to distribute the current, and so the time dragged on.
Then a great thing happened. Two heroes came forward and offered
to risk all in an attempt to win to the surface. All honor to
them! How they did it and at what a cost may be told later on,
but the thing was done, and the outer world was thus made aware
of our terrible plight. That much we realized when we knew of the
presence of divers about our craft. What a relief! We had been
located, practical measures were being taken for our salvage, and
that splendid prospect made us take in a draught of new life.
Artificial light was fast failing, but hope was burning brightly,
so what did it matter?

Our ordeal, as it turned out, was but a young thing as yet,
however. We had still a long way to go. The day dragged through,
and when we entered on the silence and uncertainty of the night
we were a forlorn enough lot, I can assure you. The nerve of
the toughest of us was wearing thin. My fear that it might snap
suddenly all round was not realized, however, for we were given
further indications, which our practical ears were not slow
to catch, that the great work of rescue was well in hand. The
constant tapping of the divers outside was a cheering sound, and
brought hope to those of us who, in the steadily increasing stifle
of the atmosphere, were now breathing hard to live.

But rescue was long delayed, and in the early hours of the
following day most of us wrote our last farewell to our loved
ones--short, tender messages scrawled in pencil--and some of us
made our wills. Then, as if by a miracle, three strong strands
in the ladder of escape came to us from above. Exactly in what
manner this was made possible I cannot tell you. We got air,
water, and food, in only the smallest quantities, but just enough
to stir us into new life. That was a godsend as welcome as it was
unexpected. And we had not to wait long for the opening of our
prison door. When the details of that liberation are given it
will cause surprise and congratulation everywhere. It verges on
the miraculous. When we scrambled into freedom we were a dazed
and shaken lot of men, but I warrant you our hearts were full of
gratitude to God for saving mercies.

It was left to others to give fuller details of the impression caused by the unexpected arrival of the three "strands" in the life ladder. The first was air--life-giving air--which was forced into the stifling compartment from above. The boon came just in time; the prisoners had had about fifty hours of captivity, their last light was burning dimly, and the atmosphere of their prison house was vile. More than one of the company had lost consciousness, but the effect of the tiny air current was instantaneous. The senseless men stirred as if in troubled sleep, and opened their eyes, breathing hard, while those of the company who had stood up to the ordeal with all their senses about them felt instantly the glorious effect of the air draught.

The second strand was water--fresh, cold water--also forced down by the splendid salvage party. The quantity was very small--only a sip to each--but, oh! the refreshment of it! "We were parched in lip and mouth and throat," said one of the prisoners, "and never was a drop of water more welcome." The third strand was food, pellets of compressed food. The salvage party had accomplished almost the impossible. And this was not their greatest achievement. It was the forcing of a way of escape for the entombed men that was the marvel. Ingenuity backed up by tireless tenacity, resourcefulness that absolutely refused to own either defeat or despair, triumphed over difficulties that seemed insuperable.

What a picture for brush or pen is offered in the scene of rescue in the dead of night, when these dazed prisoners won once again their liberty. They came forth in single file from the prison house. Near the head of the procession was a bronzed sailor, one whose coolness in the dragging hours of extremity had done much to maintain the flickering life of his comrades. He thrust out at arm's length his oilskin, and followed with a wonderfully nimble step, thus providing the only touch of lightness in the grim tragedy.

Shelter was awaiting them, and from there they dispatched hurried messages to loved ones at home, to relieve hearts nearly broken by suspense. And a while later a grateful little company heard read to them by one of the survivors the metrical version of the 124th Psalm. They needed no preacher to interpret to them its beauty and its significance--for they had been there, and they knew:

And as fierce floods
Before them all things drown,
So had they brought
Our soul to death quite down.

* * * * * * *

Even as a bird
Out of the fowler's snare
Escapes away,
So is our soul set free.
Broke are their nets,
And thus escaped we.

New Records in Shipbuilding

Forty-four Ships in One Month

New records in the production of ships by the United States and the United Kingdom were established during the month of May, 1918. American shipyards completed and delivered to the Shipping Board forty-three steel ships and one wooden ship, representing, in the aggregate, 263,571 deadweight tons. These figures do not refer to launchings, but to ships fully equipped and ready for service. The month's work in the United States in comparison with previous months is shown in the following table of tonnage produced:

1918. Tons.
January 88,507
February 123,625
March 172,611
April 160,286
May 263,571

The May deliveries comprised thirty-nine requisitioned steel vessels, four contract steel and one contract wooden ship. In the last six days of the month there were delivered one wooden and fourteen steel ships, totaling 82,760 tons. The best previous week was that ended May 4, when the deliveries totaled 80,180 tons.

