ON THE WAY HOME—ENGLAND
N this date, October 18th, the commission left Paris for Havre at 4:50 P.M., its destination being London, by way of Southampton. We boarded the boat at Havre after a very rigid inspection of passports, baggage, etc. It was a rough night and many were seasick. The boat was crowded to repletion and the trip was a very uncomfortable experience. We had been escorted from Paris to Havre by Captain Sayles, of the American Embassy. This was one of the many courtesies shown us by the American Embassy in Paris under the direction of Robert Bliss, Charge d'Affaires, in the absence of Ambassador Sharp. I had a very interesting talk with Captain Sayles. His first question came out quickly and rather abruptly. "What most impressed you on your trip?" I replied, without hesitation: "The spirit of France and the morale of the French soldier and the French people. All France is thinking and working and trying to do what they can to help save France." Captain Sayles said it was a tradition that when events required it, France always rose to the occasion and passed the crisis successfully. He said also that the battle of the Marne, as has been said previously by many others, settled the war. That the Kaiser and the Prussian militants knew then they were beaten and have been trying for a year and a half to find a way out. There is no doubt in the opinion of Captain Sayles, that the German people are deceived and still think that Germany will win the war. They are fed upon false information.
In this connection I had a talk with Allyn B. Carrick, an American who had spent several months in Germany during the past year and had recently returned from there. He was an American and understood German, and was a good listener. He said the people in Germany are talking among themselves, criticising the government, especially the Kaiser and the Crown Prince, and he felt that some day something would happen which would bring trouble. He said there was great distress all over Germany. Mr. Carrick got his information by keeping his ears open in cafes, railroad stations, hotels and passenger trains.
When the conflict is over it is my judgment that international law will be overhauled and some of the German methods of war on innocent women and children will be eliminated, such as the shelling of non-combatants and bomb-throwing. Terrorism in ghastly forms is now a part of the German method of fighting the enemy.
The Kaiser has for many years considered himself a Charlemagne, Frederick the Great and Napoleon the First rolled into one. Results are developing which put him in the class of Napoleon the Third, or even below that monarch in ability.
We arrived at Southampton on Thursday, October 19th, at 9 A.M. There was much red tape in evidence and many questions asked the commissioners. We were warned that no letters could be carried for delivery, and that a violation of this order would result in arrest of anyone guilty.
After some little delay and much needed assistance from friends of America, our baggage was registered and incidentally "greased" through to London. We arrived in London at 1 P.M. Considerable evidence was here apparent of the recent visit of the Zeppelins. One had been captured and partially destroyed, and I was fortunate in securing some pieces as relics. I met here Dr. Sherman, who has been in close touch with and assisted Alexander Carrel with reference to the Carrel technique, the recent antiseptic discovered for wounds and injuries, used so successfully for the prevention of blood poisoning. The fluid is a solution of bleaching lime with bi-carbonate of soda, filtered or poured through the wounds. Thousands of lives have been saved by this discovery. The method has been adopted by the Italian, French and Belgian governments, and is being considered by the English government.
On the day following our arrival in London, I called upon Consul General Skinner and found him busy at work. Inquiries resulted in receiving a most excellent account of his stewardship. He is very much alive to American interests.
I also met H. W. Thornton, formerly a high official in the Pennsylvania Railroad system, but now in charge of the Great Eastern Railroad in England. He is an important personage, and, from information obtained, has made good. He is one of the counsellors in close touch with the war department.
While in London we were at the Savoy hotel. I was struck by a notice posted on the bedroom-door.
DEFENCE OF THE REALM ACT.
Important notice.
Visitors occupying rooms are now held responsible by the Authorities for the proper control of the lights in the rooms they occupy.
It is absolutely necessary that they should see that the blinds and curtains of the rooms they occupy are closely drawn so that no light can leak through.
It is imperative also to switch off all lights before attempting to open or close a window, if this necessitates drawing the blinds.
These regulations apply to all rooms occupied, including bathrooms.
[Illustration: French Marines Operating 75-mm Gun on Shipboard.]
I attended the Hippodrome in London, walking through the darkness escorted by a friend. The show was pretty much with reference to the war. I was attracted by the notice at the bottom of the program, which is copied below.
Arrangements have been made that warning of a threatened air raid will be communicated by the Military Authorities to this theatre.
On receipt of any such warning the audience will be informed, with a view to enable persons who may wish to proceed home, to do so.
The warning will be communicated, so far as possible, at least 20 minutes before any actual attack can take place. There will, therefore, be no cause for alarm or undue haste.
Those who decide to leave are warned not to loiter about the streets, and if bombardment or gunfire commences before they reach home, they should at once take cover.
By order of The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.
New Scotland Yard, S. W.
The anniversary of Trafalgar Day was celebrated while we were in London. This was one of the most decisive battles in the history of the world. As an English view of the battle of Trafalgar I copy below the editorial from the Daily-Graphic, and might add, in my own words, that but for the British navy our sea-coast cities, both on the Atlantic and Pacific, might easily have been wiped out before this time.
