The Washington times., 1916-07-10
|U-pOAT PLAN BORN
|E|CHT MONTHS AGO
Consignee Asserts Alfred Lob.
mann, Of North German
Lloyd, Conceived Idea.

BALTIMORE. July 1o.-Ths Idea Of
sending a submarine liner to the United
States was conceived eight months ago
in Bremen. according to Henry O..
Hiiken. senior member OF A. Schu-
man Lloyd, consignees Of the cargo
aboard the U-boat Deutschland.
Mr.. Hilken told today how. step by
step, the project was farthered. and
intimated that II was not beyond range
Of possibility for a plan to be projected
by the imperial government by which
other submarines will be 20 constructed
as to permit their entrance into neutral
ports as merchantmen.
Trouble Getting Out.
On one point only Mr.. Hilken ap-
peared a bit skepticsl. That was in
regard to the possibilities Of the SUBJ
marine getting safely out of the Chesa-
peake bay after taking on q cargo for
Germany.
"Do YOU. think there. will be any
trouble?'' he was asked.
Piled TseS %esi came aG" a~ntls IN his s eyes es
Capes successfully. didn't he7 Well.
trust to him to get out again"
such a trade project was conceived dur
ing the latter part OF last year by
Alfred Lohmann. son of a former d.
rector general Of the North German
Took Life In Bremen.
1T was in Bremen" said Mr.. Hill
ken. that the idea frst took life. Ger
many Is as sorely In need Of certain
commodities as this country and un-
precedented action had to be taken.
oh A.
Of constructing a submarine without
guns. torpedo tubes or any other ar
mament and providing space inside for
was talked about for several weeks
but the frst tangible step was taken
when the Ocean Rhederei. Inc.,' the
Ocean Navigation Company. Ltd. wa'
This company formed by some
OF Germany's influential commercial
men. was fostered for several months
without any significant developments
newly formed company was the lack
Of American accommodations.
Then about the first Of this year
our company was approached and con.
any cargoes sent by the. Ocean Navi.
gation Company. Then the submarine
left a North Sea port on June 23: Since
that time our company has not been In
nothing of the nature of It's voyage. It.
reported escape from the allies war.
ship. or its supposed detour Of so'
"Do you think similar ventures will
be. made In the near future7" he wal
asked.
That depends entirely. or TO a large
extent upon the opirrSn OF the ,S.s, sub,
is the possibility that the venture will
not prove good financially. Still. thi'
Is somewhat remote"
Looks for Others.
Then there came another twinkle ir
his eyes, the Same twinkle that hac
characterised his statement In regard tc
the successful getaway Of the subma
rine after taking on a new cargo. II
was easy to infer that Mr.. Hilken flrm
! ly believed that similar attempts woulc
be made, or rather that he had xnowl
edge that such attempts were about e
be put forth.
Mr.. Hilken was unable to sive q de
scription Of the merchant submarine
| He qualified his assertion and SAID 4
was about 3l6 feet long. capable OF
doing from thirteen to fourteen knott
while on the surface. and could carry
cargo Of not more than boz tons.
What do you think concerning the re
port that message is aboard Tor fresi
dent Wilson from Kaiser wilhelmf' MIR
| Hilken was asked.
Doubts Message Report.
"weii, l don't believe It. either per
sonally or officially. have received
no official notification OF the Iact. ane
I wouldn't think Kaiser Wilhelm woulc
use the medium OF a submarine to con
vey a message to such parsonage a!
President wilson.
"Still. may be wrong. II there Il
such a message ! couldn't at this TIM
give any comprehensive Interpretation
| OF It's contents. No. l wasn't awar'
| that the commander upon arriving tele
graphed a code message to Ambassador
| Won, bernstorff."