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June 15, 1912 T PI E L I T E R A R Y D I G E S T 1247

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THE ENORMOUS HULL OP THE IMPEBATOB, 900 FEET LONG, JUST AFTER LAUNCHING.

t imi ty of t ak ing a course at Porchefontaine. Accommodat ioncan with diificulty be provided for t h e m , but this is to be r emedied. As soon as the new wing for a lecture-room has been completed, the Ins t i t u t e of Puer icul ture, enlarged and perfected,will cast a l ight not only over France, but over the whole world."Translation made for T H E LITEBASY DIGEST.

MAKING THE HUGEST SHIP THE SAFESTAC H O R U S of exultation rises from the German pressover the launching of the huge new passenger-steamerof the Hamburg-American l ine at H a m b u r g . All theci ty joined in the festal occasion and flags fluttered throughoutevery main thoroughfare on the b a n k s oft he Elbe . The Hamburg cor r espondent ofth e Pester Lloyd gives a vivid account ofthe scene when the Kaiser touched a b u t t o n ,releasing the ship and breaking a bot t le ofc h a m p a g n e on the bow of the huge vessel,and excl a imed: " I bapt ize thee by the n a m eof Imperator!" The building of this seamonster was begun on the 18th of June , 1910,a n d it was launched on the 24th of May,1912, amid proud rejoicings. Yet, says thiscorrespon dent , people could not help thinkin g of the fate of the Titanic, and this madethe event not altogether relieved from gloom.T h e Imperator, however , he tells us, hasfeatures in its construct ion which promiseto safeguard it f rom such catast rophes asthat which befell the English ship. Toquote his words:

"In sp i t e of the gene ral feeling of exhilarat ion, a dark shadow seemed to be cast overthe fest ivit ies. Horror at the fearful Titanicdisaster , which cost 1,600 l ives, sent a shudder t hrough every hear t , and men lookedforward with some fear and foreboding tot he maiden voyage of this German ship,i),000 tons larger than the i l l-fated WhiteStar l iner . Yet it is a great and majest icpiece of shipbui lding, a marvel of technicalskill and engineer ing, bui l t wi thout regardto cost out of the best mater ial and in themost scientific style. But of course peoplewill say. W as it not said ofthe Titanic that she was unsinkable?Y et in two and a half hours after h er ooUision with the iceberg shesank miles down to the ocean f loor , burying there unnumberedniillions of t r easure beyond all hope of recovery. It was not possible to banish the shadow of gloom from the festal joy of th eoccasion, but nothing could al together d ampe n the cheerfulness of

the day . Men came to the conclusion tha t accidents have the ircauses, and this was cer tainly t rue in the case of the Titaniccat as t rophe , as is laid bare by the invest igat ions being madeboth in London and Washington . We will not dwel l upon thispoint , but pass it by with a mere al lusion. It gives confidenceto every one to see that Kaiser WiUiam had provided tha t themost advanced measures be t aken , and the most reliable devicesused, to insure the st rength and safety of the ship, and showedhis confidence in its bui lders by bapt izing it himself. E v e n themost frightful accident at sea can not disprove or shake theauthor i t y of the ancient saying: 'Men must needs put to seai n sh ips . ' "

The wri ter proceeds to go into details of the vessel 's tonnageand dimensions and to compare them with the size and equipm e n t of the Titanic, as follows:"T he double bot tom of the Imperator is234 meters long and 26 meters deep. Thereis a steel compar tment above the keel inwhich a man can s t and upr ight . It isst rengthened with 550 huge r ibs, and hasa capaci ty of about 9,000,000 gallons ofwater . The bulkheads form the might i es t

