Page 172 - Dragon Flood

inflaming American public opinion. When Germany learned that the Lusitania was being
used to ferry both passengers and war supplies (a violation of International law), the
German Embassy in America took out ads in 50 American newspapers, most of which were
on the East Coast. The advertisements read:

NOTICE! Travelers 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 waters adjacent to the British Isles; that in accordance with
formal notice given by Imperial German government, vessels flying the flag of Great
Britain, or of any of her allies, are liable to destruction in these waters and that travelers
sailing in the war zone on ships of Great Britain or her allies do so at their own risk.

The advertisement included a picture of the Lusitania with her sailing schedule.

The American State Department intercepted the ads and would not permit them to be
posted in the American papers. Only one ad slipped by them, and this one was printed in
the Des Moines Register, from which the above image was obtained. Captain Dow, the
captain of the Lusitania resigned on March 8, 1915, just two months before the ship was
sunk, because he was unwilling to shoulder the responsibility of hazarding passenger lives
by carrying munitions on the ship.