The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-12-30
for which it was built. "

, for which it was built"
Returning to the subject of thu
present war, I asked how long i
might be expected to last.
"That," he replied, 'will depend
upon England. 1t is said that Eng
land wants war to the hilt. If Eng
land insists upon that, we can accom-
modate her; but there are some who
still hope that England will be sensi
Bile and will listen to reason
As the word sensible" sounded
very significant to me, I asked:
"Is Your Excellency one Of those
who have this hope that England will
be sensible and listen to reason?"
Won Tirpitz countered the interro-
CATION with another question:
"Do you believe England will be
sensible?"
Will Fight to 1.-THE Hit"
"That depends on what Your Ex-
cellency may mean by the word sens
ible," I said. IF you mean an incli-
nation in England to accept an early
or easily adjustable peace, I am not
optimistic at this time"
Answering my question without de-
fning his own, Won Tirptz exclaimed:
"No, am not one Of those"
"Then, take it, Germany does not
want to carry the war to the bitter
extreme, or to the hilt,' as Your Ex-
noJlency has termed it?"
Certainly it is not our desire or
wish, but If England insists upon
fighting the war to the hilt We Will
be there"
what effect will Lord Kitchener's S
new army have on the war;"
eve are not worried about Lord
Kitchener's million. We still have
several millions of fine, physically fit
men to draw upon, if necessary, and
if We take those not quite up to our
regular standard we can put still
more millions into the field. That we
will fight to the last, if necessary, l
think the world no longer doubts"
Nothing has been heard from the
Zeppelins lately, Your Excellency.
How have they proved themselves an
effective arm for the navy In this
war;"
Value OF the Zeppelins:
PERSONALLY" replied the Admiral,
81 am of the opinion that the heavier
type cf the heavier than air machines
is splendidly adapted for marine
purposes, but for carrying large
weights over a long distance the Yep
pelins are, Of course, superior"
Discussing the work of the sub
marines, I asked if one'of the lessons
of the war is that dreadnought have
been rendered obsolete. -.
''It would be difficult at this stage
to draw conclusions" replied the ad-
miral. "That submarines are a new
and potent factor in naval warfare is
unquestionable. Our success SO far,
however, hardly justifes the conclu-
sion that big ships have become obso-
lete. We have always figured that
submarines could not stay out more
than three days on account OF the
men becoming exhausted We now
learn that the larger types have
cruised clear around England and
often remained out for fourteen days.
This is accomplished by going down
in. shallow and quiet water, settling
on the bottom and staying there
while the men get their required
Sleep"
"Wiil your feet give the English
feet battle?' inquired.
"If the English give us the oppor-
tunity, certainly" said the admiral,
stbut 1t can not be expected that our
feet, numerically one-third that of
England, will itself offer battle, espe-
cially in view of still. other military
disadvantages"
"Is there any truth in the reports
than an invasion of England by Yep
pelins is being prepared?"
"I believe that submarine warfare
against the enemy's merchant ships
would be more effective was the In
direct answer.
At this moment Count Tisza, the
Hungarian premier, who had been
visiting with the Kaiser, was an
nounced and my interview was
brought to a close. Admiral Won Tir;,
pitz had talked with an openness and
frankness which had astonished me.
Plans Submarine Blockade.
Among the impressions I carried
away was that Won Tirpitz advocates
what would virtually be q submarine
blockade of England, and that they
contemplates torpedoing several mer-
chant ships, with the result that 9TH
ers would not venture to approach
that country. which would thus be
bottled up and starved.
believe also that Won Tirpitz is
not one Of those who clamor for the
complete crushing Of England (eVen
if possible), and I doubt whether; he
considers !: possible. gather that
he is opposed to an aerial invasion OF
England, or an attack upon London
from the sky, except as a last resort
and that in his opinion Zeppelins SO
far have not proved themselves with
out strong rivals as a navy army in
the heavier type of hydroplanes. II
appears to me that he considers q
war an almost certain development Of
the present situation in the Far East
But that there may be no misun'
derstanding, I mu-. say that these are
merely my own impressions and de-