ve bore thanks for the treatment of German refugees from the
Kameruns who had been interned in Spain, and the submarine also
brought hospital supplies for the fugitives. Its arrival made a strong
impression on the Spanish public and was taken as a new sign of
Germany's power. No such trip ever had been made before for such a
purpose. It was a precedent in the communication of kings.

The British steamship _Brussels_, carrying freight and a number of
passengers, most of whom were Belgian refugees bound from Rotterdam to
Tillbury, a London suburb, was captured in the channel by German
destroyers and taken to Zeebrugge, Belgium on the night of June 23,
1916. The incident proved that German warcraft were again far afield.
It was said that the capture had been made by means of previous
information as to the time of the _Brussels's_ sailing and with the
aid of a spy. Her course lay about forty miles north of Zeebrugge, and
a suspected passenger was seen to wave a lantern several times before
the destroyers came up.

Captain Fryatt attempted to ram the nearest vessel and escape, but the
effort failed and he was arrested and charged with piracy. Germany had
announced early in the war that she would consider any merchant
captain who made a hostile move, even in defense of his vessel, as a
franc-tireur.

Loss of the Italian auxiliary cruiser _Citta di Messina_, 3,495 tons,
and the French destroyer _Fourche_ was announced by Paris June 25,
1916. The _Messina_ was carrying troops across the Strait of Otranto
when a submarine torpedoed her. The _Fourche_, serving as a convoy,
gave pursuit without result, then turned back to save such survivors
as she could. Within a few minutes she was struck by a second torpedo
and sunk. All on board the two vessels, probably 300 men, were
drowned.

[Illustration: Earl Kitchener.]

The Austrians lost two transports in the harbor of Durazzo, June 26,
1916, when Italian submarines succeeded in passing the forts and
inflicting a heavy blow. Both ships had troops, arms and ammunition
aboard, according to a Rome report. The casualties were unknown.

Petrograd announced that Russian torpedo craft intercepted a large
convoy of Turkish sailing vessels in the Black Sea on June 29, 1916,
and destroyed fifty-four ships. The attack took place off the
Anatolian coast, and several hundred men were believed to have been
drowned. If the number of ships sunk was correct it established a
record for the war.