THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, JULY 11, 1920
J fit
j By Admiral William Sowden Sims
AMERICAN NAVY ENTERS WHOLE-HEARTEDLY WITH ALLIES TO SPOIL GERMANY'S HOPE OF SUCCESS
IN MARCH, 1918, It became appar
ent that the German submarine
campaign had failed. The pros
pect that faced the allied forces at
that time, when compared with the
conditions which had faced them in
April, 1917, forma one of the most
Impressive contrasts in history. In
the first part of the earlier year the
cause of the allied powers, and con
sequently the cause of liberty
throughout the world, had reached
the point almost of desperation. On
both land and sea the Germans
seemed to hold the future In their
hands. In Europe the armies of the
central powers were everywhere In
the ascendant. The French and Brit
ish were holding their own in France,
and in the Somme campaign they had
apparently Inflicted great damage
upon the German forces, yet tbe dis
integration of the Russian army, the
unmistakable signs of which had al
ready appeared, was bringing nearer
uA Aw whan thev would have to
meet the undivided strength of their
enemy. At the time in question,
Rumania, Serbia and ' Montenegro
were conquered countries, Italy
seemed unable to make any progress
against the Austrians, Bulgaria and
Turkey had become practically Ger
man provinces, and the dream of a
great Germanic western empire was
rapidly approaching realization. So
strong was 'Germany in a military
, sense, so little did she apprehend that
the United States could ever assemble
her resources and her men in time to
make them a decisive element in the
struggle, that the German war lords,
In their effort to bring the European
conflict to a quick conclusion, did not
hesitate to take tne step which was
destined to make our country their
enemy.
Germans "Were Confident.
Probably no nation ever adopted a
war measure with more confidence in
Its success. The results which the
German submarines could accomplish
seemed at that time to be simply a
matter of mathematical calculation.
The Germans figured that they could
sink at least 1,000,000 tons -a month,
completely cut off Great Britain's
supplies of food and war materials,
and thus end the war by October or
November of 1918. Even though the
Uuited States should declare war,
what could an unprepared nation like
our own accomplish in such a brief
period? Millions of troops we might
Indeed raise, but we ctmld not train
them in three or four months, and,
even though we could perform such
a miracle, it was ridiculous to sup
pose that we couldi transport them to
Europe through the submarine dan
ger zone.
I have already shown that the
Germans were not alone In thus pre
dieting the course of events. In the
month of April, 1917, I had found
the British officials Just about as
distressed as the Germans were Jubl
lant. Already the latter, In sinking
merchant ships, had had successes
which almost equalled their own pre
dictions; no adequate means of de
fence against the submarines had
been devised; and the chiefs of the
British navy made no attempts to
disguise their apprehension for the
future.
Kaval Situation Completely Reversed.
Such was the atmosphere of gloom
which prevailed in allied councils in
April, 1917; yet one year later the
naval situation had completely
changed. The reasons for that change
have be'en set forth in the preceding
pages. In that brief twelve months
the relative position of the submarine
had undergone a marked transforma
tion. Instead of being usually the
purbuer It was now often the pursued.
Instead of sailing jauntily upon the
high seas, sinking helpless merchant
men almost at will, it was half
heartedly lying in wait along the
coasts, seeking its victims in the ves
eels of dispersed convoys. If it at
tempted to push out to sea and at
-tack a convoy, escorting destroyers
were likely to deliver one of their
dangerous attacks; if It sought the
shallow coastal waters, a fleet of
yachts, sloops and subchasers were
constantly ready to assail It with
dozens of depth charges. An attempt
to cross the Strait of Dover meant
almost inevitable destruction by
mines; an attempt to escape Into the
ocean by the northern passage Jn
vclved the momentary dread . of a
similar end or the hazard of passing
through the difficult Pentland Firth.
In most of the narrow passages al
lied submarines lay constantly in wait
with their torpedoes, a great fleet of
airplanes and dirigibles was always
circling above ready to rain a shower
of bombs upon the underwater foe
Already the ocean floor about the
British Isles held not far from 200
sunken submarines, with most of
their crews, amounting to . at least
4000 men, whose deaths involved
perhaps the most hideous tragedies
of the war.
Bad as was this situation, it was
nothing compared with what It would
become a few months or a year hence.
