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June 13—Italian artillery is bombarding the fortifications defending Goritz, capital of the crownland of Goritz and Gradisca, twenty-two miles northwest of Trieste; severe fighting is in progress on Monte Paralba; in the last few days Austrians have brought up 45,000 troops and 64 batteries along the Isonzo River.
June 14—Italians in Carnia occupy Valentina; all the positions captured by Italians in Trentino are held against repeated assaults by Austrians; the Italian Eastern Army is pushing forward along the Gulf of Trieste toward the City of Trieste.
June 15—Italians repulse Austrian attack at Monfalcone.
TURKISH CAMPAIGN.
May 1—French Senegalese troops occupy Yeni Shehr on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles.
May 2—French troops lose ground on the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles; Allies make further advances on the Gallipoli Peninsula; Allies now hold Gaba Tepe; the Australian contingent has lost heavily.
May 4—Allies repulse Turks and are on the active offensive on Gallipoli; Turks win success near Avi Burnu.
May 5—Turks check attempt of Allies to advance at Sedd-el-Bahr; Turks check Allies near Avi Burnu.
May 6—Russians have defeated a Turkish army corps in the Caucasus, routing it and taking many prisoners; desperate fighting is in progress on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the advance of the Allies being met by stubborn resistance; Allies have captured the heights facing Souain Dere Fort, four miles west of Kilid Bahr.
May 7—Severe fighting at Avi Burnu and at Sedd-el-Bahr, at the latter place the Turks capturing ten British machine guns.
May 10—Russians drive Turks from their positions in the direction of Olti; Russians drive Turks from the South Pass near Tabriz and occupy villages; 8,000 Turkish wounded have arrived at Constantinople from the Dardanelles.
May 13—The Gallipoli coast line is now in Allies' possession.
May 15—Turks repulse Allies near Avi Burnu.
May 16—Allies make progress in hills behind Kilid Bahr and Maidos; Turks have been attacking for three days British positions on the Gallipoli Peninsula, but have been repulsed with heavy loss.
May 18—Counter-attack by Allies near Sedd-el-Bahr is repulsed.
May 19—Turks drive back Allies from their advanced positions near Kara Burun; Allies are being reinforced daily.
May 20—Allies are reported to have occupied Maidos after fierce fighting; French troops have been landed at Sedd-el-Bahr, and are fighting around the Turkish positions at Krithia; British forces which debarked at Gaba Tepe are also directing their action toward Krithia, with the object of surrounding the Turks; the Allies are attacking the fortified position at Atchi Baba.
May 22—Official announcement is made in London that the Allies have gained further ground on the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula.
May 23—Turks repulse Allies near Sedd-el-Bahr; it is estimated that the British and French now have 90,000 troops along the Dardanelles.
May 24—Turkish troops attack allied camp near Goritza and capture five sailing vessels with provisions; Italian troops have landed on the Turkish Island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea; Turks capture two British positions near Kurna, Mesopotamia.
May 25—Allies are advancing steadily on the Gallipoli Peninsula; thousands of Turkish wounded are arriving at Constantinople.
May 27—Allies carry five lines of Turkish trenches by the bayonet; German estimates show that the Allies have lost 30,000 men in killed, wounded, and missing during land operations at the Dardanelles; it is admitted by the British that the Australians have lost heavily.
May 28—The Russian Army in the Caucasus reports further gains in the Van region, including the occupation of Baslan, and announces that in the capture of Van the Russians took twenty-six guns, large stores of war material and provisions, and the Government treasury.
May 29—Turkish forces defending the Gallipoli Peninsula against Allies now number 80,000 men; reinforcements are being sent from Syria; in the Caucasus the Turks are remaining on the defensive.
May 30—An official French statement, reviewing recent operations on the Gallipoli Peninsula, pays tribute to the bravery and coolness of the Turkish troops; Turks take allied trenches at Avi Burnu with the bayonet; Turks make gains at Sedd-el-Bahr.
May 31—Heavy fighting is in progress on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the Turks being driven back at several points; Turks still hold trenches captured from the Allies near Avi Burnu; it is reported from Constantinople that the Turkish casualties thus far are 40,000.
June 1—British repulse a severe attack at Gaba Tepe.
June 2—Heavy fighting continues on Gallipoli Peninsula; all the Turks who recently broke the allied line between Gaba Tepe and Krithia have been either killed or captured.
June 4—A combined general assault on Turkish Gallipoli positions is in progress.
June 6—Official British announcement states that during the last week the Allies have made considerable gains in the southern area of Gallipoli Peninsula; British win a 500-yard strip three miles long; French take trenches; Turks offer spirited resistance, and lose heavily; it is officially announced in London that on the Tigris, Asiatic Turkey, the British have made important gains, and have received the surrender of the Governor of Amara, with 700 soldiers.
June 7—Turks repulse the Allies near Sedd-el-Bahr.
June 9—Allies are landing more troops at Sedd-el-Bahr under cover of the fleet's guns.
June 11—The advance guard of the Allies is fighting near the town of Gallipoli; severe fighting is in progress near Maidos.
June 13—In the Caucasus the Russians are pushing back the Turks in the direction of Olti, on the frontier, and are occupying Turkish positions; a counter-attack by Turks at Zinatcher has been repulsed.
June 14—Reports from Athens declare that the position of the Allies on the Gallipoli Peninsula continues to improve steadily; the Turks still occupy Krithia, and the British are engaging them.
CAMPAIGN IN AFRICA.
May 1—Official statement issued at Cape Town announces that the British have inflicted a defeat on the Germans near Gibeon, German Southwest Africa; British captured a railroad train, transport wagons, two field guns, Maxims, and 200 prisoners.
May 5—British Secretary for the Colonies issues a statement saying that when General Botha, commander of the forces of the Union of South Africa, occupied Swakopmund he discovered that six wells had been poisoned by the Germans with arsenical cattle wash; Botha says the German commander told him he was acting under orders.
May 11—A French column captures the post of Esoka, in the German colony of Kamerun.
May 13—On official statement made public at Cape Town states that Windhoek, capital of German Southwest Africa, was captured yesterday without resistance by Union of South Africa forces under General Botha; German Southwest Africa is declared now to be practically in the hands of the British.
June 11—Garua, an important station on the Benue River, Kamerun, German West Africa, surrenders unconditionally to an Anglo-French force.
LUSITANIA.
May 1—Cunarder Lusitania sails from New York for Liverpool; no passenger bookings are canceled, although discussion is aroused by a newspaper advertisement inserted by the German Embassy at Washington stating that "travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk."
