BACK FROM SAMOA

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2254, 14 September 1914, Page 6

BACK FROM SAMOA

MONOWAI AT AUCKLAND RETURNING TROOPS ON BOARD FIRST WEEK AT APIA ■, (By Telegraph—Press Association.) , Auckland, September 13. A number of the members of the Expeditionary Force returned to Auckland in Transport No. 2 (s.s. Monowai) on Saturday afternoon, direct from Apia. 'lho detachment comprised 95 officers, and men. Seventy-one volunteers from New Zealand 'formed tha bulk of the returning draft, thirteen being from Auckland, and' the balance from the oth Regiment and other Wellington units., Lieutenant L. M. Liardot (sth Regiment) - was in command, and the Force was accompanied by Surgeon-Captain A. C. M'Killop. of Wellington, and Chaplain-Colonel'W.S. f ßean, of Christ-church. Ten members of the Suva Rifle Association . (Legion of Frontiersmen), and fourteen -seamen of. H.M. survey ship Sealark, who joined the Expedition at Suva, for special'duties, comprised the balance. ' The New Zealanders who have returned were selected by their _ company coniamnders. and before their departure from Apia ' the detachment was addressed by one of the officers, who assured them that only : "hard luck" was responsible for their selection. The Auckland' men v,'ere paid off on Saturday, and in the ovening the Monowai proceeded south, with the Wellington men. i The Legion of Frontiersmen liave offered their services, and hope to be attached to the Auckland contingent of the' main Expeditionary Force;; . : The health of the men who returned' was reported to be good, and though a number of them were classed as, medically unfit, it was explained that he'one of them was suffering from .any serious illness. ■ A few of them expressed regret at their early return, 4 but feel-, ing common to all seemed to be one of satisfaction at the early prospect' of reaching their homes again. . . Hiving expected some resistance to the laidiug of the Force, the men consider thelcapturo of Samoa to have been "a Very tamo' affair," and: as their duties have been' arduous, 'they have suffered a good deal from .tropical heat. ' . i 1 The perennial complaint, about '.tlio small allowance of food was renewed by these men, their period of service, hav--ing been too short to remove their 'recollections of the three meals a day to which they are accustomed.. NoYpay has-been received since the meii ]oined ; the Force,.'and haying spent. any, e'a&h .they had with them, the men were unable to procure tobacco recently.->Mott of them declared that the lack oftimol:ing. requisites was the only real-, hardship they had experienced. , In,, thij connection several of the men said ,'thaV they had not received any share, of the pipes and tobacco presented.. ..toW the Force, which they understood had. not been opened when they left Apia. i

, At Apia.Accounts have already been -publish- ■ ed "of the capture arid' 'occupation-, of Samoa. The people of Samoa have i accepted the sovereignty of Great Britain .very quietly, and the week passed ■■ without any seriously disturbing inci- "■ dent. The military precautions against A any attempt to challenge.British posses* •' • sion have been completed. Entrench- < been-made-round the town bf"Apik', arid'tlie : force has been moved from its temporary quarters in buildings : to a camp on Apia racecourse. As Col- ;■ 1 onel E. Logan now occupies the position r of Military' Administrator, Lieut.-Col-onel Fulton'has been appointed to command the garrison forces. . ' ■> Shortly after the flag was hoisted the six warships, which were assembled to protect the.landing of the force, all left Apia, and no warships were seen from that time, or. during; ■ the'voyage to Auckland.. Though \the island was secured without opposition, the force has been in continuous expectation of an attack. At all times' they have carried the full equipment of active service, and have always had tlieir rifles and 'ammunition 1 ready for inst'ant use On two occasions the whole force has been roused in the early morning hours. The men did not learn the. reason for the first alarm. The second was. not without ail amusing aspect. Shortly after- 2 a.m. .on September 4, the alarm, was again given; and while the force paraded, it was learned that a vessel had been 'observed approaching the harbour, and the men waited for some time expecting to'hear that one of the German cruisers had arrived.. Then it was ascertained that the vessel was only tlis Monowai, returning from Suva with supplies. , .

Chinese Element of Trouble. Several thousands of Chinese coolies are employed in the plantations, and they are considered by the men to bo the only ; serious internal problem requiring the attention of the Administration. An established antagonism between the natives of Samoa and the Chinese appears to be the disturbing influence.. On several occasions small forces have been dotailed to suppress a rising by Chinese, and a rifle shot into tho air has so far been found to be an. effective means of dispersing the coolies. A coolie who entered the military lines one night and refused to halt at tho sentry's challenge was summarily shot. A detachment of Auckland men under Captain Neely] was entrusted with the duty of securing the wireless station. One of them returned on Saturday. He stated that three Germans were found at the station, and they were arrested and kept in the guardroom 'for several days. About a dozen Mausor rifles were also secured. The apparatus had been disabled by tho removal of parts, and the confusion of - connections. Capped sticks of dynamite were found among the machinery, and about the station, but all tho_ explosives were removed without mishap. A supplementary equipment was taken with tne expedition, but from tho fact that- tho Monowai did not send 1 any advice of her return, the men presume that the station had not then been restored to workiug ordor.

A gathering of natives in the native Tillage of Mulinur was addressed on the morning of September 1 bv Colonel Logan, who was accompanied by the Chief. Justice, Dr. Schubert. In the course of an impressivo speech, Colonel Logan informed the natives _ that tho Administration would be carried on as in the past. An account of tho , occupation .of Samoa by the British forces was given by the '.'Samoan Times" in its issue of September 5. It states that when four columns of smoke were observed on the horizon shortly after daybreak on August 29 tho first idea was that the.vessels were the Scharnhorst, Gneisonau, Nurnberg, and Titania, but as soon as it was observed that thero were moro than four vessels visible, it was known that either a British or a Japanese squadron was approaching. Soon the White. Ensign was visible, showing that the squadron was British. Tho Government will be carried on as hitherto. ' Regarding tho Administration, the 'journal remarks : "Wo are lucky to be under tho rule of Colonel Logan. Every inhabitant of theso islands must appieciato his urbane control." ALWAYS ON HAND. "My little boy John suffered with cole's and croup and Chamberlain's Cough Renedy was tho only mcdicinc that world Rive him relief," writes Mr. John Nortiii, Marrawah, Tas. "I consider Chaimorlain's Cough Remedy to be the best ijedi. cine for these complaints, and ma'e a Doint of always having it on haul."—