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people know that the process of remaking the map of Europe has been begun already by the Entente Allies in Albania. As long ago as Dec. 12, 1916, they established the capital of a free and independent Albanian Republic in the Koritza district. This district at present marks the limits of the embryo State, for the Austrians still hold most of Albania; but it possesses all the machinery of a modern Government-a ruling council, an army 600 strong, postage stamps, paper money, a national flag, foreign alliances, even a budget that covers expenditures.

The French Army was the sponsor of this new-born State. The aim of its foundation was as much strategical as political. At the end of 1916 the Bulgarians were in occupation of the whole district south of Lakes Ochrida and Prespa, and their patrols came as far south as Koritza. The Greeks were in control of the town. They were Royalists, and Koritza was a centre of espionage and contraband. The German mail to and from Athens used to pass through there several times a week. The Austrians had bands of paid komitadjis (irregulars) ranging the whole district.

When the French patrols first reached Koritza they soon found that the hostility of the local Albanians was not so much love of the Austrians as resentment of any fresh incursion of foreigners into their country. By ousting the Royalist Greeks and allowing the proclamation of the independence of Albania with Koritza as capital, the French converted enemies into allies.

Themistocles Germeni, a Christian Albanian Nationalist, who was one of the principal chiefs of irregular bands in the pay of the Austrians, was won over so rapidly by this measure that he became Prefect of Police of the new republic. Authority is exercised by an elected council of fourteen members,

The success of the measure of proclaiming, or rather reproclaiming, the independence of Albania is said to be complete. In fact, every power involved in Albania seems to be driven to the conclusion that the Albanians must be humored rather than dragooned. The Italians have proclaimed Albanian independence at Premeti, in their sphere, and the Austrians appear to have done something of the same kind on their side in the north.

It was the Conference of London in 1913 that first founded an independent Albania and put it under the Prince of Wied. He was driven out in May, 1914, by revolution, and succeeded by Essad Pasha as President of the Albanian Republic. In September, 1914, Essad declared war on the Austrians, and has throughout remained a loyal ally of the Entente, though, like other rulers of small States, he has temporarily lost his country and is now in Saloniki. Five hundred Albanians who have followed him are fighting at the front, brigaded with the French.

Though recognized as President of Albania and flying his standard-a black star on a red ground-over his house in Saloniki, Essad Pasha constantly maintains that the present is not the time to decide about the future of Albania. The task of the moment is to eject the Austrian invaders from the country, and the congress of allied powers who settle the terms of peace I will do the rest. But he holds strongly the view, nevertheless, that the only satisfactory Albania will be one where the Albanians rule themselves.

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000 tons of goods entered French ports, and during April 4,300,000 tons.

The most recent British Admiralty figures show that while there was a decrease in the number of ships sunk for a few weeks, there has been a fresh burst of destructive activity on the part of the German submarines. Continuing the official weekly record of British merchant ships destroyed, as published in the June issue of this magazine, we find:

Week ended May 20.. Week ended May 27.. Week ended June 3.. 15 Week ended June 10. 22

18

9

3

18

1

2

3

..2,079,000 ..2,400,000

M. Cels said that one method of meeting the submarine menace was to build ships, but in 1916 the whole world's shipbuilding only reached 1,780,000 tons.

Admiral Lacaze, the Minister of Marine, the same evening made a statement supplementing that of M. Cels. With the captured enemy tonnage and the tonnage purchased and constructed, he said, the allied and neutral tonnage at the beginning of 1917 was about the same as at the beginning of the war. For the first four months of 1917 the total losses might be put at 2,500,000 tons. Taking into account the rate of construction, without being unduly optimistic, the losses for the year, if the submarine warfare continued with the same intensity, would be 4,500,000 tons out of a tonnage of over 40,000,000. With what the Allies were doing in restricting imports they could, with their present tonnage, meet the requirements of the country and assure the transport of war material. The Minister pointed out that the figures of tonnage sunk up to May 23 showed a marked decrease, being only 290,000 tons, and he then gave statistics proving that the German blockade had never been effective, since up to the present the French ports had received as many ships as they could accommodate. These vessels had brought everything of which the country stood in need. During the month of March 4,200,

For the previous four weeks the totals were: Ships over 1,600 tons, 120; under 1,600 tons, 55; fishing vessels, 36.

Norway's losses in May also showed a decrease as compared with March and April, the number of ships sunk being 49. Denmark's losses since the war, according to a Copenhagen dispatch of May 22, place the number of ships sunk by submarines or mines at 150, with the death of 210 Danish seamen. A number of Swedish ships have been sunk during the month, but details of size are not available. The Athens newspaper, Patris, on May 28, printed a list of 102 Greek ships, with an aggregate tonnage of 300,000, which had been sunk by German submarines, thus leaving to Greece only 149 ships with a total tonnage of 500,000.