Launchings kept pace with the number of ships completed. Among the vessels launched in May was the Agawam, the first "fabricated" ship in the world, "fabricated" being the technical term applied to ships built from numbered pieces made from patterns. Approximately 27 steel mills, 56 fabricating plants, and 200 foundries, machine, pipe, and equipment shops were engaged in the production of the parts.

On June 1 it was unofficially stated that there were in operation by the United States Government 2,200,000 deadweight tons of shipping engaged in the transportation of troops and supplies and in kindred work for the army. Reviewing the shipping situation as a whole, Edward N. Hurley, Chairman of the Shipping Board, in an address on June 10, said:

On June 1 we had increased the American-built tonnage to over
3,500,000 deadweight tons of shipping. This gives us a total
of more than 1,400 ships, with an approximate total deadweight
tonnage of 7,000,000 now under the control of the United States
Shipping Board.

In round numbers, and from all sources, we have added to the
American flag since our war against Germany began nearly 4,500,000
tons of shipping.

Our program calls for the building of 1,856 passenger, cargo, and
refrigerator ships and tankers, ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 tons
each, with an aggregate deadweight of 13,000,000. Exclusive of
these, we have 245 commandeered vessels, taken over from foreign
and domestic owners, which are being completed by the Emergency
Fleet Corporation. These will aggregate a total deadweight tonnage
of 1,715,000.

This makes a total of 2,101 vessels, exclusive of tugs and barges,
which are being built and will be put on the seas by the Emergency
Fleet Corporation in the course of carrying out the present
program, with an aggregate deadweight tonnage of 14,715,000.

Five billion dollars will be required to finish our program for
1918, 1919, and 1920, but the expenditure of this enormous sum
will give to the American people the greatest merchant fleet ever
assembled in the history of the world, aggregating 25,000,000 tons.

American workmen have made the expansion of recent months
possible, and they will make possible the successful conclusion
of the whole program. From all present expectations it is likely
that by 1920 we shall have close to 1,000,000 men working on
American merchant ships and their equipment.

We have a total of 819 shipways in the United States. Of these, a
total of 751, all of which except ninety are completed, are being
utilized by the Emergency Fleet Corporation for the building of
American merchant ships.

In 1919 the average tonnage of steel, wood, and concrete ships
continuously building on each way should be about 6,000. If we are
using 751 ways on cargo ships and can average three ships a year
per way, we should turn out in one year 13,518,000 tons.

The total gross revenue of our fleet is very impressive. From
the ships under the control of the Shipping Board a total gross
revenue is derived of about $360,000,000.

An appropriation of $1,761,701,000 for the American merchant marine was provided in the Sundry Civil bill reported to the House on June 10 by the Appropriations Committee. The amount recommended for ships and shipping was $1,282,694,000 less than the Shipping Board requested, but Chairman Sherley explained that receipts from the operation of ships could be devoted to building charges, and that no curtailment of the building program was contemplated. Of the Shipping Board total $1,438,451,000 was for construction in this country, $55,000,000 for building American ships abroad, $87,000,000 for establishing shipyards, $60,000,000 for operating ships heretofore acquired, and $6,250,000 for recruiting and instructing ships' officers.

As the result of an agreement between the United States and Japanese Governments, twenty-three Japanese ships, aggregating 151,166 tons deadweight, have been chartered to the United States for the allied transport services. On June 4 it was announced that twelve Japanese ships, obtained either by purchase or charter, had arrived in Pacific ports and were being transferred to the Atlantic Coast.

More than 400,000 tons of ships were released to the United States and the Allies by Sweden under the terms of the commercial agreement signed at Stockholm by representatives of the two Governments. Under a modus vivendi, in effect for some months, the War Trade Board had permitted exports to Sweden in sufficient quantities to meet immediate and urgent needs.