May 7—Lusitania is sunk ten miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, by either one or two torpedoes discharged without warning by a German submarine, stated to be the U-39; the Cunarder is hit about 2:05 P.M., and sinks in about eighteen minutes; 1,154 persons, including many women and children, are drowned, or are killed by explosions, while among the saved are 47 injured passengers; among the dead are 102 Americans; the saved total 764, among whom are 86 Americans; of the saved 462 are passengers and 302 belong to the crew; Captain William T. Turner of the Lusitania is saved by clinging to a bit of wreckage for two hours after remaining on the bridge until his ship sank; the ship was valued at $10,000,000, and the 1,500 tons of cargo, among which were munitions of war, at $735,000; official Washington and the nation generally, as well as other neutral and allied nations, are profoundly stirred by the news; President Wilson receives bulletins at the White House; London is astounded, and there are criticisms of the Admiralty for not having convoyed the Lusitania; panic conditions prevail on the New York Stock Exchange for thirty minutes after the first news is received, but the market closes with a rally.
May 8—Secretary Tumulty, after a conference with President Wilson, states that the Chief Executive "is considering very earnestly, but very calmly, the right course of action to pursue"; Secretary Bryan directs Ambassadors Gerard and Page to make full reports; an official communication issued in Berlin states that the Lusitania "was naturally armed with guns," that "she had large quantities of war material in her cargo," that her owners are responsible for the sinking, and that Germany gave full warning of the danger; the British Government announces that the statement that the Lusitania was armed "is wholly false"; American newspapers strongly condemn the sinking, many referring to it as murder; there is talk of war by many private citizens of the United States; there is rejoicing in Germany, where towns are hung with flags and children in Southern Germany are given a half-holiday, so reports state; Berlin newspapers acclaim the sinking, while hundreds of telegrams of congratulation are received by Admiral von Tirpitz, Minister of Marine; Dr. Bernhard Dernburg, former German Colonial Secretary, in a statement in Cleveland, argues that the sinking was justified.
May 9—Dudley Field Malone, Collector of the Port of New York, makes an official denial that the Lusitania was armed when she sailed; President Wilson has not yet consulted his Cabinet on the situation, but is studying the problem alone; Theodore Roosevelt terms the sinking "an act of simple piracy," and declares we should act at once; survivors criticise the British Admiralty for not supplying a convoy, and also criticise the handling of the Lusitania; newspapers in Vienna rejoice over the torpedoing.
May 10—In a speech at Philadelphia, President Wilson declares that "there is such a thing as a man being too proud to fight; there is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right"; Coroner's jury at Kinsale, which investigated five deaths resulting from the torpedoing of the Lusitania, in returning its verdict charges the Emperor and Government of Germany, and the officers of the submarine, "with the crime of wholesale murder before the tribunal of the civilized world"; a spirit of vengeance is springing up in England; the German Foreign Office sends to the German Embassy at Washington, which communicates it to the State Department, a message of sympathy at the loss of lives, but says the blame rests with England for her "starvation plan" and for her having armed merchantmen; telegrams are pouring in by the hundred to the White House and the Department of State, but the majority advise against the use of force; there is a fifteen-minute panic on the New York Stock Exchange on the rumor of the assassination of President Wilson, prices falling from 4 to 15 points; British exchanges bar German members; the National Security League issues an open letter in New York, declaring that the army, navy, and coast defenses are inadequate, and urging support for a military efficiency program; various State Legislatures pledge their support to President Wilson.
May 11—Secretary Bryan receives an official circular issued by the German Government which declares that there is no intention of attacking, either by submarine or aircraft, neutral ships in the war zone, and that if such attacks occur through mistake damages will be paid; President Wilson is at work on his communication to Berlin; American Line announces it will not hereafter carry contraband of war; Navy League of the United States passes a resolution asking President Wilson to call an extra session of Congress to authorize a bond issue of $500,000,000 for a bigger navy; riots occur all over England, demonstrations being made against Germans and German shops; former President Roosevelt states that the United States should act promptly and should forbid all commerce with Germany, while former President Taft states that delay can do no harm and that the United States should not hurry into war; President Wilson's Philadelphia speech results in a rise in prices on the New York Stock Exchange; the Committee of Mercy issues a country-wide appeal for help for destitute survivors of the Lusitania; customs guard on German ships at Boston is doubled; Cunard Line cancels intended sailing of the Mauretania from Liverpool; extra police guards are placed over the German ships at Hoboken.
May 12—Postponement is made until tomorrow of the sending of the American note to Germany; German Embassy discontinues its advertisement warning the public not to sail on British or allied ships: anti-alien rioting continues in England; seventy customs men, on orders from Washington, search German ships at Hoboken for explosives, none being found.
May 13—The text of the American note to Germany is made public at Washington; besides the Lusitania, it mentions the Falaba, Cushing, and Gulflight cases; it states that the United States Government expects a disavowal of the acts of the German commanders, reparation for the injuries, and a prevention of such acts in the future; it indicates that submarine warfare should be given up; it refers to the "surprising irregularity" of the German Embassy's advertisement warning Americans to keep off British ships, and states that notice of an unlawful act cannot be an excuse for its commission; it states that Germany will not expect the United States "to omit any word or any act" necessary to maintain American rights.
May 14—The American note to Germany has been delayed in transmission, and is not presented yet; President Wilson and the Cabinet are pleased with the response of the country to the note, which is praised generally by newspapers and public men: damage in anti-German rioting in South Africa is reported from Cape Town to exceed $5,000,000.
May 15—Ambassador Gerard hands the American note to the German Foreign Office; newspapers in England and France praise the note; Dr. Dernburg, who has for months been in the United States as unofficial spokesman for Germany, expresses a desire to go home, this being due, it is understood in Washington, to the criticisms resulting from his defense of the sinking of the Lusitania; German-American newspapers and prominent German-American individuals are going on record as being for the United States as against Germany in event of war.
May 16—New York clergymen from their pulpits praise President Wilson's note to Germany as a powerful instrument for the preservation of peace in this country; the loss of the Lusitania is proving a stimulus to recruiting in Great Britain.
May 17—The American note has not yet been published in Berlin, and most of the newspapers, under confidential orders from the Government, have refrained from comment.
May 18—Statements made by the officers of the British tank steamer Narragansett and of the British steamship Etonian, on arriving at New York and Boston, respectively, show that these ships and a third were prevented from going to the rescue of the Lusitania's passengers by German submarines; a torpedo was fired at the Narragansett.
May 19—Several leading German newspapers join in an attack on the United States, demanding that Germany refuse to yield to the American protest, the text of the note having been made known.
May 30—Full text of the German reply to the American note arrives in Washington and is made public; as to the Cushing and the Gulflight it is declared that the German Government has no intention of attacking neutral vessels by submarine or aircraft, and where it is proved that the attacked ship is not to blame is willing to offer regrets and pay indemnity, it being added that both the cases mentioned are now under investigation, which inquiry can be supplemented by reference to The Hague: as to the Falaba, it is declared that the persons on board were given twenty-three minutes to get off, and it is indicated that the passengers and crew would have had fuller opportunity to leave had the ship not tried to escape and had she not signaled for help by rockets: as to the Lusitania, it is declared she was built as an auxiliary cruiser and so carried on the British navy list, that Germany understands she was armed with cannon, that she carried war material and Canadian troops, while, in addition, the British Admiralty has instructed merchantmen to ram submarines; thus the sinking of the Lusitania was a measure of "justified self-defense"; it is also declared that the Cunard Company is "wantonly guilty" of the deaths, in allowing passengers to embark under the conditions cited; unofficial expressions of opinion from public men at Washington show there is disappointment and dissatisfaction over the note, which is held to be evasive; German Foreign Secretary von Jagow, in an interview given to The Associated Press correspondent in Berlin, declares that the note is not a final one because the German Government considers it essential "to establish a common basis of fact before entering into a discussion of the issues involved."
