The Washington herald., 1914-08-05
SHIP
PUTS NTOPORT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE

rious now began slowly to dawn upon
| the passengers.
Did ever q greater prize sail the seas
| in time of war than the Kronprinzessin
/ Cecilie, with her 81. 5000 Of gold and
silver consigned to France and England?
Were there any British or French war
ships near? Was 1t usual for British
! and French war craft to sail up and
| down the American coast? II 30, what
were the chances of slipping by? And
30 It went
No one could answer, but the questions
were asked over and over again.
But what of the bridge? What was
going on there?
The ship was $50 miles out of Ply
mouth when she turned back.
She would have reached that port Sun
day night or Monday morning.
The problem confronting Capt. Pollack
was to get his load of gold and human
souls back to America without being
overhauled by q French or English war
ship. There was no danger from Eng
land, It is true. but he did not know II.
All Light. DarkeRed.
He could not afford to send wireless
messages, because he would betray him
self. but he could intercept every mes
sage coming out Of the air from sayviIle
admonishIng him to be careful. They
told that French and English vessels
already were talking about that great
prize, the Kronprinzessin Cecilie, with
her gold on board.
Friday night he considered himself rea
sonably safe. He steered far to the north
out of the beaten path, but took no fur
ther precautions. Saturday the usual
Marconi newspaper was omitted and at
the lunch table each passenger found a
printed notice that the electric lights |
would be turned out that night in order |
to conceal our Identity from passing ves- |
sells and that we must be content with |
oil lamps
In the afternoon the four smokestacks |
were painted black at the tops as a fur |
ther measure Of concealment. At dinner |
we found the windows in the dining sa-
loon heavily curtained; also in the smok-
ing room. There were no deck lights |
and to make matters worse from the
standpoint of the Passengers, Saturday
brought with It a dense fog. But the fog
was to the liking OF the captain. He
sent the ship along at the best speed she
could make through thick weather and
with the fog horn silent. There was
small chance of his being seen through
this black curtain.
Appeal to Captain.
Again, Sunday night there was a fog.
The nerves Of the passengers were on
edge. A delegation ascended to the
bridge and asked the captain to blow the
fog whistle and 20 carry the usual side
and stay lights demanded by the laws
OF navigation Otherwise they declared
the women would not consent to 60 to
their staterooms.
Soon we heard the fog whistle sounding.
Meantime, the captain was having
other worries besides requests from pas
"a ~
tercepted messages from the French
cruiser Frient, detailed to protect French
fishing on the Banks. and from the Brit
ish cruiser Essex. The enemy was some
where IN the neighborhood.
Passengers Grow IndiEnant.
By Monday the attitude Of some OF the
passengers bordered on indignation. They
could not see why the lives OF the pas
sengers should be subjected to such dan
gers 10 save a merchant ship from an
enemy, even IL it did carry millions in
gold. To them the peril to their lives
was real. They could see that the fog
was thick, and they could tell that the
vessel was making almost II not. her
best speed. Was this safe searnanship?
A protest was written out and an at
tempt made to get the signatures Of
citizens Of the United States The first I
man approached replied that he would
not sign = AID thar Signatures to il |
were obtained he would start q movement
for a written Endorsement 4 the CAP 4
tain; that he believed thai the captnip
was do.Cg his duty. canvass of the
vessel showed that q majority Of Amer
cans held he same opinion and .he
protest was 1rJpped. ScTIe CT the pas
'engers. however, did take the matter 6
lp with the captain. His answer was
hat the passengers were his first Con- I
liberation that he would give I'D the shin /
-ather than sacrifice them. But there
vas little or TO danger he. declared I
they were too far to the north, too far
'ut of the course Of shipping for a COL I
ision. q
More Fog Monday Might. Il
Monday night came and with it more :
'og. By this :Eme the passengers were
'peculating as to which port we were
headed for. The same question was
being debated on the bridge The
wireless was tGliing the captain that the
1essels around New York and Boston
we're trying to creep along the coast
within the ffve-miIe limit In order to be
'afe from: seizure.
This indicated to him that il would be
lnwise to attempt to make New York or
Boston. He did not dare ask for specific
He had to make up his =
mind on such fragments of information !,
.s he could grab from the air. Portland
lrst came to his mind, but then he IA