by some sixty odd naval officers. Among those whom I met, I recall Grand-Admiral Von Koester, Rear-Admiral Gädeke, Admiral Von Igennohl, Rear-Admiral Hipper, and many others. It was on this occasion, too, that I made the acquaintance of the notorious Captain-Lieutenant Hersing, the (then embryo) 'Lusitania Hero.' I had a talk with him on submarine matters, to which I shall return later.

On entering the 'Casino' I was at once struck by the large number of drawings, paintings and caricatures, depicting the Navy and its work, which almost covered the walls in every room and hall. Most of the caricatures of course played on England. Some of them were amusing. There was a picture of two Mermen at the bottom of the sea, enjoying the many good things the Emden' is throwing them, which is a very popular poster. A large copy of it, set in a magnificent frame of mahogany and old gold, hangs in the Casino, between the portraits of the Kaiser and the Kaiserin. It is surrounded by photographs of Captain Müller, Captain Mücke, who with a remnant of the crew escaped into Turkey, and other officers of the 'Emden.'

Indeed I shall long remember that dinner at the officers' mess in Wilhelmshaven, but if I could give a full shorthand report of the conversations I listened to that evening, I fear you would think I had dined in a lunatic asylum instead of an officers' mess. One or two examples will suffice.

The talk was all 'shop' and war, of course. That same evening a number of airmen had returned from 'active service on the North Sea,' and the conversation drifted into the subject of Aircraft in relation to the invasion of England.' It seems that the idea of invading England with the assistance of the Navy has for the present been shelved. The North Sea? Ah, indeed it was a great protection, a formidable obstacle, but, Sir, remember the old axiom about a chain being only as strong as its weakest link. So with the North Sea. It is only as wide as its narrowest point-i.e. 25 miles. That was the great principle to keep always before one's mind, because, in that figure, England's future doom lay sealed! Calais, not Egypt any more, was England's throat, the key to British World-power. Germany's

motto was no longer 'Our future lies on the water,' but should read henceforth On the water-for peace; under the water and in the air---for war.' What could prevent Germany, with its marvellous industrial developments, wonderful inventions, from building, say, 100,000 aeroplanes? After Germany had once taken firm hold of Calais, an army of 200,000 men could be thrown into England within less than half an hour, by aeroplanes!

Of course the invasion would be carried out during the night. They had only figured on two men to each aeroplane, but, considering the negligible distance, which would exclude the necessity of carrying any surplus gasoline, the carrying capacity of the machine might easily be doubled. The landing?

'Ha! my friend, you may be certain that Germany, in an undertaking of this kind, would not risk failure in overlooking the smaller details. When the time comes there will be plenty of friends, in some disguise or other, "British subjects," some born, others naturalised, who will light the way for us. Burning houses, electrical appliances, searchlights, rockets, etc., will serve. Trust the German thoroughness to be prepared for all emergencies, when The Day has arrived. Already to-day, the fear of invasion causes periodical panics in England. But it is most remarkable, even for the shortsighted British, that they never realised until the present war, and then only in a limited degree, the vital importance, nay the deadly menace, aviation is to their country. From the time the air was conquered England ceased to be an island. And they refused to listen to the brothers Wright, who gave them their first chance! British stupidity, British insularity!'

The next subject which was discussed, and of course settled, was the peace terms. Europe was cut up and the pieces handed round like a birthday cake. 'Every country that has joined us will be amply compensated. Those who have gone against us? Well, God help them.' The division of Europe will be about as follows:

Germany will take the Baltic Provinces, including Petersburg and the whole of Poland. Austria will receive the whole south of Russia, including Kieff and Odessa; Turkey the whole Caucasus, including the Department of Saratow. The Russians must be separated not only from the Baltic,

but from the Black and Caspian seas as well. Sweden gets Finland. Serbia of course will go to Austria. Egypt will be returned to Turkey. If Roumania intervenes in time on the right side, she will get Bessarabia and some minor territories. The "embarras de richesses" of colonies will, when the spoils come to be divided, actually become a problem. So far as India and Egypt are concerned, our only wish to-day is to help these nations to liberate themselves from the British yoke. To Algiers, Tunis and Morocco we would also restore their autonomy. With Belgium, we of course take possession of the Congo State. The interests of France in Morocco will cease at once, since she has used its natives to fight against us. Turkey will occupy the Suez Canal. The shares of that company owned at present by England will be declared null and void.

"The economical conditions under which the annexed territories will be incorporated in the German Empire may be of various kinds, but one fundamental principle should never be lost sight of, viz. that electoral rights, i.e. the right to elect Members for the Reichstag, remains a prerogative of the Germans living within the old boundaries of the Empire. The natives of Poland will have their own parliament in Warsaw; those of the Baltic Provinces, in Petersburg. The Belgians of course may retain their parliament in Brussels, while for the annexed provinces of France-Calais, Reims, Belfort, etc.-a separate diet could be established. Poland and Belgium might even remain kingdoms with Prussian Princes on the throne.

