orted that the records of the State Department's Passport Bureau show
that a passport was issued on June 1, 1911, to Leon Chester Thrasher, a
passenger aboard the British African steamship Falaba, which was
torpedoed by a German submarine in the "zone of naval warfare" on March
28. The American citizenship of Thrasher, who was drowned, has been
established._

[Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.]

LONDON, Wednesday, March 31.--An American citizen, Leon Chester
Thrasher, an engineer, was among the victims of the German submarine
that sank the British steamer Falaba in St. George's Channel last Sunday
with a loss of 111 lives. Mr. Thrasher's name is included in the
official list of the missing. For the last year he had been employed on
the Gold Coast, British West Africa, and it is presumed he was returning
to his post when he met his death at the hands of the German sea
raiders.

The Daily Mail says Mr. Thrasher was bound for Secondee, West Africa.
Reference to the form which has to be filled out to satisfy the Board of
Trade and customs requirements by every passenger embarking at a British
port before tickets will be issued shows that Mr. Thrasher was a citizen
of the United States. Here are the particulars:

Name, Leon Chester Thrasher; age, last birthday, 31; single; sex, male;
profession, engineer; country of residence for last twelve months, Gold
Coast Colony, West Africa; country of intended residence for next twelve
months, the same; country of which citizen or subject, United States of
America; present address, 29 Cartwright Gardens, St. Pancras, W.C.

When Mr. Thrasher went on board the Falaba he produced an American
passport.

_The British Official Press Bureau on April 8 issued the following
report on the destruction of the Falaba:_

It is not true that sufficient time was given the passengers and the
crew of this vessel to escape. The German submarine closed in on the
Falaba, ascertained her name, signaled her to stop, and gave those on
board five minutes to take to the boats. It would have been nothing
short of a miracle if all the passengers and crew of a big liner had
been able to take to their boats within the time allotted.

While some of the boats were still on their davits the submarine fired a
torpedo at short range. This action made it absolutely certain that
there must be great loss of life and it must have been committed
knowingly with the intention of producing that result.

The condu