May 31—American press as a whole finds the German reply unsatisfactory, declaring that it is evasive and fails to meet the issue; London newspapers find the reply to be a "weak evasion"; German-American press as a whole supports the reply; Governors of States and other public men generally agree in condemning the note, but many of them suggest the need for caution; Berlin newspapers hold that the reply is complete.
June 1—President Wilson brings the German note before the Cabinet, which has a long conference.
June 2—A conference is held at the White House between President Wilson and Ambassador von Bernstorff, at the latter's request; Ambassador von Bernstorff arranges to send through the State Department a report to his Government of his talk with the President and of the condition of public opinion in this country; von Bernstorff tells the President that he has been given affidavits that the Lusitania was armed; these affidavits are given to the American Department of State for investigation.
June 3—Ambassador von Bernstorff is arranging to send an emissary, Dr. Anton Meyer-Gerhard, to Berlin to explain the position of the American Government and the state of public opinion; the affidavits that the Lusitania was armed are under official investigation; newspaper investigations throw doubt on their authenticity.
June 5—British Ambassador transmits a note from his Government to the United States Government assuring this country that the Lusitania was unarmed.
June 8—Secretary of State Bryan resigns because he cannot join in the new note to Germany, so he states in a letter to President Wilson, without violating what he deems his duty to the country and without being unfair "to the cause which is nearest my heart, namely, the prevention of war"; President Wilson's letter accepting the resignation expresses "deep regret" and "personal sorrow"; Counselor Robert Lansing is Acting Secretary of State; newspapers generally welcome Mr. Bryan's resignation; the note to Germany is read at a Cabinet meeting and finally decided upon.
June 9—Acting Secretary of State Lansing signs the note to Germany and sends it to Ambassador Gerard; Mr. Bryan's resignation causes interest in England and Germany; Mr. Bryan says that he favors inquiry by an international commission into the points at issue between the United States and Germany, and that Americans should be warned not to travel on belligerent ships; German-American press praises Mr. Bryan.
June 10—President Wilson's answer to the German note is made public at Washington; it "asks for assurances" that Germany will safeguard American lives and American ships; the German Government is assured that it has been misinformed as to the alleged arming of the Lusitania; it is stated that the United States is contending for the rights of humanity, on which principle "the United States must stand"; Mr. Bryan issues a statement to the public, explaining his views; Gustav Stahl, said to be a former German soldier, who made an affidavit that he saw four guns on the Lusitania, is arrested by Federal officers on a charge of perjury.
June 11—The pacific nature of the American note causes satisfaction in Germany; Mr. Bryan issues a statement to German-Americans; Colonel Roosevelt, in a statement, upholds President Wilson.
June 12—Mr. Bryan issues a third statement; some German-American newspapers criticise his statement addressed to German-Americans.
June 13—Newspapers of Germany today contain columns of comment on the last American note, the general tone being milder, the friendly tenor of the note being welcomed.
June 15—Court of inquiry opens in London; Captain Turner swears on the stand that his ship was not armed.
NAVAL RECORD—GENERAL.
May 1—Four British torpedo boat destroyers sink two German torpedo boats in the North Sea, after a fifth British destroyer is sunk by a German submarine; Russian Black Sea fleet bombards Bosporus forts; allied fleet bombards Nagara, on the Dardanelles.
May 3—The ships of the allied fleet are now working in shifts at the bombardment of the Dardanelles, which is maintained twenty-four hours a day; French battleship Henri IV. and British battleship Vengeance are damaged by fire of the forts.
May 4—Bombardment of Turkish forts on the Gulf of Smyrna is resumed by an allied squadron; British warship Agamemnon is damaged by forts at the Dardanelles.
May 6—Heavy bombardment of the Dardanelles is continued by the allied fleet; during the last three days a number of villages and forts have been set on fire by shells; British superdreadnought Queen Elizabeth is taking a prominent part in the bombardment.
May 8—British torpedo boat destroyer Crusader is sunk by a mine off Zeebrugge and the crew taken prisoners by the Germans.
May 9—Russians sink six Turkish transports off the Bosporus and two in the Sea of Marmora.
May 12—Turkish destroyers in the Dardanelles torpedo and sink the British pre-dreadnought Goliath, 500 men being lost; allied fleet bombards the forts at Kilid Bahr, Chanak Kalessi, and Nagara; Italian steamer Astrea sinks near Taranto, it being believed that she hit a mine.
May 15—Russian Black Sea fleet destroys four Turkish steamers and twenty sailing vessels; the fleet bombards Keffen, Eregli, and Kilimali.
May 16—For three days the allied fleet has been bombarding Turkish troop positions on the Dardanelles; shell fire is stated to have smashed whole trenches filled with Turkish soldiers.
May 17—Parliamentary Secretary of the British Admiralty announces in House of Commons that 460,628 tons of British shipping, other than warships, have been sunk or captured by the German Navy since the beginning of the war; that the number of persons killed in connection with the sinkings is 1,556; that the tonnage of German shipping, not warships, sunk or captured by the British Navy is 314,465, no lives being lost, so far as is known.
May 20—Bombardment of Nagara by the allied fleet continues night and day; British battleship Queen Elizabeth is supporting the allied troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula with the fire of her big guns from the Gulf of Saros; a new bombardment of the Turkish encampments on the Gulf of Smyrna is under way by ships of Allies.
May 24—Small naval units of Austria, especially destroyers and torpedo boats, bombard the Italian portions of the Adriatic coast; they are attacked by Italian torpedo boats and withdraw after a brief cannonade; the value of German and Austrian ships now in Italian ports, which have become prizes of war, is estimated at $20,000,000.
May 25—American steamer Nebraskan, en route from Liverpool to Delaware Breakwater, without cargo, is struck by either a torpedo or a mine forty miles off the south coast of Ireland; the ship is not seriously damaged and starts for Liverpool at reduced speed; Italy declares a blockade of the Austrian and Albanian coasts; allied warships bombard Adalia, Makri, Kakava, and other places along the coast of Asia Minor, destroying Government buildings and public works; Austrian ships sink an Italian destroyer near Barletta.
May 27—Captain Greene of the Nebraskan, which arrives at Liverpool, states that he thinks his ship was hit by a torpedo; the American flag had been hauled down shortly before she was struck, but the ship's name and nationality were plainly painted on her sides; British auxiliary ship Princess Irene is blown to pieces off Sheerness, 321 men being killed; it is presumed that careless handling of explosives caused the disaster.