Among the larger ships reported sunk during the month have been the British transport Transylvania, 14,000 tons, with the loss of 413 lives, mainly soldiers; the British steamer Southland, 11,899 tons; the British transport Cameronia, 10,963 tons, with the loss of 140 soldiers, and the British hospital ship, Dover Castle, 8,271 tons.

Among American ships sunk were three sailing vessels: The Dirigo, 3,005 tons, with a cargo valued at $500,000, on

May 31; the Frances M., 1,229 tons, on May 18, and the Barbara, 838 tons, on May 24. According to the skipper of the American schooner Margaret B. Rouss, after that vessel was torpedoed in the Mediterranean, the crew of the German submarine robbed him and his crew of every article they possessed when they were in the lifeboat.

Methods of Fighting U-Boats

Admiral Lacaze, in the French Chamber of Deputies, May 26, threw some light upon the methods employed to counterattack the submarines. He said: I see no reason why I should not speak of these methods in public. It would be childish to think they are unknown to the enemy. They consist of a system of patrol boats, of arming merchantmen with guns, and fitting them with wireless; of seaplanes, nets, mines, smoke-raising devices, and dragnets.

I sought to get patrol boats built here and buy them abroad. I scoured the world over with missions, covering the ground from America to North Cape, from the Cape of Good Hope to Japan, but England had been beforehand. When I entered the Ministry I found 243 patrols. Now we have 552. I have drawn up a scheme which will increase the figure to 900. I continue to buy in London, the world's centre for shipping. I am obliged to do so because our shipyards had been almost completely abandoned; because, as a result of that short-war theory which weighed so regrettably upon all decisions taken at the outset of the war, the yards had been transformed into war material factories to meet the pressing need of the national defense. We have now got back most of the arsenals and a number of private yards, together with skilled workmen.

The guns we mount on the patrol boats have been referred to disdainfully, but you cannot put ten-centimeter guns on a small vessel. A patrol boat on guard, armed with 95-millimeter guns, met two submarines armed with 105-millimeter guns, sank one and put the other to flight.

We have 1,200 dragnets as well as 170,500 curtain nets and 5,000 20-foot float nets, which indicate the presence of submarines. We have special bombs for submarines and apparatus to throw them.

We have organized seaplane posts all around the coasts, so that the zone of action of each post joins that of its neighbor on

either side. By October all merchantmen and patrollers will be fitted with wireless and all merchantmen supplied with guns of as heavy calibre as possible, for which measures programs have been drawn up even beyond what was thought possible.

For building the plates and frames required M. Loucheur, Under Secretary for Munitions, in charge of the manufacturing sections, has started up again all the rolling mills. They will be able to supply us with the plates I asked for, and we hope that the merchant marine will also be able to obtain the quantity of plates to which it is entitled.

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Speaking in the Chamber of Deputies again on June 7, Admiral Lacaze said that the proportion of submarines sunk had increased to a marked extent. "We are employing," he added, " a very efficient method, and we are able to see the possibility of developing this method so as to render it more efficacious." The Minister, reviewing the submarine situation, said that Germany had announced a blockade and had fixed a certain date. The result had been that the Allies were not blockaded. Their ships had gone wherever it was necessary to go. At no moment could any one say that France had been blockaded, either near at hand or at a distant point.

The Navy Department at Washington has received reports stating that more submarines are being run down, captured, and destroyed than ever before, and although the exact details cannot be divulged, it is known that the American destroyer flotilla, under Rear Admiral Sims, has been playing an active part in the work with the British and French fleets. Recently twenty-eight German submarines were captured or destroyed in a single week.

The increased success of the campaign against the U-boats is attributed more to improvements in organization than to any new devices. It is said the presence of American destroyers has enabled the British and French to send some of their small craft to their bases for docking and sorely needed repairs, after virtually continuous service for the last two years.

A

T present the crews of the German submarines are the objects of particularly warm interest. Of course, their heroic activities have been followed with undiminished attention ever since that notable 22d of September, 1914, when the never-to-beforgotten Weddigen sent three English armored cruisers to the bottom of the North Sea with well-aimed torpedoes from the U-9. That the "David," the little submarine, is able to give the deathblow to the huge "Goliath," the battleship, and that it possesses powers far exceeding the expectations placed upon this most modern instrument of battle before the war, has been proved by the torpedoing of the ships of the line before the Dardanelles, which put an end to the entire Anglo-French undertaking, in particular, and furthermore by the sinking of many other enemy warships.

