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Message: [QUOTE="Jim Kalafus, post: 46836, member: 139751"] Seriously, 'though. On this day in 1915, the Lusitania was one day out, on her first crossing since the attempted sabotage of one of her turbines in the first week of August. This crossing was laden with wealthy Americans, hastily returning to the U.S. as the war continued to escalate. ________________________________________________ The Lusitania Commandeered as Transport. She is to go to Halifax. And There, the Report Declares, Take on Canadian Troops for Europe. September 18: The Cunard Liner Lusitania, from Liverpool, reached her pier here early today under wireless orders received last night as she was nearing port, according to passengers, ordering her to make all possible speed, unload her passengers, and be ready to sail for Halifax to act as a transport for Canadian troops. The officers would not verify this report, but offered no explanation for rushing the big liner to her pier at one o’clock in the morning. Prominent among the 1502 passengers, the majority of whom were returning Americans, were Sir James Barrie, author and playwright; A.E. Mason the English novelist; Mrs. George Vanderbilt and Miss Cornelia Vanderbilt; George deForest Lord; Marshall Field III; Chauncey Depew, Jr. and William Dudley Foulkes, president of the Municipal League of the United States. ________________________________________________ Also on board was Ralph Moodie of Gainesville Texas, who would die on May 7, 1915. This particular celebrity-laden crossing would later feature in just about the only positive publicity the liner garnered during her final nine months: _______________________________________________ February 1915: The Sensible Romance of Marshall Field III “The Richest Boy in the World” How the Future Heir of $200,000,000.00 American Dollars Turned His Back on Every Proud and Titled Foreign Beautyand Picked Out for His Bride A Simple, Charming American Girl. From all accounts his engagement to Miss Marshall was the result of a brief but pretty romance aboard the ocean liner Lusitania, aboard which they were recently fellow passengers from Europe. There are stories of smooth walks on the promenade deck lasting until the early hours of the next day. It was remarked by passengers that the young man seemed deeply smitten. Those interested passengers had their reward a day or two before the Lusitania reached the port of New York. For some time the young man had not been in evidence. Suddenly he appeared on deck- alone, but looking very happy, quite the expression of a sighing lover who had staked his future happiness on a certain answer to a certain question and had not been disappointed. Marshall Field III, with his retinue of servants, put up at the Ritz-Carlton. Miss Marshall went directly to her home at 6 East 77th street, where young Field was observed as a frequent caller. And presently came the announcement of their engagement. _________________________________________________ Other articles spoke of the smitten couple keeping constant company in the lounge, dining room, verandah café, and on the boat deck. Journalists, and friends of the couple, enjoyed playing up the cute meeting aboard the Lusitania angle, when they married in February 1915. This was the last touch of romance to attach itself to the liner. Marshall Field III and Evelyn Field remained married for about fifteen years; upon their divorce she was awarded S1, 000,000.00 per year in alimony and their New York residence. The liner's next Westbound voyage was equally star-studded: Lusitania Sails October 3: The Lusitania sailed today with a large compliment of notables including Assistant Secretary of War Breckinridge, and the army officers who came over on the U.S.S. Tennessee. Everyone is glad to be on the way to the land of the free, where daily baseball scores promise much more exciting reading than the dribbles of censored war news printed here. Miss Sarah Cooper Hewitt and her sister, Miss Eleanor Cooper Hewitt, were aboard the Lusitania; returned recently from Italy. Jerome K. Jerome, the novelist, lingered in a corner of his room and refused to talk about a new play which he is going to launch. Bishop Rhinelander, of Pennsylvania is also hurrying home. Other notables on board the Lusitania include Miss Elizabeth Frick; Mrs. S.R. Guggenheim and family; Mrs. P.H. Mellon and daughters; Mrs. Frederick Orr-Lewis; Mrs. V. Henry Rothschild and Mrs. Gertrude Cornwallis West, better known as Mrs. Patrick Campbell, the actress. _______________________________________________ Aboard this voyage were at least five passengers who would be on the May 1, 1915 passenger list. Thomas Slidell and Frederich Schwarte would survive, while Walter McLean; Lee Schwabacher, and Henry B. Sonneborn would not. Her final October westbound was the first voyage to which "war terrors" were affixed since she was chased by the German cruiser in August. She sailed under wireless blackout, and when she did not arrive in New York on schedule, it was strongly suspected that she had met with some sort of war-disaster. She arrived a day late, held up by a big storm. Aboard her were Josephine Burnside, whose family owned Eaton's Department Store in Montreal, and her daughter, Iris, and maid, Mattie Waites. Iris and Mattie died on May 7th, 1915, (Iris' formal portait is currently in Eaton's archive) but Josephine survived. After that the story was relentlessly grim, straight thru the end. [/QUOTE]

Verification: In which year did the Titanic sail?