, 1915-02-24

us in good English and told us to get into
the boats hastily. The waste steam begin
ming to exhaust the German captain got ex-
cited, thinking we were making o signal for
help anl ordered US to shut off steam, other
wise he would fire. | counted nineteen men
on the submarines deck when our boats
came alongside her. We were waiting there
while fqe Germans boarded our lifeboat,
carrying a bomb in a hollow brass canister
about eight inches long and four inches
wide. This they placed in tue water
amidships, the canister floating nicely,
and they then lighted the fuse and rowed
towards the submarine. Suddenly there vas
an explosion, and in the dusk it seemed to
have done little damuge, but three minutes
later the ship began to settle and then she
sunk head first. Before the submarine drew
off we talked with her captain in the most
affubie manper.
The American steamer Evelyn, which
was rep,tted yesterday as having been sunk
by "a mine off Borkum Island, was insured
by the United States War Risk Bureau, this
being its first loss. She was not within
GermAuy's war zone and it is uncertain whe-
her she was within or without territorial
waters. Tie responsibility is obscure and
enquiry is Necessary before it's significance
can become apparent. The owners will not
protest and viii continue shipments to Ger
many, regarding accidents as a fair war risk.
Dispatches from Copenhagen state that
the representatives of the three scandinavian
Governments now meeting there will re-
commend that . fleet Of Government convoy
ships should escort Scandinavian merchant
men through the North Sea war zone. The
idea is to buy twenty or thirty big trading
81 -J 90 1--~ ~1
crews, probably change the names of the
ships, paint them in naval colours and fly
the scandinavian naval flags, and other pro-
posals are being discussed by the Conference.
The Swedish Minister to Denmark, the Sc
cretary Of the Swedish Cabinet and Com
mander Ankarcrana represent Sweden, the
Norwegian Minister, Professor Hagerup, an
expert in International Law and Command
Ell Petersen represent Norway, aud the
CHEF of the Darish Foreign Office Depart
ment, the Chief Of the Naval Department
and the Minister for Foreign Affairs repre-
sent Denmark.
The Conference hos given great s~atisfac-
ton and the effective measures proposed
have been welcomed by all the scandinavian
shipping companies, the first neutral victim
of the pirates being a Norwegian vessel rem
dering this step necessary. Germany's sug-
gestion to the United States regarding the
conveying of neutral commercial ships with
warships is impracticable for Scandinavia as
their comparatively small navies are una
valuable for such a purpose, being required
for home defence, but Denmark, Norway
and Sweden possess many merchant ships
which are easily convertible into naval con-
voys. If the proposal is adopted, it is prac-
tically certain that Scandinavian steamers
will cross the North Sea in small fleets sew
eral times weekly, with q Government guar
antee that they are not carrying contraband.
A number of Scandinavian sailors have re-
fused duty in the present conditions and
ahidavits have been filed on behalf of the
~ IN tbn rnovitina nonrk and Connnba oon