American and British shipyards were
turning out anti-submarine craft with
great rapidity; the industries of
America with their enormous output
of steel, had been enlisted in the anti
submarine campaign. The American
and British shipbuilding facilities
were neutralizing the German cam
paign in two ways; they were not
only constructing war vessels on a
scale which would soon drive all the
German submarines from the sea but
they were building merchant tonnage
so rapidly that, "in March, 1918, more
new tonnage was launched than was
being destroyed. Thus by this time
the Teutonic hopes of ending the war
- by the submarine had. utterly col-
&s?v tr k-jWpx- fett '
Jf L wxtofo
i were to winl
n to obtain a
be disastrous,
lapsed; if the Germans
the war at all, or eve
peace which would not
some other programme must be
adopted quickly.
Germany Turns Again to the Land.
Disheartened by their failure at
sea, the enemy therefore turned their
eyes once more toward the land. The
destruction of Russian military power
had given the German armies a great
numerical superiority over those of
the allies. There seemed little likeli
hood that the French or the British,
after three years of frightfully gruel
ling war, could add materially to
their forces. Thus, with the group
ing of the powers such as existed in
1917 the Germans had a tremendous
advantage on their side, for Russia.
which German statesmen for 5
years had feared as a source of In
exhaustible man-supply to her ene
mies, had disappeared as a military
power. But a new element in the
situation now counter-balanced this
temporary gain; that was the daily
Increasing importance of the United
States in the war.
The Germans, who In 1917 had de
spised us as an enemy, immediate or
prospective, now despised us no
longer. The army,, which they de
clared could never be raised and
trained, was actually being raised and
trained by the millions. The nation
which their publicists had denounced
as lacking cohesion and public spirit
had adopted conscription simultane
ously with tbelr declaration of war
and the people whom the Germans
had affected In regard as dovteed
MODERN BUSINESS MAN TURNS
CITIES INTO BOWERS OF BEAUTY
Almost Overnight Residents Fail to Recognize Their Home When It Is
Changed by Festive Dress to Receive Company.
(Continued From First Page.)
window drapes, the huge collection of'
emblems and all of that vast collec
tion is packed and shipped several
times. It is difficult to estimate Just
what the Investment la in this stock
but the probabilities are that Good
man carries with him on his average
invasion of a city after a big con
tract some quarter of a million dol-
necessary adjuncts to the trade.
Labor Problems Met.
In common with most other busi
nesses in these times of scarce help
Goodman has his labor problems, but
he Is at an advantage In that his con
cern, at least so far as the heads are
concerned. Is a family one. It seems
to be a logical solution for difficul
ties of this sort, raise a family and
train them up In the business. It
pays, for not only do the Goodman
boys take charge of the outside work
and direct the efforts of the crews
that Install and remove the decora
tions, but the women of the family
have their departments also, three
charming ones and just. as efficient
in their lines, designing, bookkeeping
and details, as are their men folks in
the heavier work.
Speaking on loss of decorations
some interesting angles were devel
oped. For a nice collection of fun
loving boys It would be hard to dupli
cate the avera-sa Shriner Irrespective
of his age, and as they are just out
for .1 good time and are going to
have it no matter what the reason,
they naturally go the limit. One of
the queer traits of .college boys
has always been the collection of
souvenirs, some of them of queer
origin, but ihe fezzed nobles can give
them cards and spades and get an
easy win at this skilled game, for
some of them have devoted years to
the pesfectlon of the art of pilfering.
At Seattle some 76 of the new and
then novel crescents and scimitars
were claimed surreptiously as tokens
by tbe visitors. The committee In
charge cheerfully, faced the loss for
t -.'if- TU
"GEE
.
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5
only to the pursuit of gain and
pleasure had manifested a unity of
purpose which they had never before
displayed and had offered their lives,
their labors and their wealth with
out limit to the cause of the allies.
Up to March, 1918, only a compara
tively small part of the American
army had reached Europe, but the
Germans had already tested Its
fighting quality and had learned to
respect it. Yet all .these manifesta
tions would not have disturbed the
Germanic calculations except for one ;
they figured that it Was merely an
in reality, a sincere tribute that was
Deing paid them, that their -visitors
should wish somo little thing to re
mind them of their happy visit.
IS'oblea Loot Portland.
