The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-10-20

pafricfissn and 20 prevent undue ant
! unnecessary shock TO families thu ougi
picking up q Newspaper TO fine tina
husband. father, or son had beer
I lost
Important Officers on Board.
( III was stated unoiTicially that sever
ri important American officers were
on board the in-faIed Antilles. return
ing from missions OF observations
aboard This may account for the tac'
she was picked out by the suhma
rine, but general opinion is thst tn :,
T-bost took shot In the DARK,
trusting to luck TO bag one Ameri-
can ship and not daring TO show hFr-
sef because of the convoy.
y That the loss Of life was not heavier
considering the almost immediate
sinking of tho Antilles. IS declared by
Axperfs' to be due solely TO the fact
that abe was in feet OF ships and
that the fast conveying destToYeFs
could Immediately rush 20 the rescue
ard pick UP many Of the men from the
water.
In cases Of such attack II is the
naval policy for the other ships I'M
der convoy to scatter as widely as
possible, steering Eis-Zag IN order 70
save themselves. The policy has been
exta nlished as the only safe one to
pursue, despite the apparent brutality
OF leaving men TO drown. II Is based
on the principle that it is better to
let one crew Drown than 10 cost the
possible destruction Of two ships ana
the loss Of both crews.
In the case OF destroyers, however.
they can do rescue work with safety
TO themselves. submarines. through ex-
perience fearing 20 take q chance
with their natural enemies
The only cases Of desrroyers sunk
by torpedoes are. when they are at
tackled by xurprfse--as IN the CO sc re
ported early this week by Admiral
Sims. Destroyers are naturally on the
alert when they come up to rescue
Ynen from ship which has Just been
torpedoed,
Part of German Policy.
One view IL taken in naval circl es
OF the two attacks I'm week on Amer
3can ships. and that is this; That Ger
many has concentrated upon a cam
pstgn OF intimidation against the
United States.
There are many angles visible to
give basis to this belief. and officials
OF standing point them out They SAY
Germany believes that by sinking a
few American TRANSPORTS, she can
''sickea America and give strength %
gshs talk of pacifists and .propagandistg
in this ocuutry--that she can cripple
Americas war preparations in this
!. way. cause annostion to further drafts
and create generally an anti-war spirit
siu America
They say that the recent falling off
N fhs loss of British tonnage and the
sfnsTeaStrG attacks on American yes
t>A xAn4
bn1alty--now that the closed season on
6ubmarine activities in the North sea
- uear--has determined upon a win
EW campaign against American trans
ports and proposes TO carry on such
u campaign on a large scale.
They say that the sinking Of the
sANfiiles lis only the first chapter Of
CsrmArys campaign Whether this
campaign will prove effective depends.
Shey believe, entirely upon the aid
xtysn Admiral Sims in strengt hentrr
s&nd enlarging his feet and upon the
character of vessels used ms trans
ports.
Speed 10 essential In such vessels II
is the ship~--the ones unable TO out
run and maneuver around submarines
which are the easiest victims to tor
pedo.
Antilles New But Not Fast.
The Antilles was comparativ ely
new ship. but WAS not especially fast.
although OF better speed than some
of tho sips which America has been
forced TO empioy--or was forced 70
employ in the early stages OF the
movement ovsrseas. The rapid com
ptettor OF repairs TO the informed Ger
man and Austrian merchant ships
eAixed upon the declaration of war Is
solving tire prsbisna of getting enough,
last transports. but some of the slow
er vessels are still in the service
The Antilles carried crew OF 100 un-
der normal conditions, and II is not
believed that as a transport her com
plement was much reduced.
The fact that all the army and navy
officers on board as passengers were
rescued. taken IN connection with the
statement that o fthe military missing
4orty-%even were members of the crew
is interpreted by navy officers here to
indicate that the majority OF deaths
took place in the engine room and
that many Of the victims were killed
by the torpedo and not lost by drown
ing In support of this they point
nut that three of the known dead were
engineer ofTicers-Walker. Boyle and
C'Rourke--rnen in command Of tht
na,Eine room crews.
In the case OF the two wireless or
orators killed. IL is believed that the
location OF their plant was respon
Sible for their deaths. The radio an
paratus was located near where the
torpedo struck.
The enlisted men lost probably were
prderlies. and possibly sick although
this cannot be confirmed
Officials are anxiousIy awaiting fur
fher details from Admiral Sims al
the actual facts OF tAe torpedoing.
In connection with fret reports OF
ths sinking of the Antilles, q runaor
! was persistent in Ne pavy departrne emit
fhn second transport had been dam
aged at the same time
There Was no confirmation Of this
however. nothing 10 indicate that
there was any basis other than wild
conjecture. Oficials pointed ont that
both departments have pledged them
relves TO make public Immediately all
fnishaps and casualties to the Amer
9can forces either aloat or ashore At
the same time IL was admitted that II
q second transport had been hit hut
that no loss of life had ensued and the
shsp itself had been brought bach 10
rort. there might not be an announce
nent.
The stea mship Antilles "a vessaI 1T