The world war : $b a history of the nations and empires involved and a study of the events culminating in the great conflictMarshall, Logan
History
The world war : $b a history of the nations and empires involved and a study of the events culminating in the great conflict
Marshall, Logan
Europe -- History -- 1789-1900; Europe -- History -- 1871-1918; World War, 1914-1918 -- Causes
Slowly the skies cleared; calmer conditions began to prevail. The
United States government sent the battleship TENNESSEE abroad with
several millions of dollars for the aid of destitute travelers and the
relief of those who could not get their letters or credit and
travelers’ checks cashed. Such a measure of relief was necessary, there
being people abroad with letters of credit for as much as $5,000
without money enough to buy a meal. One tourist said: “I had to give a
Milwaukee doctor, who had a letter of credit for $2,500 money to get
shaved.” London hotels showed much consideration for the needs of
travelers without ready cash, but on the continent there were many such
who were refused hotel accommodation.
As for those who reached New York or other American ports, many had
fled in such haste as to leave their baggage behind. Numbers of the
poorer travelers had exhausted their scanty stores of cash in the
effort to escape from Europe and reached port utterly penniless. The
case was one that called for immediate and adequate solution and the
governmental and moneyed interests on this side did their utmost to
cope with the situation. Vessels of American register were too few to
carry the host applying for transportation, and it was finally decided
to charter foreign vessels for this purpose and thus hasten the work of
moving the multitude of appealing tourists. From 15,000 to 20,000 of
these needed immediate attention, a majority of them being destitute.
AN OCEAN INCIDENT
Men and women needed not only transportation, but money also, and in
this particular there is an interesting story to tell. The German
steamer KRONPRINZESSIN CECILIE, bound for Bremen, had sailed from New
York before the outbreak of the war, carrying about 1,200 passengers
and a precious freight of gold, valued at $10,700,000. The value of the
vessel herself added $5,000,000 to this sum. What had become of her and
her tempting cargo was for a time unknown. There were rumors that she
had been captured by a British cruiser, but this had no better
foundation than such rumors usually have. Her captain was alert to the
situation, being informed by wireless of the sudden change from peace
to war. One such message, received from an Irish wireless station,
conveyed an order from the Bremen company for him to return with all
haste to an American port.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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