John Protasio - The Day the World Was Shocked: The Lusitania Disaster and Its Influence on the Course of World War I

NOTICE!

TRAVELLERS intending to embark on the Atlantic voyage are reminded that a state of war exists between Germany and her allies and Great Britain and her allies; that the zone of war includes the water adjacent to the British Isles; that, in accordance with formal notice given by the Imperial German Government, vessels flying the flag of Great Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in those waters and that travelers sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.

IMPERIAL GERMAN EMBASSY
Washington D.C. April 22, 1915

T his notice appeared in many of New York Citys newspapers. At that time World War I was less than a year old, with all major Western powers involved except the United States of America.

The notice was placed in the shipping section by the German Ambassador to the United States, Count Johann von Bernstorff. He had

Many readers, however, were more interested in the advertisement next to the warning, which read:

CUNARD
EUROPE VIA LIVERPOOL
LUSITANIA
Fastest and Largest Steamer
Now in Atlantic Service Sails
SATURDAY, MAY 1, 10 A.M.

That Saturday several hundred people, travelers and well-wishers, gathered at New Yorks Pier 54 at the foot of 11th Street. Though it rained that day, it wasnt enough to dampen the spirits of the travelers. Apparently, neither was the warning printed in the newspapers.

As for submarines, declared Charles P. Sumner, the Cunard Lines agent in New York, I have no fear of them whatsoever.

Alexander Campbell, general manager of the British distillery John Dewar and Sons, said, I think its a lot of tommyrot for any government to do such a thing and it is hard to believe the German Ambassador dictated the advertisement. The Lusitania can run away from any submarine the Germans have got and the British Admiralty will see the ship is looked after when she arrives in striking distance of the Irish coast.

When queried by reporters about the German warning, the ships captain, William Thomas Turner, shrugged, I wonder what the Germans will do next. Well, it doesnt seem as if they scared many people from going on the ship, by the look of the pier and passenger list.

Captain Turner was right. The Lusitania was to carry more pas

By far the wealthiest passenger was Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt, handsome, 37 years old and with assets reported at $70,000,000.

People speculated about a skeleton or two in his closet. In 1909, a woman named Mary Agnes Ruiz committed suicide by shooting herself at her house in Grosvenor Street, London. A former actress, she had in 1903 married the wealthy Don Antonio A. Ruiz y Olivares, an attach of the Cuban Legation in Washington. After three years, they separated and Mrs. Ruiz led a quiet but financially comfortable life in New York. When she was named as a correspondent in the 1908 divorce proceedings by Vanderbilts first wife, Ruiz divorced her.

Another first-class passenger on this voyage was Elbert Hubbard, the wildly popular author of A Message to Garcia, which had sold more than 40 million copies. After a successful career in business, Hubbard became perhaps the most important proponent of the Arts and Crafts

Like Vanderbilt, Hubbard was divorced and into his second marriage. Hubbards first wife, Bertha, was a trustee of the local school in East Aurora, New York. As was customary, she invited the new teacher and suffragist Alice Moore to live with them. In 1894 Alice bore Hubbard a daughter, Miriam. In 1901 Bertha sued for divorce, and public knowledge of Hubbards affair and illegitimate child created a storm of disapproval. Hubbard and Alice Moore married in 1904. In that day divorce was almost unheard of, making Hubbard the center of con troversy.

Hubbard became controversial again in 1913 when he was convicted of misusing the postal service by sending objectionable materialhis magazine The Philistinethrough the mails; on this count he was fined $100. This felony conviction prevented him from obtaining a passport, so he requested a pardon from President Wilson, which was granted a short time before the voyage on the Lusitania.

Hubbard was eager to go to Europe now that war was on. Although he respected the German people for their science and music, Hubbard placed responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities squarely on the shoulders of the German Kaiser. Wilhelm II, Hubbard wrote, has a withered hand and running ear, a shrunken soul and mind reek ing with egomania. The German emperor is swollen, like a drowned pup, with pride that stinks, Hubbard concluded. The American editor was eager to see firsthand the havoc unleashed by the Kaiser, perhaps to justify his own strident views.

He did not expect to be welcomed in Germany. Hubbard told a reporter that the Kaiser might want to make me look like a piece of Swiss cheese, but in reality he took some satisfaction in courting death by way of a German submarine. To be torpedoed would be a glorious way to peter out, but it would be a good advertisement.