One day in the first week of March, 1918, a small Belgian fishing smack was sighted by a German U-boat and was fired upon without the slightest warning. Her masts and sails were shot away, and the skipper was severely wounded. The smack carried a crew of only four men, three of whom entered their small boat and endeavored to persuade the skipper to come with them; but he was so badly injured that he refused to leave. He, however, urged his men to save their own lives. Meanwhile the submarine had come closer to its prey, and a German officer called to the men in the small boat to convey a couple of German sailors on board the smack, in order that they might sink her with bombs. The Germans proceeded to board the smack, and then, finding the wounded skipper, one of them drew his revolver and shot the helpless man dead through the head. The dastardly act was committed in full view of the Belgian fishermen, one of whom was the unfortunate skipper's son. Having placed their bombs in position, the Germans returned to the submarine and cast the remaining three Belgians adrift in their cockleshell of a boat without food or water, and with no means of reaching land, from the nearest point of which they were twenty miles distant. The unfortunate men suffered severely from cold and hunger before they were picked up by a British patrol boat. Great Britain Faces a Crisis Historic Speech by Premier Lloyd George on the Picardy Battle and Its Fateful Consequences _The British Government introduced a bill April 9, 1918, to raise the military age up to 50, and in special cases to 55, and to provide for conscription in Ireland. Premier David Lloyd George, in introducing the measure in the House of Commons, delivered an important address, in which he reviewed the battle of Picardy up to that time and gave interesting details of the conduct of the war in the preceding months. The address opened a new phase in the world conflict as affected by the posture of affairs in Great Britain. The full speech was sent by special cable to The New York Times and is reproduced herewith as a historic document of the war:_ We have now entered the most critical phase of this terrible war. There is a lull in the storm, but the hurricane is not over. Doubtless we must expect more fierce outbreaks, and ere it is finally exhausted there will be many more. The fate of the empire, the fate of Europe, and the fate of liberty throughout the world may depend on the success with which the very last of these attacks is resisted and countered.