May 28—Austrians sink an Italian torpedo boat destroyer, while the Italians sink an Austrian submarine. Danish steamer Ely is sunk by a mine off Stockholm, crew being saved.
May 29—Statement from the German Foreign Office is transmitted to Washington through Ambassador Gerard, urging that American shipping circles be again warned against traversing the waters around the British Isles incautiously, and especially that they make their neutral markings on the vessels very plain, and that they light them promptly and sufficiently at night: American naval experts find the facts to indicate that the Nebraskan was torpedoed and not struck by a mine, so Ambassador Page reports to Washington; British Admiralty puts stricter rules in force for navigation in the war zone.
May 30—British Legation at Athens issues a notice that, beginning on June 2, a blockade will be established off the coast of Asia Minor between the Dardanelles and the Strait of Samos.
May 31—An Admiralty statement shows that since the beginning of the war 130 British merchant ships and fishing vessels, with a tonnage of 471,000, have been sunk.
June 2—Two Italian torpedo boats sink two Austrian merchant vessels in the Gulf of Trieste and damage an auxiliary cruiser.
June 4—German transports, torpedo boats, and submarines seek to enter the Gulf of Riga, but sheer off on perceiving the Russian fleet; three German transports are sunk by mines.
June 5—A strong German fleet has appeared in the middle Baltic and has exchanged shots with the Russian fleet near the Gulf of Riga; Winston Churchill, in a speech at Dundee, declares that the British Navy is growing at an amazing rate, and is much stronger, both actually and relatively, than at the beginning of the war; Greek steamer Virginia is blown up by a floating mine while heading for the Gulf of Trieste, her crew being killed.
June 6—Italian warships are destroying cables and lighthouses on the Adriatic; Italian warships bombard the railway between Cattaro and Ragusa, and shell Monfalcone.
June 11—Turkish cruiser Midullu sinks a Russian torpedo boat destroyer in the Black Sea.
June 14—British steamship Arndale sinks from striking a mine in the White Sea.
June 15—Official announcement states that the total loss from all causes in the British Navy up to May 31 was 13,547 officers and men.
NAVAL RECORD—SUBMARINES.
May 1—The Gulflight, an American oil steamer owned by the Gulf Refining Company, is torpedoed off the Scilly Islands, but does not sink, and is towed to an anchorage in Crow Sound, Scilly Islands; the Captain dies of heart failure, and two men jump overboard and are drowned; she was flying the American flag; French steamer Europe is torpedoed by a German submarine, crew being rescued; British steamer Fulgent is torpedoed by a German submarine; some of the crew are missing; British steamer Edale is sunk by a German submarine off the Scilly Islands, crew being saved; Russian steamer Svorono is sunk by a German submarine off the Blasket Islands, crew being saved; British trawler Colombia is sunk by a German submarine, seventeen of the crew being lost.
May 3—In the last forty-eight hours one Swedish steamer and three Norwegian steamers have been sunk by German submarines; British steamer Minterne is sunk by a German submarine off the Scilly Islands, two of crew being killed.
May 4—Ten British trawlers have been sunk by German submarines in the last forty-eight hours; the submarine which caused the most damage has an iron cross painted on her conning tower.
May 5—Danish steamer Cathay is sunk by a German submarine in the North Sea; passengers and crew saved.
May 6—British steamers Candidate and Centurion are sunk off the Irish coast by German submarines, crews being saved; British schooner Earl of Latham is sunk by a German submarine; two British trawlers are sunk by German submarines.
May 8—British steamer Queen Wilhelmina is sunk by a German submarine in the North Sea, crew being given time to take to the boats.
May 12—British submarine E-14 has penetrated to the Sea of Marmora and has sunk two Turkish gunboats and five Turkish transports.
May 15—German submarine sinks without warning the Danish steamer Martha in Aberdeen Bay, Scotland; crew escapes.
May 19—German submarines sink British steamers Drumcree and Dumfries and British trawler Lucerne; no lives lost.
May 20—French steam trawler is blown to pieces by German submarine near Dartmouth; thirteen of crew killed; British trawlers Chrysolite and Crimond are sunk by German submarines; crews saved.
May 21—German submarine, with thirty-nine shots from her gun, sinks British sailing ship Glenholm off Irish coast; crew saved.
May 22—German submarine sinks Norwegian steamer Minerva; crew saved.
May 23—Repeated reports keep coming from Copenhagen that the German naval authorities admit the loss of seventeen submarines since the opening of the war.
May 24—An allied submarine sinks Turkish gunboat Pelenk-i-Deria.
May 25—British battleship Triumph is sunk in the Dardanelles by a German submarine, going down in seven minutes; 56 men are lost; the Triumph was built in 1904 and cost $4,750,000.
May 26—A British submarine has sunk a Turkish gunboat in the Sea of Marmora within sight of Constantinople.
May 27—German submarine torpedoes and sinks British battleship Majestic off Sedd-el-Bahr; 49 men are lost; Majestic was completed in 1895 and belonged to the oldest type of battleship in commission in British Navy; British Admiralty announces that submarine E-11 has sunk a large Turkish munition ship, while she caused a small storeship to run ashore; also that E-11 entered Constantinople harbor and discharged a torpedo at a transport alongside the arsenal; British steamer Cadeby is sunk off the Scilly Islands by gunfire from a German submarine; crew saved.
May 28—The torpedoing of the American tanker Gulflight is now established in Germany as having been due to a German submarine, the report of the submarine's Captain having been received by the German Admiralty; he reports that when he saw the Gulflight she was being convoyed by two patrol boats, and he concluded she must be British or was carrying contraband; British steamer Spennymoor is sunk by a German submarine off the Orkney Islands, six men being drowned; British steamer Tullochmoor is shelled and sunk by a German submarine, crew being saved; British steamer Glenlee is sunk by a German submarine, crew being saved; Portuguese steamer Cysne is sunk by a German submarine off Cape Finisterre, crew being saved; German submarine U-24 sinks British steamer Ethiope in the English Channel; fifteen of crew are missing.
May 29—British steamer Dixiana is sunk by a German submarine, which is disguised with sails; crew saved.
May 31—Danish steamer Soborg is sunk by a German submarine in the English Channel; crew saved.
June 1—British steamer Saidieh, carrying passengers, is torpedoed without warning in the North Sea by a German submarine and sinks in fifteen minutes; seven of the crew, including a stewardess, are lost; Welsh trawler Victoria is sunk by a German submarine, several of the crew being killed by shell fire.
June 2—British submarine torpedoes a large German transport in the Sea of Marmora; German submarines sink the Norwegian steamer Cubano and the Welsh trawler Hiorld, the crews being saved; Danish schooner Salvador is sunk by a German submarine, crew saved.
