WELL-KNOWN PASSENGERS.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2457, 10 May 1915, Page 5

WELL-KNOWN PASSENGERS.

BIOGRAPHIES IN BRIEF. Bowing, Charles Calvertj G.M.G. Chief Secretary since 1911 of the British East Africa Protectorate. Born in 1872. Forman. Justus Miles. American novelist and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Bora in 1875. Has written a dozen novels, and over 100 short stories published in "Harper's," "M'Clure's," "Smart Set," etc.; also a play, "The Garden of Lies." Hubbard. Elbert. American author and lecturer. Editor of the "Philistine" and proprietor of the Roycroft Shop. Born in 1859. Klein, Charles, well-known American playwright. Lassettcr, Fred, comes of well-known Sydney family, owning large- hardware business, ftnd identified with various public interests in New South Wales. Macky, J.C., of the firm of Macky, Logan, Caldwell, and Co., resident of Auckland. Accompanied by his wife, and it is believed by his son. Mr. Jack Macky, who was • about to join an English regiment. Mnckworth, Lady. Wife of Sir Humphry Mackworth", seventh baronet, to whom she was married in 1908. Only child of Mr. D. A. Thomas, mentioned below. Matarin, Father Basil William. Born in 1817. Educated at Trinity College, and took orders. Became Roman Catholic in 1897, and ordained by Cardinal Yaugban in IS9B. Stackhouse, J. Foster, F.R.G.S. Organiser oi' British Antarctic Expedition, 191-1, to determine the coast of Kins' Edward Vll Land. Thomas, David Alfred. Senior partner in the firm of Thomas and Davey, coal sale agents, and managing director of the Cambrian Combine Uflti alher gi'<sU wlHef.V , ia South .Vulet, Bora » iSJB. £$■

iicated at Cambridge.. Sat 111 Parliament las a member of Liberal Party for some years. Vnuderbilt, Alfred G wynne. American multi-millionaire. Born 1877. President of tho National Horso Show Association of America, and director of the International Horsp Show Association of London. Captain W. T. Turner began as a cabin boy forty years ago, and commanded most of the large Cunarders. He was in command of the Aquitania when war broke out. STATUS OF THE LUSITANIA. GERMANS' FLIMSY PRETENCE THAT SHE WAS A CRUISER. Tho cable messages state that the Gorman Embassy in Washington alleges that the Lusitania carried guns and ammunition, and was, therefore, liable to be sunk at sight as a warship. The British Government has denied explicitly that the vessel had on board munitions of any kind. The facts are that the Lusitania has been engaged in her ordinary service of trading between England and New York throughout the war. She has never at any time been called upon by the Admiralty for war service, despite tiie big subvention paid the Cunard Company to hold her in readiness. Had the Lusitania been a war vessel it would have been a breach of neutrality for l.lie American Government to have given her hospitality in American ports oftoner than once in three months, or to have allowed her more coal and supplies than would suffice to carry her to the nearest British port, which would bo Halifax, Nova Scotia. There is no record of Germany ever having protested acrainst the American authorities treating tho Lusitania as a peaceful merchant vessel.

The Lusitania was built on special terms in pursuance of an agreement made between Mr. Balfour's GovernDWH »n4 Ull Duufrf Company nftw lo»£ aeKgtiatMiM in 1803. Was Gov>.