If this be a criterion of popularity
then Portland takes all tha cakes and
other confectionery In the bake-shop.
for the pilfering was unparalleled In
Shrine annals while the jrane was
here. They must have all taken some
little remembrance with them, the
gifts which they bestowed on them
selves ranging from several life-sized
camels, & live bear, & whole forest
of palms and some of the gang are
understood to even have designs on
some of the fair daughters of the
Rose City. Anyhow the committee In
charge of the trimming up of the
city are certali that there Is not one
single noble In the entire world that
does not at least have, among his
assortment of loot at the sacking of
Portland, several yards of bunting.
half a hundred electric erlobea. a
camel or two and several luxuriant
palms. The great advantage of this,
and It is properly appreciated by the
Portland hosts, is that the nobles in
gatherings will exhibit their trophies
with great glee and gusto, and the
tale of their glutting the famed city
of roses will never lose one Jot In
the telling and they will always have
some little thing with them to recall
the great time they had In Portland
in 1920. Goodman insists that Hella
of Dallas, Tex., while in Seattle,
grabbed off an entire truck load of
their stuff, enough to install one of
the most elaborate Initiation sets In
the country. They get a great deal
of pleasure gl.iating over their epi
sodes and as the actual value Is not
too great when contrasted with the
advertising the city gets it Is not
likely that Portland will arrange with
tne governors of other states to ex
traaite any of the criminals, though
some of the members of the local com
mittee did gt rather warm under
the collar when they, first realized
, tie extent or the peculations of the
depressing fact. Even a nation of
100,000,000 brave and energetic
people, fully trained and equipped for
war, is not a formidable foe so long
as an Impassable watery gulf of
3000 miles separates them from the
field of battle.
For the greater part of 1917 the
German people believed that their
submarines could bar the progress of
the American armies. By March,
1918, they had awakened from this
delusion. Not only was an American
army, millions strong. In process of
formation, but the alarming truth
wild tribesmen who assaulted and
looted the city.
In closing it might be well to state
that Goodman was not the only little
fairy at work in Portland, for here
he found a breed of pixies purely
local to tha soil, of great experience
and with a power fully as potent as
that ho possessed. There Is George
Hutchins, who must never be for
gotten when It comes to creating
masterpieces, for his electric parade
was the real high spot In the Shrine
visit an the great achievement of
the Rosa Festival, just as it has been
In the past before It was recreated
this year. Then there are the myrmi
dons of the park commission, the
gnomes and elves who tickle the soil
cf Portland so that It produces floral
wonders that astound the rest of the
world. This year they went them;
selves proui m their installation in
the park blocks and their formal gar
dens were a real knockout and it Is
doubtful if they can ever be paralleled
any place on earth.
But Goodman, fairy wand and all.
Is the real transformer of cities, and
he has established an altogether new
and novel line of business and one
that Is deservedly successful from the
amount of time and thought that he
has lavished in Its creation. Fairy
wands In these real hard practical
days are really nothing more than a
set of good strcng hands directed by
a reasoning head that can vision what
it wants and then direct the achieve
ment. Dislike for Germans Widespread.
LONDON. Dr. Sthamer, the Ger
man charge in London, is having great
difficulty In establishing the German
embassy here because London trades
men refuse to bid for the wSrk of out
fitting the embassy. This is attrib
uted to widespread dislike for Ger
mans resulting from the war, but the
German diplomats profess to be un
able to understand this feeling against
them.
London Buyers In Manila Market.
MANILA, P. L Buyers for the Lon
don trade have entered the Manil
hemp market and it was announced
today that one lot of 60,000 bales of
United Kingdom grades had been sold
to a representative of British con
corns. . According to the purchaser
the hemp is for cordage manufactur
ing of England, and the price paid
for xhe product is said to have been
around J26.10 a baie4 '
5- . :
now dawned upon the Germanic mind
that they could be transported to
Europe.
Vet the- situation, desperate as It
seemed, held forth one more hope.
If the German armies, which still
greatly outnumbered the French and
British, could strike and win a de
cisive victory before the Americans
could arrive, then they might still
force a satisfactory peace. "It is a
race between Ludendorff and "Wilson"
is the terse and accurate way in
which Lloyd George summed up the
situation. The great blow fell on
BAS-RELIEFS OF HISTORIC
SALEM LIFE, WOMAN'S WORK
Miss Sarah Symonds Inherits Talent From Great Uncle Who Was Potter
to King of Holland Orders Received for Plaques Exceed Supply.
BY MARY HARROD NORTHEND. . ,
SHOULD you be in the historical
city of Salem you could but
notice the bas-reliefs In many of
the shop windows. This is the work
of Miss Sarah Symonds, artist, who
Inherited her talent from her great
uncle, who was potter to the king of
Holland.