June 3—Swedish steamer Lapland is sunk by a German submarine off Scotland, crew being saved; Danish steamer Cyrus is sunk by a German submarine off Scotland, crew being saved; British steamer Iona is sunk by a German submarine, crew being shelled while taking to the boats and four men being wounded; British fishing steamer Chrysophrasus is sunk by a German submarine, crew being shelled while taking to the boats; Portugal is aroused over recent sinking of two Portuguese ships by German submarines; French steamer Penfeld is sunk by a German submarine, crew saved.
June 4—British trawler Ebenezer is sunk by shell fire from a German submarine, crew escaping; British steamer Inkum is sunk by a German submarine, crew escaping; steam drifter Edna May, trawler Strathbran, sailing ship George and Mary, steam fishing vessels Cortes, Kathleen, and Evening Star, steamer Sunnet Head, trawlers Horace and Economy, all British, have been sunk by German submarines; Russian mine layer is sunk by a submarine near the Gulf of Riga.
June 5—German submarine U-51 arrives at Constantinople from Wilhelmshaven, after a voyage of forty-two days, during which she sunk the British battleships Triumph and Majestic.
June 6—Five more British trawlers have been sunk by German submarines, all the crews being saved.
June 7—The trawler Arctic, bark Sunlight, steamer Star of the West, and the trawler Dromio, all British, have been sunk by German submarines; four of the Arctic's crew were killed by shell fire from the submarine; Russian schooner Afold has been sunk by a German submarine.
June 8—German submarines sink Belgian steamer Menapier, Norwegian steamer Trudvang, Norwegian bark Superb, Norwegian steamer Glittertind, British trawlers Pentland and Saturn; sixteen die on the Menapier.
June 9—British sink a German submarine and capture her crew; First Lord of the Admiralty Balfour states that hereafter submarine crews will be treated like other prisoners of war; German submarine sinks British steamer Lady Salisbury; one of the crew is killed and two are missing; official Austrian statement declares that submarine No. 4 torpedoed and sank a small British cruiser off the Albanian coast; British statement says the ship is now safe in harbor, not seriously damaged.
June 10—British torpedo boats Nos. 10 and 12 are sunk off the east coast of England by a German submarine; twenty-nine seamen are missing; German submarines sink steamers Strathcarron and Erna Boldt, and the trawlers Letty, Tunisian, Castor, Nottingham, Velocity, Cardiff, Qui Vive, and Edward, all British; German submarines sink Russian bark Thomasina, Russian steamer Dania, and Swedish steamer Otago, crews being saved.
June 12—German submarines sink British steamer Leuctra and trawlers James Leyman, Britannia, and Waago, crews being saved.
June 13—German submarine U-35 sinks British bark Crown of India and Norwegian bark Bellglade off Milford Haven, crews escaping; German submarine sinks British trawler Plymouth, crew escaping.
June 14—German submarines sink British steamer Hopemount and French schooner Diamant, crews being saved; German submarine burns the Danish schooner Cocos Merstal, crew being saved.
June 15—German submarine sinks British trawler Argyll, seven of crew being drowned; German submarine sinks Norwegian steamer Duranger; crew saved.
AERIAL RECORD.
May 1—Germans bring down three aeroplanes of the Allies on the western line.
May 2—German aeroplanes bombard towns in Eastern France; twenty incendiary bombs are dropped on Epinal.
May 3—Germans state that they have sunk a British submarine in the North Sea by dropping a bomb on it from an airship; this is denied by the British Admiralty; a German aeroplane is driven off from Dover by gunfire.
May 4—Two Austrian aeroplanes throw incendiary bombs near Mamaligia, in Bessarabia.
May 5—An official French note states that on March 22 French aviators damaged Briey, Conflans, and Metz; that on April 15 French aviators destroyed 150 railroad cars at St. Quentin, twenty-four soldiers being killed; that on April 28 French aviators destroyed a Zeppelin at Friedrichshaven; two Turkish aeroplanes are brought down by shells from the allied fleet at the Dardanelles.
May 7—Three Russian aviators drop bombs on Constantinople.
May 9—British airmen bombard the St. Andre railway junction near Lille, the canal bridge at Dok, and also Furnes, Herlies, Illies, Marquelles, and La Bassee.
May 10—Zeppelins drop bombs on Westcliffe-on-Sea and Southend, seaside resorts in Essex; slight damage.
May 11—French aviator bombards airship hangar at Maubeuge; German aviator bombards railroad station at Doullens; Germans bring down a British aviator, and British bring down two German aviators.
May 13—A Zeppelin falls in the Gierlesche woods in Belgium, is badly damaged, and is dismantled by the crew, being taken away in sections.
May 17—Two Zeppelins drop bombs on Ramsgate, damaging buildings and wounding three persons; it is reported from Rotterdam that a fight recently occurred in the region of the Yser between a Zeppelin and twenty-seven allied aeroplanes, the Zeppelin being sent crashing to earth with sixty men, while two aeroplanes were wrecked and their pilots killed by machine gun fire from the Zeppelin; British aeroplanes drop proclamations on the town of Gallipoli announcing an approaching bombardment and advising the population to leave.
May 18—London reports that two Zeppelins have been destroyed, one falling within the allied lines at Dunkirk, and the other falling into the sea as the result of shell fire from a French torpedo boat destroyer.
May 20—Squadrons of Austro-German aeroplanes are bombarding Przemysl.
May 21—Turkish aeroplanes are aiding their troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula; British bring down a German aeroplane near Ypres; Germans bring down an allied aeroplane at Fresnoy.
May 22—German aviators, in an aeroplane disguised as a French machine, drop eight bombs on Paris, two persons being slightly injured; because of the disguise the French air patrol allowed the German machine to pass.
May 23—German aviator bombards the town of Chateau Thiery.
May 24—Austrian aeroplanes drop bombs on Venice, Porto Corsini, Ancona, Gesi, Potenza Picena, the Tremiti Islands, and Barletta; a German Taube drops bombs in the northern suburbs of Paris; no one injured.
May 25—Six French aeroplanes drive off two German machines which seek to raid Paris; French aeroplanes are active along the entire front and drop 205 projectiles upon German positions.
May 26—A Zeppelin drops fifty bombs on Southend; one woman is killed and several persons injured; the property damage is slight; this Zeppelin later is reported as having fallen into the sea near Heligoland, having been struck by a shell while over England; French airmen bring down a German aeroplane which attacked the suburbs of Paris yesterday, the two German aviators being killed; allied airmen drop nineteen bombs on the aerodrome at Gontrode, southeast of Ghent, destroying the greater part of the aerodrome, killing forty-four soldiers, and wounding thirty; Italian aviators bombard railroad station at Monfalcone.
May 27—Eighteen French aeroplanes, each carrying 110 pounds of projectiles, bombard an important German manufactory of explosives at Ludwigshafen, on the Rhine, starting fires in several of the factory buildings, and killing eleven civilians; fifty German soldiers are killed at Ostend by a bomb dropped by allied aeroplane; Italian and Austrian aeroplane squadrons are active in the operations of the armies, doing much scouting and some bombarding; squadron of Italian hydro-aeroplanes throws bombs on the Trieste-Nabresina Railroad; allied aeroplane squadron flies over the Dardanelles and subjects Turkish position to heavy bombardment.
