Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-05-27
MONDAY, MAY II. 1918.
Wonderfully Successful Service.


The news Of Saturday morning brought
to our people the somewhat disturbing
announcement OF tho destruction of a
British mercantile steamship by Ger
man submarine. with a loas of more
than fftv United States soldiers who
were among its passengers, u was .
somewhat Insidioua suggestion ot what
NAV happen 20 any one nf the numerous
ships now engaged IN transporting large
numbers Of United States troops ~ the
war fields in Europe
pu. when We give thought 10 what
has been done III the past II will he
realized that we have no occasion ~ feel
any real alarm over the problem Of the
transportation of our fighting forces
acr,,as The ocean II IS now little more
than wear since or government formally
declared war against Germany. and during
this time we have transported many
soldiers. with accompanying supplies end
munitions. to the other side The Ger
man submarine menace was far more
threatening wear ago than i IS now.
thanks 10 the able assistance given by
vessels Of our navy Yet at least a hall
million soldiers have been safely carried
across the ocean and landed on French
soil without the slightest interruption
from the German submarine peril II i
officially stated that during the first ten
dsv~ Of this month, 10000 Of our fighting
mpn were safely ferricd across tho ~
lantic
Il would not hc reasonable To expect
continuation Of this remarkable immunity
throughout our war operations The
German submarine menace has been
severely scotchcd but not vet killed
Therefore. every transport that leaves
an Atlantic port loaded with mon and
munitions bound for port on the other
side If the ocean. lncurs the risk ~ de-
siruction by ono Of Germany assaSslns
of the sea II only remains for US 70
hope that those who viii follow may have
the same success that has attended those
who preceded them
But the danger remains, and ~ till
knowledge Of this fact the remarkable
success of our troop transportation
service across the Atlantic calls for
unbounded admiration and unstnted
praise Thus far not single shIp
carving American soldiers has fallen
victim of the savage German submarine
This speaks volumes for the effectiveness
of the. service for the thorouRhness Of
the measures adopted for the prcscrva-
ton Of these precious ships It was IN no
sense due TO chance These ships with
their valuable cargocs of mon and muni-
tions. were met at the danger zone and
escorted through il by armed PATROLS
ever on the alert for the threatening
presence of an enemy submarine That
the enemy was on tho lookout Is not 80 bc
doubted, and it Is certain lac was ready
To accept any chance that might offer
for successful attack But he was foied
by the precautionary measures adopted by
the naval forces OF Great Britain and
France, aided most effectively by vessels
from the navy of the United States
And so may II continue 10 the end
We must send our fighting men across
the ocean, and will do 50. even though
some of the transports fall victim to the
submarines Of the enemy But We have es-
capped calamity Of this kind thus far,
and we may we'll hope, knowing the
vigilance and effectiveness Of the pro
tective forces to continue in the ENJOY
ment of this immunity until the last
soldier has been sent across the sea