eminent undertook to provide a sum sufficient to pay for the two vossels— tbo Lusitania and Mauretania—not to exceed secured on debentures at per cent., while in addition au. annual subvention of £100,000 was to be paid. It was stipulated that the ship must have an averago ocean speed oi at least 2-U- knots, and that the company must be a purely British concern, and no foreigner sit as a director or foreign corporation hold stock. The company must not raise its freights or charge for any of its services. Plans of all ships of 17 knots and over must be submitted for Government approval. Facilities must bo given for periodical inspection by the Admiralty, for storing guns, ammunition, etc., at tho ports. No charter, or option to charter, except to the Indian Government;' must be S iven without notice to the Admiralty. The Government must always have the right of hiring the company's boats at the rate, for the Lusitania and Mauretania, of 2os. per gross register ton per month, ;'iid ss. more if the company provide officers and crew. All officers and threefourths of the crew shall bo British, subjects, and a large proportion shall belong to the Royal Naval Reserve. The company is to repay the loan for the building of the ships in twenty annual instalments, the term of the agreement being for twenty years. One of The Hague Conventions of 1007 deals with the conditions under which merchant fhips may be converted into warships. The articles provide:— I. A merchant vessel converted into a warship cannot havo the rights and duties accruing to such vessels unless it is placed under the direct authority, immediate control, and responsibility of the Power whoso flag it flies. 11. Merchant vessels converted into warships must bear the external marks which distinguish warships of their nationality. 111. Tho commander must be in the service of tho State and duly commissioned by the competent authorities. His name must figure on the list of the lighting fleet. IV. The crew must be subject to mili-' tary discipline. V. Every merchant ship converted into a warship must observe in its operations the laws and conditions of war. VI. A belligerent who converts a merchant ship into a warship must, as soon as i possible, announce such conversion in the list of warships. This Convention was signed by Germany. It was designed to provide that converted merchant ships should ha given the privileges of warships and not treated as pirates. It also indicates the stage at which a ship ceases to become a merchant vessel and acquires the character of a warship. Since the beginning of the war the Admiralty has commissioned some twenty-seven merchant ships as cruisers, and the names of tiieso have been duly included with the • fighting ships in the "Navy List." The Mauretania and Lusitania appear in the List, not as fighting ships, but as "Royal Naval Reserve Merchant Vessels," and the name of the Lusitania's commander appears as a honorary commander in the Royal Naval Reserve and not on the active list. The ship has taken part in no warlike operations, and, although fitted to carry a powerful battery of six-inch guns, the British Government states that 6he had no munitions on hoard. Her status as a merchantman -was never questioned by Germany until she was sunk. A MACNIFICENT LINER. LUSITANIA DESCRIBED. The Lusitania and her sister ship, the Mauretania-, wore built for the distinct purpose, among other things, of winning back for Britain the "blue ribbon" of the Atlantic, held for ten years prior to 1907 by tho German liners. This they easily did, and have sinco remained the fastest of the great liners. It is no exaggeration to state that the Lusitaiiia at the time of her launch repi esented the most important advance in size and speed which had been mado in the history of steam navigation—always .excepting, of course, Brunei's great ship, the Great Eastern. With an indicated horse-power of about 65,000, with a displacement of 45,000 tons, and a speed of over 20 knots, tho Lusitania when she made, her, first appearance was about 50 per cent, larger, two knots faster, and of double the horse-power of her nearest competitor. The principal dimensions of tlie ship were: — Gross tonnage, 81,'550 tons. ' Horse-power, 68,000. Speed, 2G.6 knots. Length, 785 feet. Breadth,>BS feet.Draught, 33ft. Gin.' - .. First-class passenger 6pace, - 540. Sccond-class passenger space," 460.' Third-class passenger space, 1200. Crew, 830. Cost (about), £1,300,000. _ ■- The Lusitania and her sister ship wero built with the assistance, both professional and financial, Of the British Admiralty, tho Government advancing the necessary, sum of about £2,600,000 for their' construction, and guaranteeing an annual sum of £75,000 per ship in consideration of them carrying the mails, being held available as cruisers in time of war if called upon, and embodying in their construction such features as would render them quickly convertible for this purpose. For service as cruisers it .was necessary that their steering gear and the propelling machinery should be well protected, and that they should : be strengthened' in the decks for the mounting of a battery of rapid-fire guns. Tlie steering gear is protected by being located entirely below the water-line, and a considerable protection is afforded the motive power by tho fact that it is also located entirely below the waterliue, and that there is space for about twelve feet of coal in the bunkers, ex-, tending tho full length of the engine and boiler-rooms to resist the entrance of explosive shells. The vessels are provided with eight platforms for tho mounting of as many 50-calibre rapidfire G-'inch guns, each with a velocity of 3000 feet per second and a muzzle energy of about 6000 foot-tons. The Lusitania has, however, not been called upon by tho Admiralty during the war and has been engaged in her regular service to Now- York. In to-day's messages it is stated that she was unarmed. j In the ship's passenger accommoda-! tion a great advance was made on anything previously seen in the Atlantic. The most noticeable improvement was that because of. the great beam of tho ship the average cabin possessed 50 per cent, more room than on any previous liner, and many luxurious features such as passenger elevators, etc., were installed. The dining saloons and public rooms were decorated and furnished in a style of great magnificence, while numbers of private suites were provided for the use of the American millionaires. ■ The Lusitania was also notable as being the first of the record-breaking liners on which' turbine engines wero adopted. She was built at the yards of John Brown and Co., and was supplied with Parsons turbines of 68,000 h.p. driving four screws. LUSITANIA COJfPARED WITH TITANIC. Built to Admiralty requirements, the Lusitania was fitted with a large number of tranverse and longitudinal bulkheads, and • with tho Mauretania was probablv the safest ship afloat. She had a "double bottom/' extending the full length of tho ship, and reaching Bft. above the base-line, as against sft. double bottom of the Titanic. The Titanic was divided up into water-tight compartments by 15 transverse hulkheads, situated at distances of 57ft. apart f'.i.m bow to stern. She was so designed that any two of these compartments could b>) flooded without endatigering the safety of the ship. Her end came, however, by the fatal Icslwa Uariug ?, long rip, or seriei of . tins, m Juw sJ4a aww. a. wUnca all

