Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-07-01
SCORE OF AMERICANS LOST.


| Mexico City also was discussed.
SCORE OF AMERICANS LOST.
State Department Awaits Additional
Facts Before Acting.
! Washington. July LIN the Ntorpedo-
ing of the Dominion freight liner Ar
menian, flying the British flag and car
rying mules from Newport News. Va.
to England, and sunk Monday night by
the German submarine U-3S off Corn
WALL England. nearly score OF Amer
lean muleteers were reported lost ac-
cording to messages received by the
state department from Consul John s.
Armstrong, Jr, at Bristol
Twenty-nine men in all were lost
and ten injured.
The news created a sensation In Of
fetal quarters, as it was the first case
Of loss of American lives since the
| sinking OF the Lusitania. The gravity
| of the incident. however. and the ac7
ton Of the Washington government
depends almost entirely on whether the
Armenian was chartered by the British
government and was, in fact trans
port of war, aboard which Americans
would sail at their own risk, or wheth-
er she was an unarmed merchantman.
Should Have Been Searched.
In the latter case, even though car
! rying contraband. the ship should have
been subjected to a visit and search,
and those aboard transferred to place
Of safety before the destruction OF the
vessel was attempted.
In the absence of official Information
on this point, officials decline to say
! what effect the sinking Of the Ar
menian would have on pending nego-
tiations between the United States and
Germany.
Immediate inquiry was directed.
however, to Ambassador Page at Lon
don, to obtain more details and when
Secretary Lansing returns tomorrow
Ambassador Gerard will be instructed
to inquire Of the German admiralty as
to its report.
Mules are contraband Of war, ac-
.cording to all the lists Of the belliger-
ents. so there can be no doubt as to
the contraband character of the Ar
menian's cargo. Officials will make an
effort to learn, however. whether the
vessel was armed and II she was part
OF the British naval forces before the
opinion Of the state department on the
case will be disclosed.
Wilson Notified.
All the dispatches received were
promptly telegraphed to President Will
son at Cornish. n. H.. and Secretary
Lansing at Amherst, Mass, and IT was
considered probable they would COM
municate with each other while tp
New England.
The messages from Consul Arm
strong did not show clearly just how
many Americans were lost. In his list
Of Americans missing he named
twenty muleteers who were accounted
for, but later telegrams spoke OF DR..
J. S. viso. q Porto Rican, and three
negroes, as having been picked up by
a submarine and other survivors by a
Belgian trawler and transferred to two
British destroyers. which brought
them into Bristol.
The Missing.
The list Of missing as finally made
up tonight from Consul Armstrong;
report follows:
e. Williamson, st. Louis.
]. NJ. Monroe, New Orleans.
B. NJ. Cranberry, Montgomery. Ala.
s. r. Sutton, Cartersville, Va.
Harry Stone, New York City.
Brown (carpenter), Harris
burg, Pa.
Dr.. J. S. viso. Porto Rico.
Jess Osborn, Sidney, Neb.
r. H. Brooks or West (chief fore
man Of muleteers), London natural
ized American)
Henry, Leroy, Jackson and Speed, OF
Richmond, Va.
wall, Foley and Little. Of Newport
News. Va.
King, Small, Rickert and oakes, Of
Norfolk, Va.
smith, Of portsmouth, Va. Cali negro
muleteers).
Believed Ship Was Unarmed.
Unofficial advices here tonight were
to the effect that the Armenian had
been chartered by the Leyland line to
the Dominion line, which is under
stood to have contract for the ship
ment of mules for the British govern
ment and has made many trips in the
mule trade in the past few months
Officials here will inquire whether
the vessel carried any British officers
and what measure of control the Brit
ish government had over the ship.
It is taken for granted that the
Armenian was unarmed, as such ves-
sells usually carry no guns of any de-
scription. Even If she actually had
been under charter by the British gov
ernment, there is an understanding be-
tween the United States and Great
Britain that none Of the latter's ships
shall be given clearance from Ameri-
can ports If armed.