May 28—Experts estimate that orders amounting to $16,000,000 have been placed in the United States for aeroplanes for the Allies.
May 29—Austrian aeroplane squadron drops bombs on Venice, causing several fires; a French and a German aeroplane fight a duel at 9,000 feet near Fismes, the French machine, by its gunfire, shooting down the German from a height of 6,000 feet.
May 30—A Zeppelin drops bombs on Helsingfors, destroying cotton sheds and setting fire to a passenger ship; British bring down a German aeroplane near Courtrai; Turkish aviators drop bombs on the allied trenches at Sedd-el-Bahr.
May 31—Zeppelins drop ninety incendiary bombs on London in a night raid; four civilians are killed and several others wounded; numerous fires are started, but none prove serious; Berlin announces that the attack is a reprisal for the aerial attack on Ludwigshafen; Italian dirigible makes a raid on the Austrian naval base of Pola, damaging the railroad station and arsenal.
June 2—Germans shoot down a British aeroplane at Bixschoote.
June 3—Twenty-nine French aeroplanes aim 178 shells and several thousand darts at the headquarters of the German Crown Prince, killing several soldiers.
June 4—Zeppelins drop bombs on the east and southeast coasts of England; little damage is done and casualties are few.
June 5—A Taube drops bombs on Calais, killing one person and doing slight property damage.
June 6—Ten Zeppelins of a new type are reported from Copenhagen to have been completed, these machines having greater speed than the old ships; they are stated to be fitted with appliances for dropping poisonous gas bombs; German aeroplanes drop bombs on Calais and on the aviation grounds at Luneville; a Zeppelin drops bombs on the east coast of England, five persons being killed and forty injured.
June 7—Sub-Lieutenant Warneford of the British Flying Corps fights a duel with a Zeppelin at a height of 6,000 feet; with incendiary bombs he explodes the airship, which falls near Ghent, the twenty-eight men on board being killed; Warneford returns safely to the British lines; Italian dirigible bombards Pola.
June 8—King George sends a warmly congratulatory telegram to Sub-Lieutenant Warneford and confers upon him the Victoria Cross; Austrian aeroplane bombards Venice; Austrian aeroplane destroys an Italian airship.
June 12—Austrian aeroplanes drop bombs on the breakwater of Bari, on Polignano, where a woman is killed, and on Monopoli.
June 13—Italian airship seriously damages the arsenal at the naval station of Pola.
June 15—Twenty-three allied aeroplanes bombard the town of Karlsruhe, killing eleven and injuring six civilians.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.
May 23—Emperor Francis Joseph, in a manifesto to his troops, denounces Italy, and declares that his former ally's perfidy has no parallel in history.
May 25—The Foreign Ministry publishes documents presenting Austria's side of the controversy with Italy; it is contended that Italy, from the beginning, sought to evade her obligations by artificial interpretation of the Triple Alliance treaty.
BELGIUM.
May 24—The German Government has published a "White Book" charging Belgian civilians with many forms of attacks on German troops; German measures at Louvain and elsewhere are declared to have been only for the purpose of stopping these attacks.
June 6—Belgian Legation at Washington gives out a statement answering the German White Book recently issued at Berlin making accusations against the Belgian civilian population; reply denounces allegations of franc-tireur warfare as false and unsupported; Belgian Government, instead of encouraging civilian resistance, warned the population against it.
CANADA.
May 3—Official statement places Canadian casualties in the battle of Langemarck, as the recent fighting near Ypres is now officially termed, at 6,000 killed, wounded, and missing; total Canadian casualties in the entire war to date are 6,584.
May 17—Canadian losses since the battle of Langemarck total 4,792, made up of 680 killed, 3,208 wounded, and 904 missing.
June 10—Nine camps have been opened, at intervals from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, for training troops; plans provide for training 100,000 recruits this Summer.
June 11—Every battalion of the second Canadian division is now in France.
FRANCE.
May 10—General Gouraud, it is announced, will relieve General d'Amade in command of the expeditionary force to the Orient; General d'Amade has been summoned back to France for a Governmental mission.
May 19—The Minister of Finance introduces a bill in the Chamber of Deputies providing for a $220,000,000 appropriation for the first six months of 1915 in addition to the $1,700,000,000 which has been already voted.
May 22—Captain Thery, a prominent economist, estimates that the cost of the first year of the war, including the expenses of all combatants, will be about $2,000,000 an hour.
May 29—A great demonstration is held in the Sorbonne amphitheatre, attended by the President, and the notables of political and artistic France, to express the appreciation of the French people for the sympathy and help of Americans during the war.
GERMANY.
May 2—The last of the Landsturm is called to the colors.
May 4—Luebeck, on the Baltic Sea, formerly a port of relatively small importance, has become a great port, and dozens of ships are there discharging vast quantities of foodstuffs and other supplies; twenty-three Socialist members of the Reichstag opposed the voting of the full war credit last asked by the Government, according to a report from Berlin.
May 7—The Germans state that they and the Austrians now hold 46,000 square miles of Russian territory, containing a population of more than 5,000,000.
May 12—Typhus has appeared in some of the German prison camps.
May 14—Lieutenant von Muecke and fifty men of the Emden's crew, who escaped when that cruiser was sunk in November, have arrived at Damascus, after six months of adventurous wanderings.
May 18—The London Chronicle, on the basis of statistics which it has received, estimates the total German losses in the war to be 2,050,000.
May 24—Germany asks Switzerland to take over German diplomatic affairs in Rome; this action is regarded in Washington as a slap at the United States.
May 26—Prince von Buelow, recently Ambassador to Italy, arrives in Berlin; Germany and Italy are still theoretically allies, war not having been declared between them.
May 28—Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg, speaking in the Reichstag, declares that the Teutonic allies are waging war in "holy anger" and will fight until they have made it certain that no enemy "will dare again a trial of arms"; he makes a scathing attack on Italy, and says that "her violation of good faith" is written in "letters of blood."
May 30—Americans are leaving Germany by the score, declaring the hate for Americans is so intense as to make life unbearable.
June 2—Officers and men on furlough in Berlin are forbidden to visit cafes and restaurants.
June 4—Prussian losses alone have reached a total of 1,388,000.
June 5—There are now 900,000 prisoners of war held in Germany, in 247 prison camps.
June 7—An extensive exodus of Americans from Germany is in progress, many going to Italy; refugees declare the Germans now hate Americans as bitterly as they do the British.
June 14—Germany discontinues her exceptional treatment of 39 British officers, put into effect as reprisal for England's exceptional treatment of German submarine crews, now ended.
GREAT BRITAIN.
May 2—Lord Kitchener is becoming the storm centre of the Cabinet upheaval; attacks on him by the Northcliffe newspapers are resented by other newspapers and by many of the public; a "White Paper," containing reports from firms and officers throughout the country, shows that drink is having a serious effect on repairs to warships and transports and on the output of munitions.