From her childhood she drew all
sorts of pictures and these showed
such a decided talent it was decided
to finish her education In an art
tchook Before she had even taken
one lesson she conceived the idea of
making a model of the Salem witch.
This was done partly as an expert--ment
and partly to carry out an Idea
that she had long cherished of creat
ing in bas-relief, rather than photo
graphs, which are so perishable, dif
ferent phases of historic Salem life.
The witch plaque took, and the de
mand far exceeded her expectations;
in fact, it became so popular that
she was scarcely able to fill orders.
The next step was In coloring1
choosing the right tones to repre
sent the witch figure, shown as rid
ing a broomstick.
These plaques. In septa and colors,
are in all sizes, ranging from the
medallion to the large square bas
reliefs that are suitable. If one
wishes, to frame for wall hangings.
Her first experiment was made at
home, where a small kiln was used
for firing, but this was only for a
few months, and today she has taken
over a whole house for her work,
the upper part being used as a work
room and the lower part most artis
tically fitted up as a show room. The
clerks are all dressed in 17th century
costumes.
Next came the modeling of the
different porches .which have formed
such an. architectural feature in the
old historic' city by the sea. Some
of them showing the rambler rose
twined over them are represented In
color, making them more attractive,
if possible, than the sepia.
Book-ends are another branch of
her work. Some of them illustrate
the Salem gateways, others doorways
and still again we find the witch
used. All of these are colored,
i The "House of the Seven Gables"
- ' ''iS 1 -I
March 21, 1918; the British and the
French met It with heroism, but It
was quite evident that they were
fighting against terrible odds. At
this time the American army in
France numbered about 300.000 men;
1 it now became the business of the
American navy, assisted by the Brit
ish, to transport the American troops
who could Increase these forces suffi
ciently to turn the balance In the
Allies' favor.
The Nmf' Supreme Task.
The supreme hour for which all
the anti-submarine labors of the pre
ceding year were merely preliminary,
had now arrived. Since the close of
the war, there has been much dis
cussion of the part which the Amer
ican navy played in bringing It to a
successful end. Even during the war
there was some criticism on this
point. There were two more or less
definite opinions in the nubile mind
upon this question. One was that the
main business of our war vessels was
to convoy the American soldiers to
France; the other emphasized the
anti-submarine warfare as its most
Important duty. Any one would sup
pose, from the detached way in which
these two subjects have been dis
cussed, that the anti-submarine war
fare and the successful transportation
of troops were separate matters. An
impression apparently prevails that,
at the beginning of tie war, the
American navy could have quietly de
cided whether IX would devote Its
energies to making warfare on the
submarine or to convoying American
Is one of her most effective plaques,
and it Is shown with the graceful
elm which stands a little to one side,
the branches drooping over the roof,
making it much more picturesque
than if some other view had been
chosen. Every visitor to Salem goes
to see this historic house filled with
memories connected not only with
Hawthorne, but with his cousin, "the
Duchess," who lived here for so many
years.
Gardens are also shown In her
work, and the bright-colored blos
soms give a touch that makes them
more alluring than if it had been left
out. Salem gardens of the old
fashioned type hidden away behind
the 18th century houses are brought
out so vividly that they can but ex
press correctly the one path flower
plots which have been carried down
from our granddames' time.
The beauty and correctness of de
tail and coloring have attracted the
attention of the summer guests, and
many are the private orders which
she has received to model the beau
tiful houses that lie along the north
shore. The time chosen for this
work Is during the summer, when the
flowers are in their gorgeous array.
These plaques are about 2Vi feet
wide and 2 feet long. This branch of
the work hasbecome so popular that
she is almost overwhelmed with
orders.
' Not only houses, but porches, per
golas and bits of the garden are or
dered. These mean generally but one
bas-relief, which makes it prohibitive
save for the rich.
There is no part of the year which
is a dull time for her. Of course.
during the summer months, when ex
hibitions are held in all the large
hotels, she is busiest. Later on come
holiday orders, which are increasing
every year. In fact, so prosperous
has been her work that she has re
cently purchased a large colonial
house and this In addition to her
studio.