protect ion the Imperator has agains t theshook of a collision. While in the Titanic, aswe learn, the bulkheads scarcely reachedto the water-line, in the Imperator t hey are17 meters deep and extend upward to thesecond deck, that is, far above the water- l ineof a laden ship. The bulkheads are of anextraordinary weight am idships, and w h a tis called the coUision-bulkhead extends up-ward to the first deck and all can be closedautomat ical ly f rom the br idge. This mak esit practically impossible for the water toenter the hold. In these bulkheads therear e 36 water t ight doors, under the water -line, which can be closed in a few secondsfrom the br idge. During the night , or inthick weather , or in the neighborhood of icebergs, the Ham burg-American Line alwayskeep the bulkheads closed, whi le it hast ranspired that the Titanic, in spi te ofwarnings, t raveled at full speed with bulkheads open. The water was thus enabledto enter the hold and to sink the gigant icvessel in a very br ief t ime."

HO W THE BOW IS W H I T T L E DA WA Y FOB S P E E D . The Ber l in correspondent of the L o n d o nTimes confirms the above descr ipt ion andgives addi t ional detai ls:

" T h e Imperator is the largest ship in the world. It has acapaci ty of 50,000 tons, which is more than double that of thetwo hi ther to largest l iners of the Hamburg-Amer i can Line , theAmerika and the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, a l ength of 276meter s , a beam of 30 meter s , and a depth of over 19 meter s .I t can accommodate 4,000 passengers and a crew of 1,200. The

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1 2 4 8 T H E L I T E H A R Y D I G E S T June 15, 191cabin room is, in compar ison with the previous provision onGerman ships, ofunusu al dimensions. There wil l be a swimming-b a t h , 20 meters long and 12}^ meters wide, a winter garden,a gymnasium, l i f ts, and shops. The ship wiU be the first of themercant i le mar ine to carry a rotary compass, responding not tomagnet i sm but to the ear th 's rotat ion. The water t ight comp a r t m e n t s are bui l t to a height of 17 meters, reaching to the' second deck. ' There wi ll be wireless telegraphy, a staff of threeopera tor s , and boat accommodat ion , it is claimed, for everyperson on board . The Imperaior is expected to make her maidentr ip in the spr ing of 1913."

The special pr ide which Germany in general and H a m b u r gin par t icular feel in the Imperator^whioh, by the way, is to bep a r t of Germany's naval reserveis thus emphat ical ly ex-pres t in the Hamburger Nachrichten:"The exi s t ence of the Imperator f lUs with natural pr ide notonly the Hamburg-American Company which owns her, notonly the Vulcan-Werf t f i rm that bui l t herbut the ship is aboveal l things a sign and symbol of German preeminence, a freshreminder of Germany's r ising power in the world of t r ade andcommerce . We feel a double satisfaction in t h inking tha t Hamburg has been enabled to mak e this reminder fel t."Translations

made for TH E L I T E E A R Y D I G E S T .

A FRANCO-BRITISH ALLIANCEPROPOSEDTE R I S I N G n a v a l and mil i tary power of G e r m a n y isalarming the French as well as the Engl ish mind. Theleading Engl ish Conservat ive papers are accusing theLiberal Minist ry of neglect ing to safeguard the l iberties of thei rcount ry by raising a sufficient army and bui lding a greater fleet.The London Morning Post has a long article on this subject advocat ing an out-and-out al l iancewi th France , a defensive and offensive league, which will enableei ther country wi th the aid oft he o ther to s t and up agains t" t h e b u U y of the N o r t h Sea."We epi tomize the ar t icle of thisorgan of the H o u s e of Lords asfollows:

I t is desirable tha t Engla nd'sr e l a t i ons wi th France be clearlydefined. No p a r t y to an ententecan act with decision and finalityin a crisis unless the relat ions ofthe nat ions concerned be posit ively determine d. We are therefore perfectly in accord with thosew h o d e m a n d a close alliance between our count ry and the FrenchRepubl i c . If the two countr ieswere resolved to act in concer t inthe case of cer tain eventual i t ies,the peace and safety of Europewould be assured.The eventual i t ies d readed areplainly specified by the Ger-manophobe London Spectator,which agrees wi th some of Mr.Asqui th 's views, but does not applaud his hal t ing pol icy in the

m a t t e r of i ncreased armam ent s , and in the course of a strikingar t icle we r e a d :"A formal aUianoe based on a proper ly drawn t reaty wouldbe far safer and far less entangl ing, and, therefore, would leavethis country far more real f reedom, than the present vagueunder s t anding wi th our neighbors" W e can not al low France to be overwhelmed by Germany.T h e r e is the essential fact. If Germany were to m a k e war on

