GERMAN EVASIONS

Evening Star, Issue 15907, 13 September 1915, Page 2

GERMAN EVASIONS

AFTER STORM OF EXECRATION. Although at the time the cables briefly mentioned both the following items, the further accounts illustrate German attempts to turn the storrri of hate and contempt for their naval methods: The most atrocious charges against the British Admiralty and Captain Turner, of the Lusitania, Aveoe made in the 'Vossische Zeitung,' which printed a long article by Professor Oswald Flamm, a Privy Councillor and expert on naval construction, who accuses Captain Turner and the British Admiralty not only of deliberately exposed the Lusitania to submarine attack, but of having accelerated the sinking of the ship by artificial means in order to drown Americans and secure an American outburst against , Germany. Professor Flamm says: "Everything depended upon the skilful exposure of the Lusitania to submarine attack and the sinking of the ship at all costs. To ensure the success of the attack, the ship left New York at _her scheduled time, took the customary route, arrived in English water* at the scheduled time, entered the danger zone in broad daylight, and reduced speed. Despite wireless appeals, the Admiralty sent no assistance to the ship, which was torpedoed according to plan, sinking with a large number oi Americans. It was then up to America to take the next step." The writer then discusses a" second possibility, declaring tho most plausible theory of the perpendicular disappearance of the ship as due to the destruction of the ship's buoyancy. Hi 3 third theory is even more outrageous. " The second explosion," he says, " granting that there was no ammunition on board, could only be the result of an artificial cause, with the intentional design to sink the ship at any cost, and executed by some bribed person on' board. The fact that the lifeboats were hung out in readiness was to preserve the appear-' ance of careful management. As the investigation was behind closed doors, the general public must remain ignorant of the real facts till later developments.'' HERSING'S TALE. M. Gustave Herve's paper, 'La Guerre Sociale,' published the following remark- | able story of the sinking of the Lusitania | in the form of a telegram from Milan. I The writer is said to be a German Socialist, and the letter from .which it was taken would appear to have been communicated by an American propagandist to a journalist representing American and Italian newspapers: "The order to sink the Lusitania arrived on May 2 at Heligoland, where the Gorman naval base was situated, and aroused the indignation of all the officers. More than one was beside himself. The order was, nevertheless, carried out by the TJ2I, which left under the command of Lieutenant Hersing. The writer of the letter was on board his ship when Hersing returned from his expedition, and was able to take note of the contempt, which all ; the officers manifested towards him. With- | out daring to lift his head, he muttered: I 'lt went against me to act as I did act, i but I could not do otherwise.' Ho was crying. He then told how none of his men knew the object of the voyage, and how several times he was on the point of letting them into the secret, in the hope of seeing the crew mutiny. "Having arrived at the spot where it was to surprise tho Lusitania, the submarine had a long wait. At one moment I the thought of making off entered the com- [ mander's head, but he found that another submarine had stopped a short distance i away. The Lusitania meanwhile was approaching. She could not escape her doom. ' I saw people gathered on deck,' continued Hersing. 'The ship was crammed with human beings. I caused the i submarine to plunge, and the torpedo was discharged. I don't know whether it was this torpedo or the one discharged by the other submarine that struck tho liner, but the latter's hull was Tipped open. I tried to avoid witnessing the ghastly scene which followed, and made away from the torpedoed liner at full speed. Then I came to the surface. The sea was crowded I with struggling wretches. Even at that ! oistance I could hear the shouts of the shipwrecked. I had become a man of I stone, incapable oF moving or giving an | order.'"