“Cease building or I strike!”
* * * * *
1909.
March 30th.
... Grey rubbed in two great points yesterday:—
(i) Lack of information as to German acceleration will be acted on as if acceleration were a fact.
(ii) The 8 this year won’t affect next year.
* * * * *
1909.
June 15th.
... Yes, we made a good job of Saturday; but the two most noticeable things of all were never noticed:—
(i) The swarm of Destroyers going 20 knots past the Dreadnought found themselves suddenly confronted by a lot of passenger steamers and yachts, which at the last moment got right in their way—the accidents might have been intense—but the young Destroyer commanders kept their nerve and their speed and scootled through the eye of the needle just grazing them all. It was splendid to see and made my heart warm! (N.B.—A Press delegate—the Toronto Globe, I think, seized me by the arm and said, “Sir, I see the glint of battle in your eye!”)