ive in London of one of the world's greatest naval powers,
participating in the greatest war that had ever enlisted its energies,
yet his constant appeals for warships elicited the most inadequate
response, his well-reasoned recommendations for meeting the crisis were
frequently unanswered and at other times were met with counter-proposals
so childish that they seemed almost to have originated in the brains of
newspaper amateurs, and his urgent pictures of a civilization rapidly
going to wreck were apparently looked upon with suspicion as the
utterances of a man who had been completely led astray by British guile.
To give a fair idea of Washington's neglect during this period it is
only necessary to point out that, for four months, Admiral Sims occupied
the two rooms in the Embassy directly above Page's, with Commander
Babcock as his only aid. Sims's repeated requests to Secretary Daniels
for an additional staff went unheeded. Had it not been for the Admiral's
constant daily association with Page and the comfort and encouragement
which the Ambassador gave him, this experience would have been almost
unbearable. In the latter part of April, the Admiral's appeals to
Washington having apparently fallen on deaf ears, he asked Page to
second his efforts. The Admiral and Commander Babcock wrote another
message, and drove in a motor car to Brighton, where Page was taking a
little rest. The Admiral did not know just how strong a statement the
Ambassador would care to sponsor, and so he did not make this
representation as emphatic as the judgment of both men would have
preferred.

The Admiral handed Page the paper, saying that he had prepared it with
the hope that the Ambassador would sign it and send it directly to
President Wilson.

"It is quite apparent," Admiral Sims said, "that the Department doesn't
believe what I have been saying. Or they don't believe what the British
are saying. They think that England is exaggerating the peril for
reasons of its own. They think I am hopelessly pro-British and that I
am being used. But if you'll take it up directly with the President,
then they may be convinced."

Page put on his spectacles, took the paper, and read it through. Then,
looking over the rim of his glasses in his characteristic way, he leaned
toward Admiral Sims and said:

"Admiral, it isn't half strong enough! I think I can write a better
despatch than that, myself! At least let me try."

He immediately took a pen and