256 IOWA STUDIES IN NATURAL HISTORY 
for careful selection. Nearly all of the usual safeguards of sea 
service were wanting. No lights were allowed, neither the sound- 
ing of whistles in the dense fogs of the North Sea or the English 
Channel. The use of wireless was forbidden except in case of 
actual disaster and even in case of dire extremity the chances 
were that no ship would heed the S. O. S. call; for it was fre- 
quently used as a decoy by the assassin submarines. I know of 
one skipper who made twenty-four round trips from New York 
to Europe before they ‘‘got him,’’ and even then he escaped to 
try it again. The captain of a passenger vessel has a grave re- 
sponsibility at all times, but how terrible a load in such a war as 
that just ended few can appreciate. This service was fraught 
with much more danger than was faced by captains in the trans- 
port service; for the latter were regularly convoyed and every 
device used to guard from attack, and so successfully was this 
done that our loss of transports was practically negligible, while 
hundreds of merchant vessels were sunk. 
And yet I have still to hear of a single one of these captains of 
the merchant marme showing cowardice or anything but admir- 
able coolness and bravery even in the deadliest peril. The public 
at large knows little of all this; but I for one take off my hat to 
these fearless and competent skippers who have had no mean 
share in winning the great war, which will, please God, forever 
banish the sub-sea pirate from the Seven Seas. 
Boat drills were frequent on the steamer. Our party was 
divided among four of the boats and I requested one of our 
men in each to be responsible for the members of the expedition 
in his boat. It was particularly gratifying to note the careful 
manner in which these boats were overhauled by Captain Glad- 
win, who personally saw to it that everything was in place and 
in good condition. Of course all boats were swung outboard dur- 
ing the trip and it was evident that the officers had neglected no 
precaution that would add to the safety of passengers in ease it 
became necessary to abandon the ship. All of the officers were 
instructed in the handling of the naval gun so that they could 
serve it in the event of the regular gunners being disabled. 
One might suppose that all these precautions and unusual pro- 
ceedings would tend to make the passengers nervous, but the re- 
sult was quite the contrary. The passengers were greatly reas- 
