LOIE FULLER IN WAR PERIL.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 364, 10 April 1915, Page 7

LOIE FULLER IN WAR PERIL.

RUNNING THE BLOCKADE. Loie Fuller, the famous dancer and actress, has been achieving enormous headlines.kv the American Press on the strength'of her war experiences in the vicinity of Ypres, where she has been superintending the work of a convoy of automobiles and nurses, engaged in bringing in the wounded and giving first aid.

"My adventures on the way from Paris to New York, via London and Liverpool,.'.-were; such as seldom-, fall to the share of the man or woman who in modern times crosses the Atlantic, '' said Miss Puller to an interviewer from the San Francisco "Examiner." "As it'was, we should have left France earlier. Of necessity wo had to take the last boat which was allowed by the French authorities to cross between Boulogne and Folkestone after the Germans had declared their submarine blockade. True enough, the blockade proved to be no idle boast, for we had barely put to sea and the vessel was just beginning tp roll to the short choppy waves of La Manchc, when we were attacked.

Attacked by Submarine

'' A submarine, coming on «s in the afternoon, deliberately attempted to sinks the little Channel steamer and its load of men, women, and children refugees. We were miraculously saved; the torpedo which was fired at us passing 20ft from the ship's bows, according to the officers. "Arrived in England, I had to wait five days in London, all shipping being tied up, and then proceeded to Liverpoo!, where I went aboard the New York of. the American line. "It is impossible to describe the tense expectancy which reigned. At midnight, the New York was middenly illuminated from stern to bow, such as no one had- ever seen on the good old ship. 'Searchlights also were played on the American Hags fore and aft. Light on Ship's Name. Two sailors were tiod to rope ladders and slung over the bow of the ship, and with powerful lanterns -illuminated

the painted . name "New York." In front of us,-darting hither and thither, crossing and recrossing with the speed of express trains, were two torpedo destroyers of the British Navy.; • Behind us, two destroyers were contimially executing the same manoeuvre, covering every inch of our wake. '' And now I was informed of the why and wherefore of the precautions, which required a fleet of battleships to bring into safety a vessel flying the American Hag. The captain of the New York stated that the following wireless had been intercepted: fAttack'without warning; spare; none and leave no trace behind.' Feared a Test Case. ''We understood that, being the first vessel to run the blockade, and flying the America flag, we were to bo made a test case of. "A moment of indescribable grandeur there was, when we forgot our fears. Our band, the better to show the vessel's nationality, struck up the patriotic songs and anthems of America. One after another, amid scenes of immense enthusiasm, there rolled out defiantly over the dark waters the strains of 'The Star-Spangled Banner,' {-Dixie,' and of ' Marching Through Georgia.' "The real meaning of all those extraordinary precautions, in addition to saving our vessel, was to appear a few hours, later. Then, in the wake of the New York, immediately behind our rearguard of destroyers, there loomed up through the night, stealing out of the harbour cleared by us, the forms of nine; great battleships—the British Dread-j noughts on their way to bombard : the; Dardanelles! All got out safely,, and the next day, well out in the open sea, the last of the line of battleships, headed for the Straits of Gibraltar, signalled us a farewell, and our sailors got out of the lifeboats where they had been for 24.hours,at.a stretch."