, 1918-07-04

about it and asked him why he had given up the
command of a certain British hospital ship, a berth
which to my landsman's eyes had seemed to be the
easiest on the sea today In spite of instances like
the Rewa.
He didn't look at me as he answered. He looked
far out through his cabin port at the tower of the
Woolworth building. He finally told me that in
spite OF the danger 1t was easier on him to take q
merchant ship or a transport through the war zone
than to have his heart torn asunder by the suffer-
Ing of humanity he had seen on hospital ships;
men gassed and writhing In agony; men wounded
or muttlated out of sheer deviltry. Frightfulness-
waste of manhood because the kaiser wanted to
dominate the world-thats what he saw on a hos
pital ship; and when his ship of mercy, like the
Rewa, was torpedoed without warning and he man
aged to beach her before she sank he simply went
to pieces, as have many hospital ship commanders
before him.
Every hospital ship sunk means that the allies
must replace 1t with a ship which has been carry
Ing food and munitions. That is Germany's game.
Finding her submarine warfare was not succeeding
as she had hoped, she lessons the tonnage of her
enemies by fouler means still and covers up her
~dastardly motives by officially saying:
"The German government can no longer suffer
that the British government should forward troops
and munitions to the main theater Of war under
cover of the Red Cross, and 1t therefore declares
that from now on no enemy hospital ship will be
allowed In the sea zone comprised between a line
drawn from Marlborough Head to Terschelllng on
the one hand and Ushant and Lands End on the
other. II In this sea zone after the expiry Of the
stated time any enemy hospital ship is encountered
1t will be considered as a vessel of war and 1t will
be attacked without further ceremony"
And knowing full well that no allied hospital
ships were carrying either troops, munitions or
anything which they shouldn't In their garb of
mercy, Germany has lessened tonnage by sinking
the hospital ship Britannia 100000 tons), Asturias
Q1,4OO tons), Gloucester Castle 7,o99 tons).
Donegal (1,997 tons), Salta (7,234 tons), Lanfranc
(6,275 tons), Dover Castle 1920 tons), Rewa
(7,267 tons). Glenart Castle $4,000 tons), Liam
dovey Castle 10000 tons), and others amounting
to over 1000 o tons.
Germany has already begun paving the way to
lessen American tonnage by sinking our hospital
ships whenever we get any. On May ], 1918, she
officially notified the world that
American ~aviators are crossing to Europe as
members of the Red Gross on hospital ships. This
misuse Of the Red Cross appears from documentary
evidence found on American aviators who have
been shot down. An American brought down IN
the region of the army Of General Won Huter car
ried q pass which referred to him as a member OF
the American ambulance for France.
"Prisoners openly admit that 1t is the general
practice for ~aviators to enter American ambulance
service for their passage to Europe and to cross on
| hospital ships. After they are landed In France
they Immediately transfer to the automobile corps
and thence into the air service.
s1rhe captured aviator referred to had. however,
transferred directly from the ambulance service
into the air service. Another carried a certificate
h,ch the dates of several transfers were ON
cinlly indicated" :.
Except for the naval hospital ship Solace and
hospital yacht Surf attached to our feet. and two
Ward liners being converted into the hospital ships
Comfort and Mercy. solely for the use OF the navy
and at this writing not yet in service, the United
States has had no hospital ships at all. Conse-
quently 1t would be impossible for American avia-
tors to cross on such ships as Germany states they
have. The aviators which Germany refers to as
having crossed to France for Red Cross work
crossed Mt their own expense on regular passenger