The shipbuilding situation in the United Kingdom has shown considerable improvement, as seen in the following table of merchant vessels, in gross tons, completed in British yards and entered for service:

BRITISH SHIPBUILDING

April, 1917 69,711
May 69,773
June 109,847
July 83,073
August 102,060
September 63,150
October 148,309
November 158,826
December 112,486
January, 1918 58,568
February 100,038
March 161,674
April 111,533
May 197,274

It should be noted that the British practice is to express merchant shipbuilding statistics in "gross tons," whereas in the United States and some other countries the figures are recorded in "deadweight" tons, which is a much higher figure.

The total ships completed in the shipyards of the United Kingdom during the twelve months ended May 31, 1918, were 1,406,838 gross tons. The corresponding figures for the year ended April 30, 1917, were 1,270,337.

Raising torpedoed ships has become a considerable source of increased tonnage for the Allies. According to a report of the British Admiralty Salvage Department, made public June 17, no less than 407 ships sunk by Germans in British waters were salvaged in the years between January, 1915, and May, 1918. Up to December, 1917, 260 ships were recovered. In the first five months of 1918 the number salvaged was 147, the increased rate being due to improved methods.

Among the difficulties encountered was the danger of poisonous gases from the rotting cargoes of sunken ships, which sometimes caused the loss of lives. One salvage ship was torpedoed while working on a wreck, and sometimes the work of weeks is destroyed by one rough sea. Feats performed by the Salvage Department include the raising of a large collier sunk in twelve fathoms of water and involving a dead lift of 3,500 tons. Another vessel was raised fifteen fathoms by the use of compressed air.

American Exports Versus the U-Boats

By CHARLES FREDERICK CARTER

Notwithstanding a net loss of the world's shipping, due to the usual perils of the sea as well as to enemy mines and submarines, of 2,632,279 tons from the beginning of the war to April 1, 1918, the vital trade route across the Atlantic has shown a steady increase in efficiency. Even more gratifying is the fact that in recent weeks the gain in efficiency has been accelerated.

All the essential requirements of our allies as well as of our own expeditionary forces abroad appear to be met, according to these official statistics from the Department of Commerce. For instance, exports of nitric, picric, sulphuric, and other acids, so essential in the manufacture of munitions, are going to Europe in a steadily increasing volume. Exports of acids increased from a total value of $10,003,647 in the calendar year 1915 to $52,695,640 in 1917. Exports of copper, no less necessary for cartridges and other uses, to France, Italy, and Great Britain increased from 229,129,587 pounds in 1915 to 890,819,053 pounds in 1917.

The same three allies, which needed only 499,719 tons of steel billets, blooms, and ingots in the calendar year 1915, took 1,395,019 tons in 1916 and 1,847,201 tons in 1917. Exports of steel plates to the same three allies for ships, tanks, and other military uses increased similarly from 63,584,467 pounds in 1915 to 72,242,656 pounds in 1916 and 165,630,514 pounds in 1917. All Europe took but a negligible tonnage of steel rails in 1913, the last full year before the war. France alone took 5,362 tons in 1915 and 122,858 tons in 1917. Exports of locomotives to France kept pace with the rails, increasing from 38 in 1915 to 570 in 1917, and 129 in the month of January, 1918. Exports of metal-working machinery to these three allies increased from a total value of $29,229,683 in 1915 to $47,666,606 in 1916 and $54,906,405 in 1917.

Statistics on the exports of barbed wire epitomize the history of defensive works by our allies. Italy, for example, took only 2,000 pounds of that commodity in 1915. Next year her requirements jumped to 58,367,004 pounds, while last year the necessity of constructing an entirely new system of defenses in haste called for 204,972,438 pounds of American barbed wire. On the other hand, France, which needed 264,310,493 pounds of barbed wire in 1916, called for only 29,952,532 pounds in 1917.

EXPORTS OF LEAD

France, Italy, and England laid in a stock of lead from which to make bullets in 1915, the former country taking 21,234,108 pounds, Italy 5,176,794 pounds, and Great Britain 81,483,866 pounds. Next year total shipments to all three countries fell off to 23,015,071 pounds, but rose again to 59,470,181 pounds in 1917, "unrestricted" U-boat warfare to the contrary notwithstanding.

