The Washington herald., 1918-11-05
sEvENTEENTH INsTALLMENr.

IHus W dIBtHnelfn 3 IndneuNers aC-
complished two purposes: it placed
Germany before the :populace as
Turkeys friend, and it also provided
subterfuge for getting the ships
through the Dardaneiles, and
enabling them to remain in Turkish h
waters. All this beguiled the more
ignorant part OF the Turkish people.
and gave the cabinet a plausible
ground for meeting the objection of
entente diplomats. but it did not de-
ceive any intelligent person. The
Goeben and the Breslau might
change their names, and the German
sailors might adorn themselves with
Turkish fezzes, but we all knew from
the beginning that this sale was a
sham. Those who understood the
financial condition of Turkey could
only be amused at the idea that she
could purchase these modern vessels.
Moreover, the ships were never In
corporated in the Turkish navy; on
the contrary, what really happened
was that the Turkish navy was an
nexed to these German ships. A
handful of Turkish sailors were
placed on bcard at onc time for ap-
pearance sake, but their German OFF,
GERS and German crews still retained
active charge. Wangenheim. in his
talks with me, never made any secfct
Of The fact that the ships still re-
mained German property. Il never
expected to have such big checks to
sign" he remarked one day. refer
ring to his expenditures on the Goe-
ben and the Breslau. He always
called them our" ships. Even
Talaat told me in so many words
that the cruisers did not belong to
Turkey.
Belong TO Turks!
'aThe Germans say they belong to
the Turks" he remarked. with his
characteristic laugh. AT any rate
it's very comforting for US TO have
them here After the war, If the
Germans win, they will forget all
about it and leave the ships to us
If the Germans lose, they won't be
able TO take them away from u.s.
The German government made no
real pretensiou that the sale had
been bona fide; at least when the
Greek minister at Berlin protested
against the transaction as unfriendly
TO Greece-naively forgetting the
American ships which Greece had
recently purchased-the German off1-
cials soothed him by admitting. soto
voce. that the ownership still re-
uained with Germany. Yet when the
entente ambassadors constantly pro-
tested against the presence or the
German vessels, the Turkish ofnclaIs
blandly kept up the pretense that
they were integral parts OF the
Turkish navy!
The German officers and crews
greatly enjoyed this farcical pre-
tense that the Goeben and the Bres-
lau were Turkish ships. They took
delight in putting on Turkish fezZes.
thereby presenting to the world con-
elusive evidence that these loyal sal
Iors Of the Kaiser were now parts
of the Sultan's navy. One day the
Goeben sailed up the Bosporous,
halted in front of the Russian en-
bassy and dropped anchor. Then
the officers and men lined the deck
in full view of the enemy embassy.
All solemnly removed their Turkish
fezzes and put on German caps. The
band played Deutschland Ueber Al
les" the "Wacht am Rhein" and
other German songs, the German n
sailors singing loudly to the accom-
paniment. When they had spent an
hour or more serenading the Rus
sian ambassador, the officers and
crew removed their German caps
and again put on their Turkish
fezzes. The Goeben then picked up
her anchor and started south TO her
station, leaving in the ears OF the
Russian diplomat the gradually dy-
ing strains of German war songs as
the cruiser disappeared down
stream.
I have often speculated on what