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STATUS OP THE APPAM

BRITISH SHIP OR GERMAN PRIZE? Washington, February 3. The Appam's passengers have been allowed to land. The Neutrality Board learns that the German Embassy admits that the Appam is a-prize of war, and not a German auxiliary cruiser. The question now to be settled is whether the PnissoAmerican Treaty of 1828, by which Germany and America agreed to admit each other's prizes to their ports,'overrides Articles 21 and 23 of The Hague Convention, upon which the British Ambassador relies. ,For the moment the United States is treating the Appam as a British ship which put into an American port flying the German flag, in charge a man who says he belongs to the German Navy. New York, February 3. The German Embassy has informed Mr. Lansing (Secretary of State) that Germany relies on the treaty of 1828, which gives Germany the right to bring in enemy prizes. • London, February 3. Official.—Sir C. A. Spring Rice (British Ambassador) has demanded the Appam's release.

CAPTIVES PERMITTED-TO LAND STATEMENTS ABOUT THE RAIDER. New York, February 3. Cheers greeted the British officials in the launch approaching tho Appam to inform the fcaptives that permission to land had been granted. Tho German guard vainly tried to quell t|re outburst of joy. . <:■ The captives eagerly demanded tobacco and war news. Nine of them boarded the launch, including Sir Edward Merewetber (Governor of Sierra Leone) and the six captains of the sunken vessels. Sir Edward Merewether states that the raider was a steamer of about 4000 tons. The captains declare that she was formerly called the Ponga. They saw the name on a plate, and also on papers in the commander's cabin. They also observed that the hold was fitted out for carrying fruit. She had a crew of several hundred, and the decks were strengthened to carry a heavy battery. She had four guns forward and two aft. Sir Edward Merewether says that the raider approached the Appam, and when she was within .200 yards the forward and aft railings disappeared magically in sections ; They were composed of accordeon-like strips of steel, which dropped into slots upon the pressure of a button on the bridge. Square structures, which had been mistaken for deckhouses, collapsed, and exposed 4-, inch or 6-inch guns, with the crews already at stations. It was useless to ' resist, especially when the German prisoners were released and armed to act as guards, and forty-three armed Germans came aboard the Appam. The fight with the Clan MacTavish was fine, though one-si(Jed. It lasted fully half an hour. The tiny 6-pounder on the Clan MacTavish continued to bark long after the German shells had set the vessel on fire in half a dozen places. Finally the Germans discharged two torpedoes, which both struck the Clan MacTavish. She heeled over in a short timo and disappeared. AN ARTFUL DODGER FLIES SIGNAL OF DISTRESS. 'Rec February 4, 8.45 p.m.) London, February 3. . Sir • Edward Merewether, continuing his narrative, said:—"Tho way tho raider caught us _ was artful in the extreme. When sighted on the horizon the raider was flying tho red ensign at tho forepeak as a distress signal. Captain Harrison bore down. Wn saw tho flag at the stern drooping, and alt took it for granted that it was the Union Jack, while really it was the German navy ensign, which we found later was

weighted in order to make it droop, and deceive ug. Wo had three-inch guns astern, but were so surprised when the raider unmasked that it wsb impossible to do anything. Our captors ware

courteous throughout, perhaps due to Lieutenant Berg s example. The raiders stood by for two days, when the Clan MacTavish was sighted hull down, and wo kept our course, the raider looR"ing like an inoffensive lumbering freighter. Some sharp sailorman must liavo detected her identity, for a shell fcrcamed across the water, and struck' fifty feet asteni; then tho raider's deceptive rails fell aud the fight was opened. When the Clan Maclavish disappeared the Germans rowed to the scene with the utmost speed, and picked up the badly injured, and wo could not resist tho impulse to give them a rousing cheer. Tho survivors and even the captors smiied out ungrudging approval." One skipper says he is sure the raider was not tho old naval Moewe. _ The Germans boast that if tho Appam is ordered to depart she will be taken outside the three-mile limit and sunk. APPAM CLOSELY GUARDED "MY MEN MIGHT SHOOT!" , London, February 3. lho "Daily Telegraph's" New York correspondent says that all night the Appani was closely guarded, and nobody was allowed ashore. Lieutenant Berg and the j>rize crew of 22 still have control over 409 prisoners. Lieutenant Berg warned the newspaper men not to come near. "My men might shoot 1" lie said. The reporters occasionally ent alongside the boat, and received scrappy and confusing stories from the passengers, who mostly scoffed at the !pi i- 11 ' 10 Moewo was from Kiel. J hey hinted that she came from a Bulgarian port, and was equipped by the Bulgars and Turks. The passengers believe that the chief reason she was brought across tho Atlantic was to add to the embarrassments of Washington, +i 'c 10 ea liritfiiii's control of the seas was incomplete.