Not all exports of lead went to our allies. Although at peace, Denmark, Holland, and Sweden, each and severally, bought more American lead in 1916 than Italy needed in any one of three years of desperate fighting, total exports to these three neutrals in that year aggregating 18,113,859 pounds. Even last year, after the United States had declared war against Germany, 3,470,415 pounds of lead went to these three neutrals, all of which just happen to drive a thriving trade with Germany. The patriots who supplied this brisk neutral demand for material from which bullets are made probably would not care to trace the shipments to their ultimate effect in swelling American casualty list.

Exports of explosives, including shells and projectiles, increased from a total value of $188,969,893 in 1915 to $715,575,306 in 1916. In 1917, after England and France had attained such marvelous efficiency in the production of these essentials of war, exports declined, but still reached the enormous total of $633,734,405. Just to show that we are keeping our stride in supplying explosives to the firing line the fact may be mentioned that in spite of delays due to a lack of bunker coal in the unprecedentedly severe month of January, 1918, we shipped 2,606,297 pounds of dynamite during the month, as compared with 1,787,600 pounds in January, 1917, and 37,587,662 pounds of powder, against 36,767,984 pounds in the corresponding month of 1917.

Gasoline, the foundation on which present allied supremacy in the air is based, and which also plays so great a part in land transportation, is going to Great Britain, France, and Italy in swiftly increasing volume. Shipments to these three countries in 1915 totaled 36,936,303 gallons; in 1916, 98,178,139 gallons; in 1917, 141,327,159 gallons. As a basis of comparison it may be said that America's total exports of gasoline to all the world in 1913 amounted to only 117,728,286 gallons.

Gasoline engines are going abroad at a similar rate of increase, 50,317 being shipped in the seven months ended Jan. 31, 1918, as compared with 36,209 in the corresponding period of 1916-17.

So much has been said about submarine losses that the average man may be pardoned for accepting the German figures, which have been exaggerated from 46 to 113 per cent., and the German delusion that England is about to be "brought to her knees" by the modern form of piracy. To whatever extent this impression of Prussian frightfulness has been disseminated the submarine campaign has been a success; but right there success ends. In spite of the utmost the U-boats could do, munitions have flowed in steadily increasing volume from America to Europe, while the destructiveness of the undersea boats has as steadily declined. Furthermore, the fact must not be forgotten that not all ships sunk by submarines have been eastbound with cargoes of munitions for the Allies. Some have been lost on the westward voyage; others have been laden with grain for the starving Belgians, or for neutrals which have developed such an astonishing appetite for lard, lead, and other things of which Germany stands in need; still others have been hospital ships.

British War Secretary from December, 1905, to June, 1912, when he became Lord High Chancellor

(_Photo Underwood & Underwood._)]

General von Hutier

General Sixt von Arnim

General von Boehn

General von der Marwitz]

If any further evidence of America's great part in the war, irrespective of participation by American troops in the fighting, is needed it can be found in statistics of exports of foodstuffs to the Allies, who have been obliged to depend more and more upon this country for the necessaries of life.

Exports of wheat flour to France in the calendar year 1915 were 2,392,952 barrels; in 1916, 2,263,990 barrels; in 1917, 2,659,328 barrels. Italy called for 148,999 barrels of American wheat flour in 1915 and 1,494,816 barrels in 1917, while Great Britain's requirements were 3,269,262 barrels in the former year and 4,808,141 barrels in the latter.

Our total exports of fresh beef to all the world in 1913 were only 6,580,123 pounds. In 1915 we sent Great Britain, France, and Italy 256,198,283 pounds. In 1916 exports to these three countries fell off to 160,879,642 pounds, but rose again to 172,940,833 pounds, in spite of von Tirpitz's unrestricted destructiveness.

In 1913 France took only 716,266 pounds of American bacon; but in 1915 the demand jumped to 52,044,475 pounds, increasing still further to 60,606,802 pounds in 1916 and to 73,195,974 pounds in 1917. Great Britain, which got along with 145,269,456 pounds of American bacon in 1913, needed 284,783,009 pounds in 1916 and 341,674,452 pounds in 1917. In the same period exports of hams and shoulders to France increased more than twelvefold and to Great Britain more than a third.

