ns was declared to have been particularly inspiring.

Rescue ships and naval vessels rushed to the aid of the survivors from
all nearby ports of Ireland.

It has been said that the sinking of the Lusitania was carefully planned
by the chiefs of the German admiralty. They expected, it was believed,
to demoralize British shipping and strike terror into the minds of the
British people by showing that the largest and swiftest of liners could
easily be destroyed by submarines.

According to the Paris paper, La Guerre Sociale, published by Gustave
Herve, the submarine responsible was the U-21, commanded by Lieutenant
Hersing. Hersing was said to have been decorated for his deed. The U-21
afterwards was destroyed and the story of its participation in the
sinking of the great Cunarder never was confirmed.

Immediately upon the news of the Lusitania disaster, President Wilson
took steps to hold Germany to that "strict accountability" of which he
had notified Berlin when the war-zone operations were begun earlier in
the year. His first communication, protesting against the sinking of the
liner in the name of humanity and demanding disavowal, indemnity and
assurance that the crime would not be repeated, was despatched on May
13th. On May 30th the German reply argued that the liner carried
munitions of war and probably was armed.

The following official German version of the incident by the German
Admiralty Staff over the signature of Admiral Behncke was given:

"The submarine sighted the steamer, which showed no flag, May 7th, at
2.20 o'clock, Central European time, afternoon, on the southeast coast
of Ireland, in fine, clear weather.

"At 3.10 o'clock one torpedo was fired at the Lusitania, which hit her
starboard side below the captain's bridge. The detonation of the torpedo
was followed immediately by a further explosion of extremely strong
effect. The ship quickly listed to starboard and began to sink.

"The second explosion must be traced back to the ignition of quantities
of ammunition inside the ship."

These extenuations were all rejected by the United States, and the next
note prepared by President Wilson was of such character that Secretary
of State Bryan resigned. This second communication was sent on June
11th, and on June 22d another was cabled. September 1st Germany accepted
the contentions of the United States in regard to submarine warfare upon
peaceful shipping. There were continued negotiations concernin