During the same four weeks French losses were five steamers of over 1,600 tons and three under 1,600 tons; while Italian losses were five over 1,600 tons, four under 1,600 tons, and five sailing vessels. During the month of October nineteen Norwegian vessels, aggregating 34,577 tons, and forty-eight Norwegian seamen were lost.

According to statistics published by the Danish Ministry of Commerce, the Danish merchant fleet during 1916 lost forty-six steamers, of which thirty-eight were destroyed through war accidents, and twenty-eight sailing vessels under 200 tons were lost, of which nineteen were lost through war accidents. man U-boats destroyed twenty-seven steamers and Austrian submarines four steamers. In 1915 the losses were only twelve steamers, representing a value of six million crowns, ($1,608,000.)

Statement by Sir Eric Geddes

Ger

A comprehensive review of the submarine situation was made on Nov. 1 by Sir Eric Geddes, the new First Lord of the Admiralty, in his maiden speech as a member of the House of Commons. He said:

I have studied from a variety of sources the statements made from time to time by

the enemy as to tonnage and position, and have come to the definite conclusion that not only does he not know what is being sunk, but that he would like very much, indeed, to know what is being sunk regularly month by month or week by week, or even exactly for a period.

However great the loss of mercantile tonnage is, we cannot at this stage of the war pick any one item to deduce therefrom that the war, even any phase of the war, is going well or badly.

The general situation regarding submarine warfare can best be demonstrated by the following figures: Since the beginning of the war between 40 and 50 per cent. of the German submarines operating in the North Sea, the Atlantic, and the Arctic Ocean have been sunk. During the last quarter the enemy has lost as many submarines as during the whole of 1916.

As regards the sinkings of British merchant tonnage by submarines, the German official figures for August are 808,000 tons of all nationalities. They sank a little more than half of that for all nationalities.

For September their official figures are 679,000 tons. They sank far less than one-third of that amount of British tonthan one-third of that nage, and less amount of all nationalities.

The number of German submarines which do not return is increasing. Since April, the highest month for British losses, they have steadily decreased, and latterly to a marked degree. September was the most satisfactory month; October was only slightly worse, and better by 30 per cent. than any other month since unThe restricted submarine warfare began. net reduction in tonnage in the last four months is 30 per cent. less than anticipated in the estimate prepared for the Cabinet early in July.

The total net reduction since the beginning of the war from all causes in British tonnage on the official register in ships over 1,600 tons is under 2,500,000 of tons gross, or 14 per cent.

Summarized, the submarine warfare amounts to this: Our defensive measures have during the last seven months proved so efficacious that in spite of the increased number of ships which are passing through the danger zone, there has been steady reduction in the damage done by the enemy submarines. In the meantime

we are sinking enemy submarines to an increasing extent. Our offensive measures are improving and will still more improve and multiply.

But, on the other hand, the Germans are building submarines faster than they have hitherto done, and they have not yet attained their maximum strength. It appears to me, therefore, that the submarine warfare, as elsewhere, is becoming a test of determination and ingenuity between the two contending forces.

At the outbreak of the war Germany possessed over 5,000,000 tons shipping. Today nearly half of it has been sunk or is in the hands of ourselves or our allies. She has a 50 per cent. reduction to our 14 per cent.

It had been asked, Geddes proceeded, whether Great Britain was building merchant tonnage at a sufficient rate to replace the sinkings. In reply he said that the new national yards now being built would be ready in six months, and continued:

The output of merchant tonnage for the first nine months of 1917 is 123 per cent. higher than the total output for the whole of 1915. Standard vessels have been ordered representing nearly 1,000,000 gross tons. More than half of these are under construction.

According to the First Lord there were now 235 large drydocks in the British Isles where merchantmen could be repaired.

The German Admiralty issued a reply

to Geddes's speech, asserting that he had omitted Mediterranean sinkings and that his figures were in net tonnage while those of the German Government were in gross tonnage; but the British Admiralty contradicted both assertions and supported the statement as above recorded.

The First Lord of the Admiralty had occasion again on Nov. 16 to speak on submarine sinkings before the House of Commons. He said that the favorable figures of the week should not be taken as indicating the end of the submarine menace. He reminded his hearers that the Germans were still building U-boats faster than the Allies were destroying them, and that mercantile marine tonnage was not being maintained. He added that economy in everything which was seaborne continued to be of vital importance, and that all work which could be diverted from other fields to the shipyards would have a direct bearing on the winning of the war.

Sinking of the Antilles

During the month several American vessels have been lost. The steamer Antilles, an army transport, was torpedoed on Oct. 17 while returning to America and under convoy of American patrol vessels. Out of about 237 on board 167 persons were saved. These

included all the army and navy officers. The 70 missing men included army and navy enlisted men, three engineer officers of the ship, and merchant seamen. The Antilles was a merchant vessel of the Southern Pacific Line hailing from Philadelphia, which had been taken over by the navy and fitted out especially for army transport service. She carried a naval armed guard on board. The disaster the first of the kind since the American Government began its enormous task of shipping its army of more than a million men to France-marks the heaviest toll of American lives taken in submarine warfare since the destruction of the Lusitania. Not only was the Antilles the first American army transport to be lost in the present war, but so far as official records have been disclosed she is the first vessel convoyed by American patrol ships that has been lost.

Attack on the Cassin

The United States destroyer Cassin (Commander Walter H. Vernou) had a narrow escape from destruction in an encounter with a German submarine in the war zone on Oct. 16. While the vessel was on her patrol station a submarine was sighted on the surface about five miles distant. The Cassin immediately proceeded at full speed toward the submarine. She searched the area for about thirty minutes, when Commander Vernou sighted a torpedo running at high speed near the surface about 400 yards away, headed to strike the Cassin amidships. He rang for emergency full speed ahead on both engines, put the rudder hard over, and was just clear of the torpedo's course when it broached on the surface, turned sharply toward the vessel, and struck the stern of the Cassin. Fortunately only one engine was disabled, thereby permitting the destroyer to re

main under way, circling in search of the submarine. After about an hour the submarine exposed its conning tower long enough for the Cassin to fire four shots. The Cassin continued the search until dark, when, having been joined by other British and American patrol vessels, she was taken safely into port.

The Navy Department announced on Nov. 1 that the transport Finland, 12,806 tons, had been torpedoed while returning from foreign water, but that the damage to the ship was so slight that she returned to port under her own steam. Like the Antilles the Finland was under escort of naval convoy, and in each instance no sign of torpedo or submarine was seen. Three naval gunners, four merchant seamen, and two enlisted army men lost their lives.

The Alcedo and Others

The Alcedo, a patrol boat, was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine early in the morning of Nov. 5, with the loss of one officer and twenty men. Before the war the Alcedo was a steam yacht belonging to George W. C. Drexel of Philadelphia. This was the first American fighting ship to go down since the war began.

On Oct. 30 the picket boat of the U. S. S. Michigan foundered. Apparently, the Navy Department announcement said, the entire crew were lost. The finding of the bodies of three of the crew and the failure to find any other trace of the boat or its occupants led the department to believe that all were drowned.

The American steamer Rochester, 2,551 tons, was torpedoed and sunk on Nov. 2. Seventeen men lost their lives, including six enlisted men of the navy who were serving as armed guards. The survivors endured terrible hardships for many days before they reached land.