Exports of lard to France, Italy, and Great Britain increased from a total of 200,490,003 pounds in 1913 to 210,139,760 pounds in 1915 and 224,683,383 pounds in 1916. In 1917 exports to these three countries fell to 189,024,889 pounds. It is an interesting coincidence that Holland, whose appetite for American lard was fully satiated by 38,313,677 pounds in 1913, and which was able to skimp along with a trifle more than 20,000,000 pounds a year during the first two years of the world war, required 64,888,545 pounds in 1917, when Germany's need for fats grew desperate.

Exports of sugar have gone forward to the Allies on the same vast scale. In 1913 our entire export trade absorbed only 14,995,232 pounds of sugar. In 1915 we sent to Great Britain, France, and Italy alone 860,456,311 pounds; in 1916, 1,126,022,067 pounds; in 1917, 519,881,377 pounds. No wonder the sugar bowl disappeared from the American restaurant table last Fall and still remains in strict seclusion!

SOLDIERS AND CHEWING GUM

Not only have we been rendering the Allies a useful service by supplying so important a portion of their necessary food and munitions of war, but we have been for some months forwarding troops to the battleline. No figures are given out regarding movements of troops, but there is a significant bit of evidence in the monthly summaries of foreign commerce which proves that the number of American fighters abroad must be very large. As the Government has published this evidence, there can be no harm in referring to it here.

Gum is not chewed by Europeans, but seems to be regarded as a necessary of life in the United States, if the wagging jaws to be seen in street cars and other public places are any indication. Well, according to Government figures, no chewing gum whatever was exported in 1915; but in the calendar year 1917 the value of chewing gum exported was $1,403,888! The figures given, being at wholesale prices, represent upward of 176,000,000 cuds! Even on the most liberal allowance; so vast a quantity would supply a great many fighting men.

Viewed from another standpoint, these chewing-gum statistics are even more encouraging. If the shortage of cargo space to allied ports were as desperate as Germany's press agents would have us believe, it does not seem reasonable to suppose that any part of it would be frittered away on chewing gum in such formidable quantities. This conviction is strengthened by the discovery that exports of candy have increased one-third in the three calendar years of war, to a total of $2,108,081 in 1917.

Most gratifying of all is the fact that despite the utmost endeavors of the submarines, and notwithstanding upward of 3,000 strikes in American shipyards last year, the capacity and efficiency of transatlantic shipping increases from day to day not only positively but also negatively by the withdrawal of the heavy tonnage formerly serving enemy countries through contiguous neutral nations.

True, exports fell off somewhat for the eight months ended Feb. 28, 1918; but Europe received 63 per cent. of the total. Now when Europe is spoken of it means substantially England, France, and Italy. Russia obtained very little in those eight months, and Germany's neutral neighbors still less. The shrinkage in the volume of supplies to our fighting partners was not so much on account of anything the submarines could do as because of the temporary breakdown of our own system due to extraordinarily severe weather and to other causes.

Now the weather handicap has been lifted, our industrial machine has been geared up and more ships have been placed where they could render the most effective service. While in February, 1918, we could send our allies only 750,000 tons of food, which was 50,000 tons less than their minimum requirements, in the next month this was increased to 1,100,000 tons.

OUR NEW MERCHANT MARINE

After having the decadence of the American merchant marine dinned into our ears for decades, we may be pardoned for gloating over the way this same merchant marine has come back under the stress of war. Of total imports worth $1,778,596,695 in 1915, goods valued at $342,796,714 arrived in vessels flying the American flag. In 1917 the value of goods arriving in American vessels had increased to $732,814,858. The increase was the greatest shown by ships of any nation, and the total value was the highest for any, British ships ranking second with imports valued at $693,565,240. This was a decrease of only $7,000,000 from 1915, in spite of all the U-boats could do. French ships, fighting the same sneaking foe, were actually able to increase the value of goods delivered at American ports from $70,275,445 in 1915 to $102,346,317 in 1917, considerably more than making up for the decrease in imports arriving under British and Italian flags. In the seven months ended Jan. 31, 1918, nearly 29 per cent. of all imports arrived in ships flying the American flag.

And the efficiency curve is still climbing. Up to April 10 America, by restricting imports, withdrawing ships from less essential trade routes, and by obtaining neutral tonnage by agreement--in other words, by good management--had been able to place 2,762,605 tons of shipping in the transatlantic service to carry food, munitions, and men to France. Of this total, 2,365,344 tons were under American registry. By skillful handling in port at both ends of the route the efficiency of this tonnage had been increased 20 per cent., which was equivalent to adding more than 400,000 tons to the carrying capacity of the fleet as compared with normal times.