F R A N C E -p r o t e c t o r . " ' D o w n , Leo,

Prance , and were by any chance to be successful in t h a t war,Prance as a Power would, for the next fifty years at any rate^be wiped off the map of Btrrope" B u t if France were overwhelmed, and the balsunce of p o w e ron the Continent dest royed, the si tuat ion for this country wouldbe intolerable. It is impossible for any one possest of the sl ightest degree of pol i t ical imaginat ion to contempla t e a victorious-Germany, a Germany gorged with new ter r i tor ies at home andabroad, wi th a t r i umphant a rmy and in possession, of the wholeFrench f leet , wi thout the utmost a l arm. To say t ha t Germanywould be the dictator of Europe is not a piece of cheap rhetor ic,b u t a deadly r eahty . Our t urn must come next . . . . If Prance ,then, becomes involved in a war wi th Germany, 'we must s t andby her side, as was realized so clearly by the present Governmentlast August , and would have been real ized by the people as awhole the m o m e n t the m a t t e r was explained to t hem by anycompetent au thor i t y ."The pla- in meaning of all this is t ha t , whether we have anal l iance with France or not, we are face to face wi th the consequences of a defensive alliance of the most r igorous' kind. Atpresent we h a v e all the di sadvantages of a strict alliance andnone of its advantages . "

The French papers make cer tain graceful ly pohte remarkson this subject or remain si lent . The Petit Parisien declares-evasively that this is not the first time such a proposal has been,made, but t h inks t ha t its ment ion now shows that European,politics are taking a new turn, ai id it a d d s :"I t seems to us t h a t the French press ought not for a m o m e n tto par t ake in this discussion. It will be t ime to speak whenthe current of opinion across the Channel has manifested definiteand act ive expression."

The great leading organ of Par isian opinion, the Temps, re marks guardedly that it is bet t er not to discuss the ques t ion un t i lit is known what kind of an army England is going to h a v e .Mr . Gabr i e l Hanotaux, the e m i nent histor ian who lately visitedthis hemisphere, vnrites in theFigaro (Par is) Hndly but c a u t iously:

"A n Engl ish al l iance I Who-does not feel the force, theimmense at t ract iveness of t h i sprospect , so suddenly opened before us . The influence, the weight,the value of such a suppor t as isoffered to us here actual ly overwhelms me. But, on the o t h e rh a n d , how can ^re close oureyes to certain ds^ngerous consequences? It would be an all iance which impl ied more thanamiable proposals -and smiles ofkindliness, and would go to theroot of things, and culminate infacts and act ions. Such an all iance would be something defini te and positive to t ake theplace of that obscure and decept ive entente whieh at presentexists. Yet who could resist th eent icing proposi t ion? Wh o, however, does not feel tha t we mustregard it as we do a pr inter 's proofoffered us to be corrected, or withthe same hesi tancy as t ha t wi thwhich we accept the s t a t ement sof a two-column ar t icle st ruckoff on the spur of the m o m e n t ! "

Mr . Hanotaux t r ea t s the proposal as mere compliment , saying:" L e t us be content to t ake at thei r t rue value the signs ofcordiality manifested by a f r iendly Enghsh newspaper . As toFrance's answer to the offer weneed not be r eminded of the factt h a t the proceedings of a great count ry can not be conductedwith too much deliberation, reflection, and prudence . " Trans-lations made for T H E LITBRAEY DIGEST.

d o w n ! R e m e m b e r , I am y o u r Si tnpl ic issi 'mus ( M u n i c h ) .