CAPTIVES RELEASED. BY OFFICIAL ORDER, (Rec. February 4, 9.50.p.m.) • Washington, February 3. J-D 0 Stale Department has ordered the release of everybody aboard the Appam excepting the prize-crew. ORIGINAL CREW DETAINED. A DOUBTFUL STORY.' (Reo. February 4, 11.50 p.m.) < •pi ew York, February 3. lne Appam, after landing passengers, voyaged to Newport News. The Germans detained Captain Harrison and tlie original crew, also the gun-layers, declaring that by their resistance they forfeited their right to 'liberty.' [This message does not square with the statement of Sir Edward Merewether.] QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP. WILL TAKE WEEKS TO DECIDE. Washington, February 3. It is possible that weeks will expire before the ownership and status of .the Appam is decided. Lawyers are actively discussing the question. The British Consul is arranging for the crew and passengers to return to England.' Many are. without money, and the authorities have sent coal and food aboard. declared a prize __ BY AMERICAN AUTHORITIES. (Reo. .February 4, 11.50 p.m.) Washington, February 3. It is officially- announced that- America regards the Appam as a prize. SANK WiTH HER FLAG FLYING THE CLAN MACTAVISH. New York, February 3. The Clan MacTavish had an unseasoned crew;, but they resisted desperately.' Ihe raider's heavier guns made short work of the carjjo vessel, which sank with her flag flying. The Appam's passengers watched tie fight, from two miles off. The Appam's steward states that six of the crew of the Moewe were killed. . Lieutenant Berg is a short, stocky little follow with a pleasant smile. Ho said he would have stayed afloat much longer only he ran short of supplies. Berg came to Norfolk (Virginia), believing that British warships were concentrated off Now York. He also knew that tho Germans interned at Norfolk, were having a good time.

CLAN MACTAVISH'S CREW. SEVERAL LASCARS KILLED. (Rec. February 4, 11.50 p.m.) London, February 3. . The ownors of tho O.an MacTavish learn officially that all, the European crew are safe and prisoners. Several Lascars were killed and four, wounded. IDENTITY OF THE MOEWE STILL UNDISCLOSED. Washington, February 3. The identity of the Moewe is still undisclosed.. A member of, the crew states that he read the name "Ponga" upon the tinned, disguised • merchantman which, attacked the British ships. [The only steamer named Ponga is a Russian vessel of 161 tons, belonging to the Onega Wood Company.] SOLUTION OF THE MYSTERY. (Rec. February 5, l.a.in.) Sydney, February 4. Naval circles here believe tlia't Uhe Appam's mysterious capturer was the patrol boat Paula, which was interned iny Portuguese West Africa, and was supposed to have escaped. NO CHANGE IN CERMAN POLICY. WHY THE APPAM WAS NOT SUNK. London, February 3. The "Westminster Gazette" says that it is evident that the presence on board of twenty German .prisoners from tho Cameroons was the reason the Appam was not sent to the bottom. There has been no change in German policy since the Lusitania incident, but Germany is not callous enough to consign her own people to the cruel fate she has prepared for other nationalities.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160205.2.30.16

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 5

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,387

STATUS OP THE APPAM Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 5

STATUS OP THE APPAM Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2687, 5 February 1916, Page 5

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