staff for any assistance they could render. In his enthusiastic and warm-hearted way, he said: "Everything we have is yours. I will turn the Embassy into the street if necessary"; and throughout the war he was a tower of strength to the cause. He gave us his time and the benefit of his great experience and personal prestige in establishing cordial relations with the various branches of the British Government and all this with such an absence of diplomatic formality, such courteous and forceful efficiency, and such cordial sympathy and genuine kindness that he immediately excited not only our sincere admiration but also our personal affection.
During all this period events of the utmost importance were taking place; it was within these four months that the convoy system was adopted, that armed guards were placed on merchant ships, that the first American troops were escorted to France, and that our destroyers and other warships began arriving in European waters. In July it became apparent that the strain of doing the work of a dozen men, which had been continuous during the past four months, could no longer be supported by my aide, Commander Babcock. When the destroyers and other ships arrived, we went through their lists; here and there we hit upon a man whom we regarded as qualified for responsible staff duty, and transferred him to the London headquarters. This proceeding was necessary if our essential administrative work was to be done. Among the reserves who were subsequently assigned to our forces many excellent staff officers also were developed for handling the work of communications, cipher codes, and the like. When the Colonel House Commission came over in October, 1917, I explained our necessities to the "skippers" of the two cruisers that brought the party, who promptly gave us all the desks and office equipment they could spare and sent them to Grosvenor Gardens.
In August, however, additional ships and forces began to arrive from America, and it became necessary to have larger quarters than those available in the Embassy for handling the increasing administrative work. At one time the British Government contemplated building us a temporary structure near the Admiralty, but this was abandoned because there was a shortage of material. We therefore moved into an unoccupied dwelling near the