These figures include very little of the 500,000 tons of Dutch shipping requisitioned, and none at all of the 250,000 tons Japan has promised to contribute during the Summer. Neither do they include any of the tonnage of England and the other allies which the American Shipping Control Committee has the power to reroute, nor yet do they take into consideration any of the tonnage under way or to be built in American shipyards, nor the 200,000 tons Japan has agreed to build for us as soon as we can deliver the plates; for this article deals only with conditions as they now exist.

To sum up, the shipping situation, as disclosed by Government statistics, is far more satisfactory than current comment would lead one to believe. If it is not all we could wish, we have the satisfaction of knowing that Germany is much more dissatisfied with it than we are.

Progress of the War

Recording Campaigns on All Fronts and Collateral Events From
May 18, 1918, Up to and Including June 18, 1918

President Wilson signed the new selective draft bill on May 20,
and issued a proclamation designating June 5 as the day when all
young men who had reached the age of 21 since June 5, 1917, should
register. Figures given out by the War Department on June 15
indicated that 744,865 men had responded. On May 23, Major Gen.
Crowder announced that an amendment to the law, compelling men not
engaged in a useful occupation either to apply themselves to some
form of labor contributing to the general good, or to enter the
army, would become effective July 1.

On May 27 President Wilson addressed the Congress urging the
enactment of a new revenue bill during the present session.
Hearings were begun at once by the House Committee on Ways and
Means.

The German Government on April 20 offered to free Siegfried Paul
London, an alleged American, held in custody by the Germans in
Warsaw, in exchange for the release of Captain Franz von Rintelen,
and threatened reprisals against Americans in Germany in case the
offer was refused. Secretary Lansing, on June 4, sent a reply
through the Swiss Minister, flatly refusing to comply with the
demand, and indicated that if reprisals were undertaken the United
States would retaliate.

Indictments charging conspiracy to commit treason against the
United States and to commit espionage were returned on June 7
against Jeremiah A. O'Leary, John T. Ryan, Willard Robinson, Emil
Kipper, Albert Paul Fricke, Lieutenant Commander Hermann Wessels,
and the Baroness Maria von Kretschmann, reported to be a kinswoman
of the German Empress. Dr. Hugo Schweitzer and Rudolph Binder, now
dead, were also named in the indictment. O'Leary, who had fled
from justice after being indicted for conspiracy in connection
with the publication of The Bull, was taken into custody in
Washington on June 12.

General Peyton C. March announced on June 15 that over 800,000 men
had been sent abroad.

A supplementary note from the Netherlands Government was delivered
to the State Department on May 22, contending that Secretary
Lansing's reply to the original protest against the seizure by the
United States Government of Dutch merchant shipping in American
ports did not fully answer the objections.

German submarines began to raid shipping off the eastern coast of
the United States on May 25. On June 3 it became known that twelve
ships had been sunk. They were the schooners Hattie W. Dunn, the
Edward H. Cole, the Edward Baird, the Isabel B. Wiley, the Samuel
C. Mengel, the Samuel W. Hathaway, and the auxiliary schooner
Hauppauge, and the steamships Texel, Winneconne, and the Carolina.
Twelve lives were lost on the Carolina. The schooner Edward was
attacked, but was saved and towed to port. Mines were set afloat
by the submarines, and the tanker Herbert L. Pratt struck a mine
off the Delaware Capes, but was raised and saved. Precautions were
taken at once to guard against air raids on New York City and
other places near the coast.

On June 4 the Norwegian steamship Eibsvord was sunk off the
Virginia Capes, and an American destroyer interrupted an attack
on the French steamer Radioleine about sixty-five miles off the
Atlantic Coast.

The British steamer Harpathian was sunk off the Virginia Capes
without warning on June 6, and the next day the Norwegian steamer
Vinland was sunk in the same area.

On June 9 the American steamer Pinar del Rio was sunk seventy-five
miles off the coast of Maryland.

Two Norwegian steamers, the Vindeggen and the Henrik Lund, were
sunk on June 10 100 miles east of Cape Charles, and on the same
day an American transport fired at a U-boat off the New Jersey
coast.

Germany announced on June 9 that seven submarines were operating
in American waters.