But the U-boats have made themselves the centre of attraction only since they have shown their effectiveness in the warfare on commerce. Here an entirely new field was opened to them. On Oct. 26, 1914, the British merchantman Glitra fell a victim to a U-boat (U-17) southwest of Skudenaes on the Norwegian coast. This was the first destruction of a merchant ship by a submarine. Soon others followed on the Atlantic coast of France, in the Irish Channel, &c. The world stared in surprise. The U-boats were attacking the enemy's commerce. That was a novelty never anticipated. During the two and a half years that have passed the feeling of certitude has grown more definite from month to month that the Uboat may be destined to cut off the main artery even of Great Britain, ruler of the seas, through the tying up of her

imports, and that thus the U-boat points to the way in which the "freedom of the seas" may be insured in the future.

If the nation whose existence is most closely connected with the uninterrupted importation of foodstuffs sees that for its own life it must move for the undisturbed peaceful use of the seas even in war times, then the last barrier will fall-i. e., all the paragraphs contrary to civilization, those speaking of prizes, privateering, contraband, &c., must be removed from sea law; in short, the principle that ought to be taken for granted by civilized nations that private property may not be destroyed on the water, as it may not be infringed upon on land in time of war, will be recognized.

The men who are helping create this condition desired in the interests of humanity and the development of culture are the crews of the U-boats. Of course, in order to carry out their task, they need instruments, vessels, and weapons of the most cunning construction. The creators of these things, the shipbuilders and engineers, must not be forgotten when the triumphs of the submarine weapon are brought to mind. Only after the war will the world recognize to its full extent what the German people owes to its U-boat builders and to the constructors of the many pieces of machinery concealed in the U-boats, and what almost incredible technical progress has been made in Germany since the Fall of 1914, not only in the perfection of products, but also in the rapidity with which the desires of the front have been fulfilled. Any one who might be permitted to raise the curtain just a little and to penetrate the veil that now naturally covers everything

connected with U-boat construction would be overwhelmed with the extent of what has been created by German science in every necessary line.

A seaman's lot is never easy. Night and day he is separated from a watery grave only by a thin plank. And yet his existence seems like paradise compared with that of the U-boat man. This man dispenses with what every one regards as indispensible for life-light and air. When the road to hades gapes for the U-boat man it leads through darkness and torment. He knows that he is threatened most by a slow death through suffocation. Everybody elsewith exceptions like stokers, men in the magazines, and some others enjoys the fresh air and looks up and sees above him the broad canopy of heaven when in the roar of the battle he must enter the gates of the Great Beyond. Indeed, in every case, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.' But our sympathies will be more deeply moved when we think of the death of the U-boat man.

Of course the U-boat man also sees. some of the bright side of life, and it would be wrong to pass by without noting this. On board a big battleship the individual is more or less lost in the crowd. He is only one among the more than 1,100 men composing the crew of a modern ship of the line. On board the U-boat every one is an important personality. There are rarely more than thirty men in a high seas U-boat. So every one, be he sailor or oiler, has several duties to perform; so every one is fully acquainted with all the numerous mechanisms and expert in their use. The commander, watch officer, and chief engineer know every one of their men thoroughly. They stand in a comradely relationship to them, they share their sufferings and joys in every way. Their food is all cooked in the same kettle and gift cigarettes of the same brand are found between their lips when the boat bobs up for a brief rest and the weather permits. Below decks smoking is not allowed. To be sure, the commander has a tiny room of his own-in which to write his official reports, &c. But the lack of light and air, the

absence of every comfort, the dangers that menace them every hour, yes, every minute, are the common lot of all U-boat men. There is, however, greater responsibility upon the officers and the chief engineers, although every single U-boat man, sailor and oiler alike, knows that oftentimes a slight oversight or a false move will seal the fate of himself and his comrades.

The most careful selection among the volunteers, who are always offering themselves in great numbers for the U-boat service, is just as important as the long period of training during which the U-boat aspirants are schooled in every branch of their difficult service. They must all be in superior health and be what they call "fixe Kerle "-i. e., quick in perception and decision, never timid or hesitating, skilled, and also infinitely serious in their conception of duty, dependable and steadfast. The sailor must be a "thoroughbred seaman," the oiler a perfect mechanic.

The members of the crews are trained at the U-boat school. There they became acquainted with all the complicated apparatus, the expert use of which forms the basis for every success. The pupils are made familiar with the instruments that show the condition of the atmosphere, the trim of the boat and the height and depth, with the functions of the numerous valves, slides and levers, &c., and with the safety and life-saving apparatus, a thorough knowledge of which is indispensable for every U-boat man. In addition to these general points, the submarine sailor must have skill in navigation, in signaling, in serving and launching torpedoes and in handling the deck guns and their ammunition, while the oiler must understand the care of the engines that drive the U-boat above and below the water well enough to enable him, in case of necessity, to take the place of the engineers and, if possible, that of the chief engineer.

Correspondingly greater demands are made upon the officers and the enginEvery U-boat commander is almost a “superman." He must possess extraordinary gifts of both an intellect

eers.