cked crew from the watch assembled at
the boat, put on life belts, jumped into the boat, took their places,
and jumped out again.

Throughout this case it must always be remembered that the disaster
occurred in May, 1915, and the whole subject must be approached with the
knowledge and mental attitude of that time. It may be that more
elaborate and effective methods and precaution have been adopted since
then, but there is no testimony which shows that these boat drills, as
practiced on the voyage, were not fully up to the then existing
standards and practices. There can be no criticism of the bulkhead door
drills, for there was one each day.

[Sidenote: Speed reduced.]

In November, 1914, the Directors of the Cunard Company, in view of the
falling off of the passenger traffic, decided to withdraw the
_Lusitania's_ sister ship, _Mauretania_, and to run the _Lusitania_ at
three-fourths boiler power, which involved a reduction of speed from an
average of about twenty-four knots to an average of about twenty-one
knots. The ship was operated under this reduced boiler power and reduced
rate of speed for six round trips until and including the fatal voyage,
although at the reduced rate she was considerably faster than any
passenger ship crossing the Atlantic at that time. This reduction was in
part for financial reasons and in part "a question of economy of coal
and labor in time of war." No profit was expected and none was made,
but the company continued to operate the ship as a public service. The
reduction from twenty-four to twenty-one knots is, however, quite
immaterial to the controversy, as will later appear.

Having thus outlined the personnel, equipment, and cargo of the vessel,
reference will now be made to a series of events preceding her sailing
on May 1, 1915.

On February 4, 1915, the Imperial German Government issued a
proclamation as follows:

[Sidenote: The German proclamation.]

"1. The waters surrounding Great Britain and
Ireland, including the whole English Channel,
are hereby declared to be war zone. On and
after the 18th of February, 1915, every enemy
merchant ship found in the said war zone will
be destroyed without its being always possible
to avert the dangers threatening the crews and
passengers on that account.

"2. Even neutral ships are exposed to danger in
the war zone, as in view of the misuse of