File No. 312.41/300.
The British Embassy to the Department of State.
memorandum.
The British Consul at Tampico reported on the 15th instant the existence of a serious state of affairs in that port; communication by railway was interrupted to the west, and active preparations for resisting an attack on the part of Villa were being made. Mr. Wilson stated that although things were quiet up till then he had thought [Page 866] it his duty to confer with the United States Senior Naval Officer and had made arrangements to send women and children afloat in case of real danger.
His Majesty’s Ambassador has the honour, under instructions from Sir Edward Grey, to request the Secretary of State to be so good as to ask the Secretary of the Navy to cause directions to be sent to the United States Senior Naval Officer in Mexican waters to give such protection as may be possible to British lives and interests and to afford refuge to British subjects in the event of danger.
Washington , November 17, 1914.