'But, though the conquered territories will have no voice in the Imperial legislation, they will of course have to submit to conscription. The young Pole from Warsaw will serve his three years in Hanover, Düsseldorf, or Cologne. The Frenchman from Calais or Reims will be sent to Breslau or Posen. The Russians of the Baltic Provinces, like the young conscripts from Belgium, will enjoy their military training in Bavaria or Saxony. But the great fortresses, such as Calais, Belfort, Warsaw, or Riga, will be garrisoned by none save the old Prussian regiments.'

About their fleet; why did it not come out and fight the British? Why didn't the British fleet come and 'dig them out,' as Churchill threatened to do? Yes, they would come out and fight, but they would choose their own time-not when the British wanted them to. 'So far, our fleet has paid us very well, and will pay us in

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future. This war is not going to be over for some time.' Exorbitant naval taxes? Why, my friend, take a current copy of our "Statistisches Jahrbuch" and find out how much the German nation is paying for what our enemies describe as our "luxury." About 7 marks a year per capita is the average for the last four years. That amounts to of what England demands of her subjects.'

These are a few examples of their conversations and by no means the most extravagant. But they talked well, and I think they quite believed what they said. I knew how utterly useless it would be to try to argue with them. Besides, I wanted to have a look at the harbour and dockyards next morning, so I deemed discretion the better part of valour. One is not in Wilhelmshaven every day, in these times!

Captain-Lieutenant Hersing, whom I mentioned above, had not reached his most dazzling height of fame, when I met him. It was in the pre-Lusitania days. Still he had already earned the Iron Cross, second and first class. With the U 21, one of the smaller submarines, he had sunk what he described as the British cruiser' Pathfinder. Besides he had been active for a short spell in the Irish Sea, where he sank the 'Bencruachan' and one or two other ships. The names of all his victims-I refer to the ships were neatly engraved on a silver cigarette case which he showed me, with the dates behind and a facsimile small Iron Cross in the corner. After sinking the 'Lusitania' he was the most popular naval officer in Germany. His friends declared that he received more love-letters, more proposals, love-parcels, flowers and photographs, than the most popular actor or actress ever dreamt of. Hersing told me there was but one serious risk in his job; that was the British Destroyers:

66 Those beasts of prey" are on you before you can say "knife"! They patrol usually in sixes or twelves and it has become essential for us to show ourselves as little as possible on the surface. Up till now we have carried out this campaign in as much of a sporting spirit as possible, but since several of our U boats have been lost, as a result of their too lenient treatment of the enemy, that is going to be stopped. It's all very well to try to be humane, even in war-time, but not at the price of suicide. The recent destruction of the U 8 and U 12 are cases in point. Our

instructions now are, that on no account must we risk the safety of our boat, to say nothing of our own necks, for the sake of saving the crews of captured ships. Was it not their own Naval Chief, Lord Fisher, who said: "Moderation in war is nonsense." Take the case of Captain Hansen (Commander of the U 16). He refrained from torpedoing a French steamer off the harbour of Cherbourg, because he noticed several women and children on board, and afterwards escaped, by the breadth of a hair, being rammed by that very vessel, Oh, we Germans are too easy, too sentimental, too tenderhearted, and our enemies take advantage of that weakness, every time.'

After dinner a naval officer came in, limping on a stick. He was formally presented to me as one of the survivors of the 'Mainz,' which was sunk in the North Sea early in the war. His experiences had been quite interesting, so I was told. When he regained consciousness, he thought of course that he was a prisoner in England. So he racked his brain for every possible vile English curseword he could think of to throw at his attendants. His English vocabulary was said to be extensive, and he rattled the unflattering epithets off one after another. Strange to say, instead of becoming furious, his attendants all began to laugh, and they 'laughed in German' (Englishmen cannot really laugh properly, they only grin, on account of their eternal pipe!) Oh what joy, when he discovered that he was not in the enemies' hands, but at home, in the dear old Vaterland! He was so overcome that he swooned again. But his cup of happiness was mixed with many bitter tears at the thought of his ship, the poor old Mainz,' his 'Iron Home,' now at the bottom of the North Sea! The tears almost welled into his eyes, when he retold the story of this glorious escape.

Then there was the Commander of the old torpedoboat, U 5. He too was famous. Had not his nutshell of 600 tons earned, in the Dogger bank affair, the great distinction of having drawn the fire of the largest calibre British guns, while trying to save some of the crew of the sinking 'Blücher'? Oh, it was not really as difficult as one would think, to avoid those big fellows. You see, when you saw the water spout up on your left, why you simply turned off to the right, and when you heard or Vol. 226.-No. 448.

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