May 4—Since the beginning of the war the British Army has had 2,246 officers killed, 4,177 wounded and 762 missing; Chancellor Lloyd George, in a budget speech in Parliament, places the expenditure for the next six months at $10,500,000 a day.
May 7—Government abandons the plan to place extra taxes on spirits and instead substitutes a complete prohibition of the sale of spirits less than three years old.
May 12—The Committee on Alleged German Atrocities, headed by Viscount Bryce, appointed by Premier Asquith, makes public its report, which contains an account of hundreds of cases investigated; the report finds that there were in many parts of Belgium "systematically organized massacres of the civil population"; that in the general conduct of the war innocent civilians, men and women "were murdered in large number, women violated, and children murdered"; that "looting, house burning, and the wanton destruction of property were ordered" by German officers; that "the rules and usages of war were frequently broken," civilians, including women and children, being used as a shield for troops, and that the Red Cross and white flag were frequently abused.
May 13—Premier Asquith announces in the house of Commons the new policy of the Government with reference to alien enemies now resident in Great Britain; those of military age will be interned, while those not of military age, and women and children will be deported; King George orders the names of the German and Austrian Emperors, and of five German Kings and Princes stricken from the rolls of the Order of the Garter.
May 18—Premier Asquith is forming a "National Cabinet," or coalition government, in which some of the Cabinet posts at present occupied by Liberals will go to Unionist and Labor Party leaders; the crisis is the result of the resignation of Lord Fisher as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, due to differences between him and Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty; Churchill has been much criticised, particularly for the fiasco at Antwerp and the policy pursued in the Dardanelles, while the loss of the Lusitania has further stirred his opponents.
May 19—The Northcliffe newspapers state that there has been difficulty over high explosives for the army, those in charge at the War Office not having awakened in time to the need for such explosives in large quantities; these papers criticise Lord Kitchener's conduct of the War Office; racing will be stopped after this week for the duration of the war, except at Newmarket.
May 25—The make-up of the new coalition Cabinet is announced; it is headed by Mr. Asquith and contains twelve Liberals, eight Unionists, one Laborite, and one non-partisan, Lord Kitchener; Arthur J. Balfour becomes First Lord of the Admiralty; John Redmond refuses a place in the Cabinet; Liberal newspapers criticise the entry into the Cabinet of Sir Edward Carson, who becomes Attorney General.
May 27—Admiral Sir Henry Jackson is appointed First Sea Lord of the Admiralty in the place of Admiral Lord Fisher.
June 3—Premier Asquith ends a visit of four days at the British front, during which he consulted with Field Marshal French and General Joffre; Minister of Munitions Lloyd George, in a speech at Manchester, declares that England must have more munitions and that the fate of the nation rests on the workshops.
June 8—House of Commons passes the Munitions bill on third reading; the measure establishes a new department to handle munitions.
June 9—Premier Asquith announces in the House of Commons that the total British casualties up to May 31 were 50,342 killed, 153,980 wounded, and 53,747 missing.
June 15—House of Commons votes a war credit of $1,250,000,000, making a total of $4,310,000,000 thus far voted; Asquith says expenditure will be not less than $15,000,000 a day.
GREECE.
June 15—Returns of the general election show that the party of former Premier Venizelos, who has been in favor of entering the war on the side of the Allies, has a considerable majority in Parliament.
HOLLAND.
May 19—A bill is being prepared providing for universal compulsory military service; the measure will increase the army approximately to 1,000,000 men.
ITALY.
May 10—Italy calls to the colors all classes of reserves back to the class of 1876; an Italian army of 600,000 is concentrated at Verona.
May 12—Government receives what is believed to be the final proposal of Austria for territorial concessions; ex-Premier Giolitti, one of the most influential men in Italy, is against war; war demonstrations are being held all over Italy.
May 14—The Cabinet tenders its resignation to the King because of the strength of the anti-war party, led by former Premier Giolitti; the entire country is in a turmoil, there being much indignation over the fall of the Cabinet.
May 15—Signor Marcora having refused to form a Cabinet, and a similar refusal having been made by Paolo Carcano, the King asks Salandra to resume the Premiership; Salandra consents; the people and press are furious with Giolitti; the country is on the verge of revolt; troops save the Austrian Embassy from attack.
May 16—There is general rejoicing throughout the country over the retention of office by Salandra; it is reported that Italy now has 1,700,000 men mobilized and equipped.
May 19—Italy issues a Green Book, tracing the course of events between Italy and Austria, from the Italian standpoint, during recent months; Italy holds that Austria has violated Article VII. of the Triple Alliance, which bound Austria to refrain from occupation of Balkan territory without agreement with Italy and due compensation; in the invasion of Serbia and occupation of her cities, Italy claims that Austria has broken faith, and the negotiations between the two countries have been concerned chiefly with compensation, Austria not meeting Italian demands.
May 20—Chamber of Deputies, amid wild enthusiasm, adopts, by a vote of 407 to 74, a bill conferring full power upon the Government to make war; Premier Salandra denounces Austria in a speech which is tremendously acclaimed; he says she broke her alliance, and was false to the treaty in its substance, form and spirit; he declares that Italy has long been for peace and strove to find a compromise which would restore agreement's reason for being.
May 21—By a vote of 262 to 2 the Senate passes the bill granting plenary powers to the Government; there is great enthusiasm in the Chamber; Italian and Austrian troops continue to mass at the border; all Italy is aflame with enthusiasm.
May 22—General mobilization of the army and navy is ordered; martial law is proclaimed, beginning May 23, in Northeastern Italy; the King signs the bill giving full power to the Salandra Ministry in the present emergency and for "the duration of the war."
May 23—Duke of Avarna, Italian Ambassador at Austria, presents to Baron von Burian, Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, a declaration of war by Italy, dated May 23, but not to take effect until tomorrow; the declaration states that the treaty of alliance between Italy and Austria has been violated by Austria; estimates put the total Italian war strength at 3,300,000 when all reservists are called.
May 24—Italy has given her adhesion to the agreement, already signed by the allied powers, not to conclude a separate peace.
May 25—Italy sends a note to the United States Government explaining her break with Austria; Italy states that she was forced into hostilities, cites a long list of grievances, and declares that, despite warnings, the ultimatum was sent to Serbia without notification to Rome; this ultimatum, so sent, declares Italy, violated Article I. of the Triple Alliance treaty, which provided that none of the contracting parties had the right to undertake, without a previous agreement, any step whose consequences might impose a duty upon the other signatories arising out of the alliance, or which would in any way encroach upon their vital interests; Italy further states that the Triple Alliance was essentially defensive; similar notes are sent by Italy to all important neutral countries.
May 28—The Pope declines an invitation from Spain to make his headquarters at the Palace of the Escurial.
June 13—Official journal publishes decree for seizing merchant ships of Italy's enemies in the ports of the kingdom and colonies.
RUMANIA.