TRAFALGAR DAY
To-day is the anniversary of one of the most decisive battles in the history of the world. Our minds rest naturally enough on Waterloo as the battle which finally destroyed Napoleon's power in 1815, to the great relief of France, as well as of all the rest of Europe. But it was the battle of Trafalgar, ten years previously, which secured to Great Britain the command of the sea and so prepared the way for Napoleon's downfall. The same factors that operated a century ago are operating today. There has been no Trafalgar to wipe the enemy's ships off the sea, but our sea supremacy was so well secured before the war began that the enemy has only once ventured to challenge it, with disastrous results to himself off the Jutland coast. The effect of British sea supremacy has been felt from the first day of the war. We were able by our intervention at once to prevent Germany from carrying out her scheme of a naval descent on the French coast. The same sea-power has since enabled us to transport in safety armies probably aggregating over two million men to France, the Dardanelles, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Salonica, the Cameroons and German East Africa. The larger portion of these armies has naturally been drawn from the United Kingdom, but large contingents have come from Canada, Australia, India, South Africa and the West Indies. None of these movements of troops would have been possible unless we had secured the command of the sea. In addition, our sea supremacy has enabled us to maintain our commerce with the whole of the world, while blocking German commerce wherever we chose to use our power. The British Navy is the force which has determined the final defeat of Germany, and so long as we maintain that force at adequate strength we can face without flinching any danger that may threaten us from any part of the world.
Saturday, October 21st, was the day of sailing from Liverpool. We left London at 10:20 A.M. on the London & Northwestern Railroad for Liverpool and arrived at the latter place at 2:30 P.M. We boarded the steamer Philadelphia, of the American line, and noticed on the side of the boat an immense American flag painted in colors, as well as the words "American Line". There was also a row of electric lights, visible several miles distant, surrounding the flag and the name of the boat. There were five lights on each side of the boat and each light had five incandescent bulbs, making fifty lights in all. The flag painted on the side of the steamer was 8 x 15 feet.
The Philadelphia left the dock at Liverpool at 4 P.M. on a rough sea. Mr. E. A. Warren, a member of the Commission, stopped over a day in Manchester and was in close communication with friends in that city. Manchester has a population of half a million people. It is the center of the cotton manufacture of the world. Mr. Warren is a manufacturer of textile machinery and represented the textile industry on the Commission. He reported that all the manufacturers of textile machinery in England are running on war munitions. The entire steel industry in England is under the control of the government, and the sale of steel for any purpose cannot be made without governmental consent. Mr. Warren reported also, as coming from friends, that England was at that time growing uneasy over the fact that the United States government requested that British war vessels keep away from our coast and then allowed the U-boat 53 to land at Newport and obtain information in regard to the sailing of vessels, which it then proceeded to torpedo. This occurred about the time of the blowing up of vessels off Nantucket.
The Manchester stock exchange has a membership of ten thousand and is open every day except Sunday. There are no auction sales, no excitement or loud talk, no gesticulating, as is the case in New York, particularly on the curb. The business is all done in a quiet, conversational tone. Cotton is the principal commodity traded in.
A feeling is growing in England that the United States should have entered the war, which the English believe they are fighting for the cause of civilization and for the preservation of the liberty of the United States as well as of England. The feeling is also somewhat prevalent that the United States is only interested so far as making money is concerned. This feeling was apparently very bitter.
England today is an armed camp. From end to end of the country there is hardly a man, woman or half-grown child who is not working, making ammunition, guarding the coast, doing police duty, watching for Zeppelins, making uniforms or shoes, or moving provisions or supplies of all kinds for an army of five million men, with the British navy thrown in. There are two thousand munition factories in England and more under construction. I was told of one plant being built in units extending for eight miles. These munition factories employ one million men and women. There are other works being built to make aeroplanes, cannons, machine guns and hand grenades. All this since the war opened. Great Britain has mobilized the ship yards and they are working overtime to build vessels. This has more than offset the loss of vessels destroyed by the Germans.
America is doing a great deal in the way of Red Cross and relief work, but it is a mere bagatelle compared with the activities of England in this direction. The women of England are as fully awake as are the women of France. Thousands are at work in hospitals and caring for the refugees. Girls are at work making horse-shoes for the army horses. These girls are cultivated, aristocratic women, members of golf and hockey clubs. Others are working on farms, handling teams, pitching hay, or driving cattle to market. Thousands of women are occupied as chauffeurs at the various fronts. Hundreds of English women are living through all kinds of weather in tents just behind the firing lines, acting as stretcher bearers and driving ambulances.
[Illustration: Nancy—Place Stanislas]
While in London I met a number of old friends, many of them incidentally connected with the government and very much alive to the situation. The concensus of opinion of these friends is that failure of the Allies to win the war means the death-warrant of France and the British Empire; that there is no middle course; that the war will be fought to a finish and the Allies will be victorious; that the Kaiser and the Prussian military system will be annihilated, the German people will arise, and the Republic of Germany will be the result.
Among other things spoken of there was the incident of Dewey at Manila and the near clash over Samoa. It will be remembered that Dewey fired a shot across the bows of a German vessel. To people in London the Venezuelan embroglio proved that the Kaiser had in mind smashing the Monroe Doctrine. Germany yielded to us in both cases. President Cleveland was at the helm when the Venezuelan controversy came and the immortal McKinley was in the chair when Manila was taken. Cleveland, Harrison and McKinley all stood up for our rights and Germany backed clear down, facts which the English have not overlooked.