pedo was shot.
Still the crew, exposed to the danger of the ocean in open boats, and
often cast loose miles from shore, were in serious danger.

The laws of nations, as observed by civilized countries in wars up to
this time, have said that a blockade, in order to be recognized by all
nations, had to be successful in doing the work for which it was
intended. If England really was able to stop every boat sailing for
German shores, then all nations would have to admit that Germany was
blockaded; but if the Germans were able to sink only one ship out of
every hundred that sailed into English ports, Germany could hardly be
said to be carrying on a real blockade of England. In spite of
protests from neutral nations who were peaceably trying to trade with
all the countries at war, this sinking of merchantmen by submarines
went on.

In May, 1915, the great steamship Lusitania was due to sail from New
York for England. A few days before her departure notices signed by
the German ambassador were put into New York papers, warning people
that Germany would not be responsible for what happened to them if
they took passage on this boat. Very few people paid any attention to
these warnings. With over a thousand persons on board the Lusitania
sailed, on schedule time. Suddenly the civilized world was horrified
to hear that a German submarine, without giving the slightest warning,
had sent two torpedoes crashing through the hull of the great steamer,
sending her to the bottom in short order. A few had time to get into
the boats, but over eight hundred men, women, and children were
drowned, of whom over one hundred were American citizens. Strange as
it may seem, this action caused a thrill of joy throughout Germany.
Some of the Germans were horrified, as were people in neutral
countries, but on the whole the action of the German navy was approved
by the voice of the German people. With a curiously warped sense of
right and wrong the Germans proclaimed that the English and Americans
were brutal in allowing women and children to go on this boat when
they had been warned that the boat was going to be sunk! They spoke of
this much in the manner in which one would speak of the cruelty of a
man who would drive innocent children and women to march in front of
armies in order to protect the troops from the fire of their enemies.

A storm of indignation against Germany burst out all over the United
States. Many were for immediate war. Calmer