This work is unique from the fact
that everything originates in her
own brain. She has no understudy
and claims she does not need or de
sire one. .
armies; yet the absurdity- of such a
conception, must be apparent to any
one who has read the foregoing
pagea. The several operations la
which the allied navies engaged w
all part of a comprehensive pro
gramme; they were completely Inter
dependent. According to my Idea,
the business of the American navy
was to Join forces whole-heartedly
with those of the allies in an attempt
to win the war. Anything which
helped to accomplish this great pur
pose became automatically our duty.
Germany was basing her chances of
success upon the submarine; our
business was therefore to assist In
defeating the submarine. The cause
of the allies was our cause; our cause
was the cause of the allies; anything
which benefited the allies benefited
the United States: and anything
which benefited the United States
benefited the allies. Neither we nor
France nor England were conducting
a separate campaign, we were sepa
rate units of a harmonious whole. At
the beginning the one pressing duty
was to pnt an end to the sinking of
merchantmen, not because these mer
chantmen were for the larger part
British, but because the failure to d
so would have meant the elimination
of Great Britain from the war. with
results which would have meant de
feat for the other allies.
Our 1! months' campaign against
the submarine was an Invaluable pre
liminary to transporting the troops.
Does any sane person believe that we
eould have put 2.000.000 Americans
Into France had the German subma
rines maintained, until the spring and
summer of 1918, the striking power
which had been theirs In the spring
of 19177 Merely to state the question
Is to answer it. In that same 12
months we had gained much expe
rience which was exceedingly valu
able when we bepan transporting
troops. The most efficacious protec
tion to merchant shipping, the con
voy, was similarly the greatest safe
guard to our military transports.
Those methods which had been so
successfully used In shipping food,
munitions and materials were now
used In shipping soldiers. The sec
tion of the great headquarters which"
we had developed in London for rout
ing convoys was Ufed for routing
transports, and the American naval
officer, Byron A. Long, who had dem
onstrated such great ability in this
respect was likewise the master mind
In directing the course of the Ameri
can, soldiers to France.
Work at Brent.
In other ways we had laid the foun
dations for this, the greatest troop
movement In history. In the preced
ing 12 months we had Increased the
oil tankage at Brest more than four
fold, sent over repair ships and aug
mented its repair facilities. This port
and all of our naval activities In
France were under the command first
of Admiral William B. Fletcher, and
later Rear-Admiral Henry B. "Wilson.
It was a matter of regret that we
could not earlier have made Brest
the main navel base for the American
naval forces In France, for It was in
some respects strategically better lo
cated for that purpose than was any
other port In Europe. Even for es
corting certain merchant convoys
into the channel Brest would have
provided a better base than either
Plymouth or Queenstown. A glance
at the map explains why. To send de
stroyers from Queenstown to pick up
convoys and escort them into the
channel or to French ports and thence
return to their base involved a long
triangular trip: to send such de
stroyers from Brest to escort these
Involved a smaller amount of steam
ing and a direct east and west voy
age. Similarly, Queenstown was a
much better location for destroyers
sent to meet convoys bound for ports
in the Irish sea over the northern
"trunk line." But unfortunately it
was .utterly Impossible to use the
great natural advantages of Brest In
the early days of war; the mere fact
that this French harbor possessed
most Inadequate tankage facilities
put it out of the question, and it was
also very deficient in docks, repair
facilities, and other-indispensable fea
tures of a naval base. At this time
Brest was hardly more than able to
provide for the requirements of the
French, and it would have embar
rassed our French allies greatly had
we attempted to establish a large
American force there. The ships
which we did send in the first part
of the war were mostly yachts, of the
"dollar-a-year" variety, which their
owners had generously given to the
national service; their crews were
largely of that type of young busi
ness man and college undergraduate
to whose skill and devotion I have
already paid tribute. This little flo
tilla acquitted itself splendidly up
and down the coast of France. Mean
while we were constructing fuel oil
tanks; and, as 6oon as these were
ready, and repair ships were avail
able, we began building up a large
force at Brest a force which was
ultimately larger than the one we
maintained at Queenstown; at the
height of the troop movements. It
comprised about 36 destroyers. 12
yachts, 3 tenders and several mine
sweepers and tugs. The fine work
which this detachment accomplished
in escorting troop and supply con
voys is a sufficient tribute to the skill
acquired by the destroyers and other
vessels in carrying out their duties
In this peculiar warfare.
(Copyright. 1920. by the "tVor!d Work.
The copyright of these articles in Great
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MaKaEine.. London; mtthout their permis
sion no quotation may be made. Published
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