Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-07-13
PROFITABLE WHILE WAR LASTS
Herr LOhmann Believes That
Conflict Will Not End Before
Spring and That Submarine
Freighters Will Pay for Them.
selves Before Then.

Berlin, July II. via London July 10.
Tho opening of direct shipping con-
nections between Germany and the
! United states by the submarine mer-
chairman Deutschland has occasioned
great jubilation and enthusiasm among
! Germans. but no one is more elatcd
than Alfred Lohmann, ex-presdent Of
the Bremen Chamber of Commerce
| and the originator of an underwater
service.
To the Associated Press Herr Lob
| mann said to-day that the Deutsch-
| land was only the first of fleet of
submarine freighters and that a regu-
lar transatlantic service with fire.
quent sailings would soon be in opcr-
alton.
a second boat named the Bremen,
he added. is about to start for Amer
| lea with cargo. and a number of
| sister ships are rapidly approaching
completion. 1t is understood that the
number of boats will soon be adequate
/ for the establishment Of a weekly
| service.
| Remember" said Herr Lohmann,
that the Deutschland was entirely
unarmed; she carried no torpedo tubes,
no cannon and no weapon of onensc
or defence of any kind.
so anxious was I that the unarmed
merchantmen character of our boats
should be established beyond doubt
insisted that the captain of the
| Deutschland should not even carry the
customary revolver upon leaving Bre-
linen"
Under these circumstances, he con-
tended, there is nothing to prevent the
| q q nd OF
man, from remaining as long as she
Ipleases in a neutral harbor and load
ing a cargo of fuel and supplies free
from the restrictions which prevent
lwarships from entering neutral port
except under stress, or remaining over
"a hours.
! Il conceived the idea of breaking the
british blockade long ago" continued
| Herr Lohmann. But the project first
took definite shape last autumn. when
succeeded in convincing the capitalists
associated with me-the Deutsche bank
and the Norddeutsche Lloyd that the war
presumably would last another y months
This was the hardest part of my task
Once this was done the rest was easy, for
our figures showed that the boats would
more than pay for themselves in a single
trip.
"A company was Immediately incorpor-
ated rs the German Ocean Navigation
company of Bremen with nominal cap
ital. Articles We're filed on November ;
and work was commenced on the first and
second boats. The Deutschland was COM
leted some time ago, and, after success
full trials in the Baltic started for Amer
lea following the usual peace route of our
Bremen and Hamburg steamers"
| Herr Lohmann now believes that the
war will not be terminated before next
spring and that the submarine freighters
will have an opportunity to make many
profitable voyages before they are faced
with competition of surface freighters
The Deutschland and her sister ship
are 200 ton boats Between four and
five hundred tons of cargo can be car
ried. The fuel is largely carried in
ballast and the dYeing tanks. which are
filled with sea water rs the oil is CON
stunned. The return of the Deutschland
will be made the occasion of a great
celebration and banquet at Rremen.
This will be tho formal celebration of
the re-opening of direct German-Ame1-
can trade relations.