oints in Ireland were received
with great honor in the various communities, and great tribute was paid
to the surviving soldiers by the Mayor of Dublin.

The American troops on the Tuscania were part of the forces being
hurried to France to hold the Germans in check, and at the time American
troops were holding a sector with the French in Lorraine, northwest of
Toul, while American artillery were supporting the French in Champagne.
The date set for the big German drive was announced as January 28, and
the fact that Germany made an open proclamation of the fact that they
proposed to wage offensive warfare was somewhat puzzling to the minds of
those studying the situation. Making her position more impregnable,
Germany halted her armies in Russia upon the acceptance of peace terms
by the Russian delegation at Brest-Litovsk, which were concluded on
March 1, 1918, and daily the activities of the German forces on the
Western Front grew in intensity. On March 6, in anticipation of the
drive, it was for the first time publicly stated that 81,000 troops of
American soldiers were holding an eight mile line on the Lorraine front,
with three full divisions in the trenches. The gathering together of
this force and other American troops in France drew Secretary of War
Baker to the scene of activities. He was the first American Cabinet
officer to cross the ocean after America entered the war.

SEIZURE OF ALL DUTCH VESSELS.

Holland having proved herself unwilling to come to a satisfactory
agreement at this time on the British-American demand regarding the use
of ships, President Wilson ordered the seizure of all Dutch vessels
within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States; the Allies
ordered a similar seizure abroad. The President's proclamation
authorized the navy to take over the vessels to be equipped and operated
by the Navy Department and the Shipping Board. A total of 77 ships were
added to the American Merchant Marine.

Holland's failure to act was on the propositions that the United States
and the Allies should facilitate the importation into Holland of
foodstuffs, and other commodities required to maintain her economic
life, and that Holland should restore her Merchant Marine to a normal
condition of activity.

On March 21 the greatest German offensive of the war actually began on a
front 50 miles long, running west and southwest of Cambrai. The
preliminary German bombardment covered a front from the River Se