The sinking of two Norwegian barks, the Krinsjoa and the Samoa,
off the Virginia coast was announced on June 16.

The American oil tanker William Rockefeller was sunk in European
waters on May 18. Three lives were lost.

The American troops transport President Lincoln, bound for the
United States, was sunk in the naval war zone on May 31. Four
officers and twenty-three men were lost.

The Argonaut, an American ship, was torpedoed off the Scilly
Islands on June 5.

The Irish steamer Inniscarra was sunk on May 24 on the way from
Fishguard to Cork. Thirty-seven members of the crew were reported
missing. Another Irish ship, the Innisfallen, was sunk in British
waters on June 7 and eleven lives were lost. News was received
on June 14 that an Irish fishing fleet of about twenty ships was
torpedoed on May 31 between County Down and the Isle of Man.

The sinking of the British steamer Ellaston was announced on June
6. On June 12 announcement was made that the British transport
Ausonia had been torpedoed in the Atlantic while on her way
westward.

The Köningen Regentes, a hospital ship, was sunk off the English
Coast, June 6.

The Swedish steamer New Sweden was torpedoed in the Mediterranean
Sea on May 30, and on June 14 word was received that the Swedish
steamship Dora had been sunk without warning and nine members of
the crew killed.

An American ship arriving at an Atlantic port from the war zone on
June 1 reported that an American destroyer had sunk two submarines
within a half hour. A British transport, arriving at an Atlantic
port on June 8, reported that she had sunk two U-boats, and two
British ships that reached the United States on June 11, each
reported the sinking of one U-boat. Senator Weeks announced on
June 15 that twenty-eight submarines had been sunk by the American
Navy since Jan. 1.

CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN EUROPE

May 18-24--Brisk raiding operations in all sectors, with varying
success.

May 27--Germans resume their great offensive by delivering a
terrific blow on a forty-mile front from around Vauxailion nearly
to Rheims and take the Chemin des Dames and attack the French
lines on the northern flank of the Lys salient between Voormezeele
and Locre; Americans drive Germans back at three points in
Picardy; long-range guns renew the bombardment of Paris; three
persons killed, fourteen injured.

May 28--Americans take Cantigny; Germans advance about six miles
on a nine-mile front from Vauxailion to Cauroy, take many towns,
cross the Aisne and the Vesle Rivers, and drive a wedge to Fismes;
Allies re-establish their line on the Lys-Ypres front east of
Dickebusch Lake.

May 29--Germans take Soissons; Allies, with their centre forced
back four miles, retire across the Vesle River and fall back
on Rheims; Americans repulse three counterattacks at Cantigny;
British make a successful raid southeast of Arras; French repulse
a local attack north of Kemmel.

May 30--Germans held at both flanks near Soissons and Rheims; gain
four miles in drive toward the Marne, take Fère-en-Tardenois and
Vezilly; Americans defeat all attempts of the Germans to recover
ground near Cantigny; French better their positions north of
Kemmel; German attack near Festubert fails; German long-range gun
resumes bombardment of Paris despite British promise not to carry
out air raids on German cities on Corpus Christi Day.

May 31--Germans reach the Marne in an eight-mile drive, and are
closing in on Château-Thierry; Americans make successful raid in
the Woevre region and penetrate German line near Toul to a depth
of 400 meters.

June 1--Germans turn west in their drive toward Paris, push
forward along the Ourcq River six miles or more into the area
beyond Neuilly and Chony, beat back the French between Hartennes
and Soissons, press on northwest of Soissons, reaching Nouvron and
Fontenoy, and attack east of Rheims.

June 2--French counterattacks slow up German drive between
Soissons and Château-Thierry; Germans occupy Longport, Corcy,
Faverolles, and Troesnes, but lose them all; Germans in possession
of the eastern half of Château-Thierry; French hold the western
half and recover ground southwest of Rheims.

June 3--Germans make slight gains west of Nouvron and Fontenoy,
take Chaudun, and push ahead slightly west of Château-Thierry;
French retake Faverolles north of the Ourcq.

June 4--American troops, co-operating with the French west of
Château-Thierry, check the Germans, beating off repeated attacks
and inflicting severe losses; Germans thrown back at all points
except in the neighborhood of Veuilly-la-Poterie; British recover
Thillois, southwest of Rheims.