The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-01-03

| SUI CaffelS reported also that CnafleS H. Grant of Boston, another Ameri-
 can who was aboard the Persia, was among the survivors. No submarine was l seen by the survivors, according to
 the consul's report, but an officer of | the ship said he the wake of 1 torpedo. The Persia went down in l five minutes. This dispatch was imme-
 diate1y forwarded to President Wilson
 at Hot Springs.
 While Secretary Lansing tonight de-
 clined to comment upon the situa-
 tion confronting the United States, it 1 became known that he and other ad- l ministration officials were awaiting l full information before forming an | opinion and determining upon any ac- ! ton.
 NOT CONVINCED ABOUT U BOAT l Officials expressed themselves as be- | ing not convinced that submarine { ess,sic the Persia. They were impressed 1 by the statement in the dispatch from | Alexandria that the wake of the tor | pedo had been seen though no sub- marine was visible. Navy officers who were consulted said they would con- sder it out of the ordinary, although
 not impossible, that torpedo fired by | a submerged submarine should leave a visible wake.
 1 Discussion of the case today showed I that officials generally felt that the | United States had about come to the end of it's rope in conducting diplo-
 matic negotiations over submarine
 warfare. There was no inclination to
 minimize the gravity of the situation
 that would develop if it was proved 1 that an Austrian submarine sank the l Persia and a prompt disavowal from | Vienna was not forthcoming. It is l thought possible, however, that the Vienna government may see fit to fol- l low the example set by Germany upon | the sinking of the Arabic. The Arabic | was torpedoed at a time when it ap | peared that the submarine controversy l with Germany was on the road to set l clement. A week later Count Won | BernStorff, the German ambassador, received instructions to assure the Unl- 1 ted States government that full satis- 1 faction, "more than diSavowal' would be given by the Berlin govern ment should the circumstances as they were represented, prove to be correct. WILL SEND INQUIRIES | Should the developments warrant it | and should the mystery surrounding | the nationality of the submarine re- | main unsolved, the United States, it l was said. probably will address in quiries to Austria Hungary, Germany | and Turkey, the only nations whose !, submarines might be in the eastern
 Mediterranean. The inquiries neces sarily would have to be sent to all three nations, although it is believed l certain in all quarters that Austria | Hungary is the only one of the Teu- tonic allies with submarines in those l waters. This belief is based primarily ! upon a statement recently made by | Count Won Bernstorff to the effect that no German or Turkish submarines were | known to be operating there l Any action taken by the United States will be based upon affidavits ] from passengers, particularly Ameri- | cans, rather than upon officers of the 1, ship. Final decision as to what ac- I ton. if any is to be taken, will be made by the President, who will re- turn to Washington from Hot Springs | in a day or two.
 Several points remain to De cleared ! up. The state department especially 1 desires additional corroboraton of the 1 statement that the wake of a torpedo ! was seen. It regards as being signifi- 1 cant the statement that the vessel went down in five minutes and desires all details upon this polht. I is assumed that Consul Garrels based 1 the statement upon information re- 1 ceived from passengers
 l It is understood that the Lusltanla
 and the Ancona negotiations will be al : lowed to remain in their present status until more definite details regarding l the circumstances of the sinking or l the Persia are at hand.
 1 SANK IN FIVE MINUTES | London January 2.--Unofficial dis- patches from Cairo state that the Brit l ish steamship Persia. sunk in the Med