June 1—Rumania has 1,000,000 fully equipped men ready for battle against Austria on a 600-mile front; a note to Austria containing Rumania's demands is now before the Austrian Government.
June 6—A great demonstration is held in Bucharest in favor of Rumania's joining the war with the Allies; speakers eulogize Italy for entering the war.
RUSSIA.
May 10—Figures made public in Petrograd show that the total number of prisoners taken by Russian armies and interned in Russia up to April 1 was 10,734 officers and 605,378 men; in addition, the statement says that large numbers of Galician prisoners have been given their liberty and sent home.
SAN MARINO.
June 3—The Republic of San Marino officially approves of the Italian attitude toward Austria and declares war.
SERBIA.
May 24—The Serbian Army has been reorganized; Great Britain and France have supplied it abundantly with artillery and ammunition.
SWEDEN.
June 6—Stockholm reports that a treaty has been ratified between Sweden and Russia, mutually acknowledging the financial, commercial, and industrial interests of the respective countries.
TURKEY.
May 23—A joint official statement issued by Great Britain, France, and Russia states that for the past month Kurds and the Turkish population of Armenia have been massacring Armenians, with "the connivance and help of the Ottoman authorities"; that the inhabitants of 100 villages near Van were all assassinated; that massacres have taken place at Erzerum, Dertshau, Moush, Zeitun, and in all Cilicia; that the allied Governments announce publicly to the Sublime Porte that "they will hold all members of the Government, as well as such of their agents as are implicated, personally responsible for such massacres."
June 6—The Krupps have established a large ammunition factory near Constantinople.
UNITED STATES.
May 3—Government is obtaining official reports on the sinking of the Gulflight from Ambassadors Page and Gerard.
May 5—State Department makes public the text of its reply to the German note in the William P. Frye case, which was forwarded on April 28; the reply declines the suggestion that a German prize court pass on the legality of the destruction and amount of indemnity; it suggests that the German Embassy at Washington be authorized to deal with the matter; it states that unquestionably the destruction of the vessel was a violation of old treaties between the United States and Prussia.
May 6—The State Department has replied to the German complaint that the German steamer Odenwald was "attacked" when she attempted to leave San Juan, Porto Rico, without clearance papers; text not made public.
May 19—American tank steamer Cushing arrives in Philadelphia, and Captain Herland tells the details of the attack made by a German aeroplane on April 28, while the ship was in the North Sea; he states that the aviator manoeuvred to drop a bomb into the funnel, from a height of 300 feet, but the three bombs thrown missed the ship; he says the attack took place at 7 P.M., but there was ample light for the aviator to see the ship's name in eight-foot letters, and the American flags at the masthead and the taffrail; Secretary Bryan has cabled to Ambassador Gerard, asking whether the action of the German Government in placing the William P. Frye case in a prize court is the reply to the American note stating that the United States did not regard prize court proceedings with favor.
May 21—Recent orders from the British Government bring up to $100,000,000 the total contracts for munitions of war given to the Bethlehem Steel Company since hostilities began.
May 22—The French Line has chartered thirty-seven freight steamships to aid in transporting the huge quantities of munitions of war waiting shipment from the United States to the allied countries.
May 24—Italy asks the United States to take over Italian diplomatic affairs at Vienna, and the United States consents; Germany, through Ambassador Gerard, explains that her action of sending the William P. Frye case to a prize court is not intended as an answer to the American note on the matter, but is a necessary procedure under German law.
May 25—United States issues a proclamation of neutrality, under date of May 24, covering the entry of Italy into the war.
May 29—Federal Court at Milwaukee dismisses the action brought by General Samuel Pearson, former Boer commander, in which he sought to restrain the Allis-Chalmers Company and others from manufacturing shrapnel shells, which, it was alleged, were being shipped to the Allies; the court holds that the relief sought by the plaintiff is political rather than legal.
June 2—The Allies have assured the State Department that Dr. Dernburg will be given safe conduct if he wishes to return to Germany.
June 4—Germany in a note expresses regret for the torpedoing of the Gulflight, which is stated to have been due to a mistake, and offers to pay for the damage.
June 5—German war bonds are being sold in this country, and German-Americans are buying them readily.
June 8—There are persistent rumors that German interests are trying to buy American ammunition factories so as to stop shipments to the Allies.
June 10—In a new note on the William P. Frye case Germany insists that the case go before a prize court, and puts forth the contention that she has the right to destroy any American ship carrying contraband, the contention being based on the American-Prussian Treaty of 1799.
June 12—Dr. Dernburg sails for Bergen on the Norwegian America liner Bergensfjord.
RELIEF.
May 15—A national Polish relief association is being organized in the United States; Paderewski, now in New York in the interests of relief, estimates the losses of his compatriots by the war at $2,500,000,000; he says that an area has been laid waste equal in size to New York and Pennsylvania; that 7,500 villages have been completely ruined; that thousands of persons are hiding in the woods and feeding on roots.
May 16—The American Commission for Relief in Belgium has now got a financial system working in Belgium by which the great bulk of food needed is being supplied indirectly by the Belgians themselves through their own energies and resources; 75 per cent. of the Belgian people are being supplied with food through the arrangements made by the commission, without recourse to charity.
May 20—England has asked American surgeons to man her newest and largest field hospital; as a result, the medical schools of Harvard, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins will send thirty-two surgeons and physicians and seventy-five nurses; the universities will bear the expenses of the corps.
May 21—Carleton Gibson of the Commission for relief of Poland sends a report to New York stating that in that part of Russian Poland within the Austro-German lines conditions are much worse than in the worst parts of Belgium and France, and that the population is now actually starving.
May 22—The Commission for Relief in Belgium states that about 1,500,000 persons are now destitute in Belgium through unemployment; the monthly food requirements of the Belgians involve an expenditure of between $7,000,000 and $8,000,000.
To the Captain of the U——.
By HARRY VARLEY.
You have drunk your toast to "the Day" that came; The Cross is won, for you did not fail. Do you thrill with joy at your deathless fame? Your hand is trembling, your lips are pale! Ah! you drink again—but the wine is spilled, A crimson stain on the snowy white. Is it wine—or blood of the children killed? Captain! what of the night?
When the black night comes and the Day is done, You sleep, and dream of the things that float In a misty sea where a blood-red sun Lights up the dead in a drifting boat. Will you see a face in the waves that swell— A baby's face that is cold and white? Will your sleep be sweet or a glimpse of Hell? Captain! what of the night?
Will you see the stare of the small blue eyes, The tiny fingers of whitest wax That will point at you, or the wound that lies, A clot of red in her fairy flax? Will the beads that burst on your brows be hot As mothers' tears that are newly shed? Will each sear and burn like a blazing dot That eats its way through your tortured head?
Will you see the ship as it onward sped— The Thing that flew at your fatal word? Will the dripping ghosts be around your bed— The screams of the dying still be heard? When the Big Night calls—and you must obey— Will your soul shrink in its awful fright? You have lived your life, you have had your Day, But, Captain! what of the night?
THE END |
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