Drafting the armistice terms by the Allied plenipotentiaries at Versailles. On the left side of the table from left to right are shown: Gen. du Robilant; next man unidentified; Italian Foreign Minister Sonnino; Italian Premier Orlando; Col. E. M. House; Gen. Tasker H. Bliss; next man unidentified; Greek Premier Venizelos; Serbian Minister Vesnitch. On the right side of the table from left to right. Admiral Wemyss, with back to camera; Gen. Sir Henry Wilson; Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig; Gen. Sackville West; Andrew Bonar Law; Premier David Lloyd-George; French Premier Georges Clemenceau; and French Foreign Minister Stephen Pichon. (French Official Photo, from I. F. S.)

The American delegates to the Peace Conference at Versailles:. From left to right-Colonel E. M. House, Secretary of State Robert Lansing, President Woodrow Wilson, Henry White, General Tasker H. Bliss. The photograph

For several days, beginning April 25, the rebels, who formed an inconsiderable part of the Irish people and were strongly condemned by the Nationalist leaders and party, held possession of streets and public buildings in Dublin. Incendiary fires did damage estimated at over $100,000,000, many peaceable citizens were killed, and the casualties among British troops and constabulary amounted to 521, including 124 killed, before the uprising was quelled and the "Irish Republic" overthrown, with the unconditional surrender of its deluded leaders, on April 30. Next day the remnants of the Sinn Fein rebels in Ireland surrendered, making over 1,000 prisoners, who were transported to English prisons. Military law had been proclaimed throughout Ireland and nearly a score of the leaders of the revolt, who were accused of murder, were tried by court-martial and summarily executed. The revolt was alleged to have been encouraged in Germany and also by Irish extremists in the United States, by whom the rebel leaders executed in Ireland were regarded as "martyrs."

BRITISH SURRENDER AT KUT-EL AMARA.

After holding out against the Turks at Kut-el-Amara, in Mesopotamia, for 143 days, General Townshend, the British commander, was compelled, through exhaustion of his supplies, to surrender his force of 9,000 officers and men, on April 28. This force included about 2,000 English and 7,000 Indian troops, many being on the sick list. The Turks recognized the gallantry of the defense and refused to accept General Townshend's sword. Many of the sick and wounded were exchanged, and it was planned to imprison the rest of the British force on an island in the Sea of Marmora.

ATTACKS ON VERDUN CONTINUE.

German attacks on the French lines at Verdun continued with the utmost vigor up to June 10. From time to time they resulted in small successes, gained at immense cost in human life. From May 27 to May 30 the battle raged with especial severity, this period marking the greatest effort made by the Germans during the whole of the prolonged operations at Verdun. The French stood firm under an avalanche of shot and shell, and drove back wave after wave of a tremendous flood of Teutonic infantry. The infantry fighting in this struggle was described as the fiercest of the war.

The total German casualties up to June 1 were estimated at nearly 3,000,000; the French at 2,500,000, and the British at 600,000, over 25,000 of the latter being commissioned officers.

General Joseph S. Gallieni, former minister of war of France, died at Versailles on May 27, universally mourned by the French, who regarded him as the saviour of Paris in the critical days of August-September, 1914, when he was military governor of Paris and commander of the intrenched camp.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE WORLD'S GREATEST SEA FIGHT.

British and German High-Sea Fleets Finally Clash in the
North Sea-Huge Losses in Tonnage and Men on

Both Sides British Navy Remains in Control of the
Sea.

After many months of unceasing sea patrol on the part of the British, and of diligent preparation in port on the German side, it came at last-the long-expected clash of mighty rival fleets in the North Sea.

It was on the misty afternoon of Wednesday, May 31, that Admiral David Beatty, in command of Britain's battle-cruiser squadron, sighted the vanguard of the German high-seas fleet steaming "on an enterprise to the north" from its long-accustomed anchorages in the placid waters of the Kiel Canal and under the guns of Heigoland.

The British battleship fleet was far away to the northwest, but the wireless promptly flashed the signal, "Enemy in sight," and as the battle-cruisers raced to close quarters with the tardy foe, and sacrificed themselves in the effort to hold him in the open sea, down from the north rushed the leviathans of the Mistress of the Seas, that were counted on to crush the enemy when the opportunity came.

But the early stages of the fight found the British battling against odds. Germany's mightiest warcraft were in the shadows of the mist, behind the cruiser scouts; destroyers swarmed around them, submarines appeared from the depths, and Zeppelins hovered overhead.

Gallantly did Admiral Beatty on his victorious Lion struggle to hold his own till the British battleships came up; but one after another his hard-pressed cruisers succumbed to weight of metal, until five of them had sunk beneath the sea, with all their devoted crews, before the near approach of Admiral Jellicoe and his dreadnaughts sent the enemy scuttling back to port, to claim a victory that startled the world for a day, only to disappear when the full extent of the German losses became known, and it was learned that the German high-seas fleet had lost some of its proudest units, that its losses, not only relatively but absolutely almost equaled those of the British fleet, and that the British remained in full control of the high seas, after scouring them in vain for further signs of the enemy.

THE BRITISH LOSSES.

The ships lost by the British in the battle included three battlecruisers, the Queen Mary, Indefatigable, and Invincible; three light cruisers, the Defense, Black Prince, and Warrior, and eight destroyers, the Tipperary, Turbulent, Nestor, Alcaster, Fortune, Sparrowhawk, Ardent, and Shark. The Wariror, badly damaged, was taken in tow, but sank before reaching port. All but one of its crew were saved.

The British dreadnaught Marlborough was also damaged, but succeeded in making port for repairs.

Following are particulars of the British cruisers sunk:

QUEEN MARY-27,000 tons; 720 feet long. Eight 13.5 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes. Complement, 900. Cost, $10,000,000.

INDEFATIGABLE-18,750 tons; 578 feet long. Eight 12 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes. Complement, 900. Cost, $8,000,000.

INVINCIBLE-17,250 tons; 562 feet long. Eight 12 inch guns, sixteen 4 inch guns, three 21 inch torpedo tubes. Complement, 731. Cost, $8,760,000.

DEFENSE-14,600 tons; 525 feet long. Four 9.2 inch guns, ten 7.5 inch guns, sixteen 12 pounders, five torpedo tubes. Complement, 755. Cost, $6,810,000.

BLACK PRINCE-13,550 tons; 480 feet long. Six 9.2 inch guns, twenty 3 pounders, three torpedo tubes. Complement, 704. Cost, $5,750,000.

WARRIOR-13,550 tons; 480 feet long. Six 9.2 inch guns, four 7.5 inch guns, twenty-four 3 pounders, three torpedo tubes. Complement, 704, all saved but one. Cost, $5,900,000.

The destroyers sunk were each of about 950 tons, 266 feet long, and carried a complement of 100 men. Only a few survivors were picked up after the battle.

THE GERMAN LOSSES.

The German losses, as claimed by the British, included two dreadnaughts, believed to be the Hindenburgh and Westfalen, each of approximately 26,000 tons, with a compliment of 1,000 men; the battle-cruiser Derfflinger, 26,600 tons, complement, 900 men; the battleship Pommern, of 12,997 tons, complement, 729 men, cost, $6,000,000; the new fast cruiser Elbing, of 5,000 tons, complement, 500 men; the cruisers Frauenlob, of 2,715 tons, complement, 264 men, and Wiesbaden, not registered; a number of destroyers, variously estimated at from six to sixteen, and one submarine rammed and sunk. Besides these, the battle-cruiser Lutzow, of 26,600 tons, was