The Detroit times., 1917-10-20
70 MISSING
FROM j. S.
TROOP SHIP
Conveying DestrOyers,
Did Not See
PeriscOpe
BY CARL D. GR0AT

I many ~ center Lnh 4aA - lA4. "a
the attention Of her L boats on get.
ting American transports.
That conviction Was borne IN on
navy men today az result % The
first torpedolng OK an American
I transport 49, the Antilles e. while
homeward bound. With about 20
/ missing
THAT U-boat got" this Morgan
liner. however. was largely mat
/ ter OF fate-of luck. Nobody saw
the submarine even tho the Antilles
was part ot q convoy. And she
went down in Eve minutes. victim
OF square hii
The disaster 90 the Antilles
shocked American oaiciaidom Anc
they hoped today that t would
serve 70 awaken the American PEG
pie 20 a realization o. exactly What
I nav be expected from the Germ ans.
! that only thu utmOs. precaution and
\ The utmost force s sufficient % CON
! quer such ar enemy.
The luck" In the Antilles case
r. one OF the incidents q I boat
warfare
oncials explained today hat ~
Antilles mus; have run over The T.
boat. whose surprised commander
was able 20 get che range AM ds-
liver torpedo surels Had he T.
vessel been running With her peri
scope exposed she would have been
visible 20 the convoy. To the do
stroyer patro. and the armament o.
the Antilles she probably would have
been an easy victim As " vas.
the U.boat apparently Eot ore sight
az the transport. while lying "a
wait FOR loaded transports. Europe
bound and ducking quickly dred her
torpedo and made OF
Recent reports given added weigh
by Lord Northclire's recent warn
ing, indicate thar the Germans are
lying In wait FOR the American trans.
ports especially. The fact fhat tnis
lurking submarine was on the trail
and did her work unseen ciinched
the stories as 20 Germany 9 inten-
tiors
The point that Authorities emHtl-
sired today about the disaster Was
that .t is not OF an great military
importance
Inasmuch az the transporr was
empty the German score was no
more than the ,orpedoing Of a mer-
chant craft. The fact that American
military men lost their lives, how
ever, costly tho ~ vas. nav serve
as an impetus to The war spirit here.
According 70 ina x-aZ-as- szs--az.4 ~ Il
Il does this, then the American
lives have not been sacrificed Ia
vain, Il is held
The war departmFnt early today
had received no reply 70 its reeuest
upon Gen Pershing 90 check up IN
the casualty list and II is douotigi
~ this would be forwarded Tor
day oF two.
Meantime The best estimate from
4 information al hand ls about 70
missing" r. may run q few more
or less, but there will be 10 appre-
[ ciable increase,
Incidentally, the handling % The
! publicity in connection with fnls
first big disaster az the var convirc.
ed men in charge that there must
I be revision Of rheir system
From the public ieSpoint. the
bungiing came from tbs fac; that
! Secretaries Daniels. Baker and the
public information committee refus.
ed 10 say anything even 70 give
mere announcement % the sinking
before the Official bulletin was made
public az ?. n. last night. despite
the fact that the affair vas known
then for hours An announce uten-
had been promised Tor 4 o'clock
/ officials were convinced today that
In case Of big disaster hereafter
IL will be necessary 20 MAKE A.
least A skeleton Announcement wlth.
out giving undue alarm 20 relatives
- those aboard. instead o' follow
ing me system OF Withholding
everything until III relatives are no
tilted
When big casualty lists come in.
such "a system would involve enor
nous delays. ~ IS contended
incidentally ne announcement IT.
VOWED o touch OF the old rivalry 30
tween the army and the navy The
army was on The point % announc
I ing the story hours earlier than d
was Officially released. but The nav
/ insisted on following IN time hon
oTcd custom Of advising relatives
/ The sinking took place "Wednesday
Navy officials frankly warned 10
DAY that no matter how efficient -
American conveys may be. Just suci
incidents az the Antilles affair ar
bound 10 happen now and then
There can be no absolute reckon
! inr with a submerged U-boat th'
with convoy and armament. thi
chances OF trouble are greatly r.
! duced
The Antilles was struck amid
ships. The shot penetrating The on
CINE room She vent down tn lvl
minutes Had she been loaded wifl
troops hundreds must have PEI
lshed
Incidentally IL developed toda'
that every American transport
equipped with life RATS and ~
boats more than sufficient 20 TAX
care Of every person aboard Bu
IN the case ~ the Morgan line
there was no chance f0r man,
aboard 10 get on such craft
Advertising Firm Charges Name
CHICAGO. Oct. 20 The name y
fhe T.vlor-(rffrhFalf D.. rra gorr