about 200 ft., and tiros flooding foulcompartments simultaneously. As the rip was above the top of; tar cellular double bottom that : proved- of -no avail. The Lusitania had thirteen main transverse bulkheads, but was further divided up by longitudinal bulkheads — of which the Titanio had none—into no fewer than 175 water-tight' compartments. The vessel was built to be employed, if required, as a cruiser, and as no armour could be given her to ensure her-safety the designers sought to secure this by a very ample subdivision into water-tight compartments, and by placing nil the machinery below the Water-line.' I'here were longitudinal bulkheads between the coal bunkers and tho engine-room, -and the engineroom itself was again subdivided by two longitudinal bulkheads. To allow of communication between the various sections of tho ship 47 water-tight dcors were fitted. There were only eleven such doors on the Titanic, but tlv'j much more extensive subdivision of the ■ Lusitania mad© a. larger number inevitable for the convenient nu'kmg of the ship. The doors were automatically closed by hydraulic rams, operated by a lever on the bridge, pressure being maintained by two pumps in the em.me-room, 'which were kept continually under steam. It was the custom oi the ship to close all the doors at roou every day in order to make co/tain that the machinery was in perfect working order. If one of the two torpedoes exploded in tlie engine-room and destroyed the pumps operating the bulkhead doors tho compartments would remain open, and water could flow throughout tho vessel. The engine-room itself Was protected by the wide coal bunkers, extending fore and aft on either side of it. AVhon the attaok was made the vessel was at tho end of h<?r long voyage across the Atlantic, and the bunkers would be Comparatively empty, and the protection afforded by them at a minimum.- This is doubtless why tho attack was made at the end of an inward voyage instead of the beginning of au outward one, when the protection would be at its maximum. The Lusitania doubtless relied largely, on licr great speed and .extreme handiness in steering to escape submarine attacks. In hef trials, for instance, she was suddenly swung right about when travelling at 22 knots and made a complete circle in 7J minutes with 15 "degrees of helm —a feat which only ' tho two Cunarderc among tho greatliners would he. capable. THE GAME OF SNAKES LORD LIVERPOOL ON REPRISALS. Auckland, May 9. Speaking at an Orphans' Club gathering last night the Governor, Lord Liverpool, referred to the tactics of the Germans in the present war. "If you were to take the gathering as a wholo hero to-night," His Excellency said, "it would probably say we are dealing with snakes, so treat them as snakes. —(Hear, hear.) — But if an individual is taken, would the answer bo the same? Would not he say: 'It is wrong! They can play tlio game of 'snakes, but, by Godl wo will play the game we have always played—tho straight game of our forefathers'? — (Loud applause.)—Tho other suggestion is certainly a suggestion of the devil. We have had handed down to us a great heritage. Our forefathers did not play the snake ; and we children who came after them will not play the snake. —(Cries of 'Nol')—Quite right, too,"added His Excellonoy. The Governor went on to speak of the twenty years he was a soldier. He had met New Zealanders in South Africa, a war that was only a pinhead compared with tho present great struggle, and was much, impressed with them. Two battalions of his own regiment were now in France and one in Persia, and many of his old oomrades had already been killed. "It is the King's wish." added? the .Governor, "that.l am here in New Zealand; but if you asked me personally, where I would rather be, I would reply that I wish I were with my regiment. My profession was that of a soldier for just on twenty years, and my heart goes,out to those who soldiered with'me." (Applause.) .