BOMBARDMENT OF PAPEETE

Hokitika Guardian, 24 December 1918, Page 3

BOMBARDMENT OF PAPEETE

Tlie war being over we are able publish an interesting account of tl bombardment of Papeete, chief town i he island of Tahiti, (says the Aucklau Star). . “Early one morning in Septum be 1914, the German cruisers Gneisena and Scharnhorst appeared off Tahiti. A first the inhabitants of the islands too them to be British or American men-ol , war, hut the absence of any flags Ilyin; held them in doubt. It was just übou ! the busiest time of the day in Papeete , where the daily market is held befor breakfast, and everybody especially th Chinese, who are numerous in tlu town, were agog with excitement. Nov the first thing that Governor and thosi in authority wanted to see was the na tional flag under which those ship: served, and it* was not forthcoming.. In stead a wireless mesage was receive! to the effect that the cruisers were German, and were calling for the purposi of reprovisioning and coaling. Ihe answer was a salvo from the fort on the hill which commanded the only entrance through the reefs, which surround the island, to the harbour. Needless to say, the cannon in the fort was ancient, and the shot hardly reached the reef, let alone the warships, which were lying outside about a mile distant from the town. At this the German officers got very angry, and with Teutonic revenge replied with their modern gnus, hor halt an hour, staining about 7 o’clock they rained shells into the town. Ihe inhabitants—French, Chinese, English, American, and natives —got out of Papeete as fast as their legs could carry them, and only the Governor and the military, authorities of the island ' were left. 'Hie French gunboat Zelec was lying alongside the wharf next to the captured German cargo steamer the Walkure. One or two shells It it her, and she was under the water in no time, the hull of the Walkure was also badly damaged and she began to fill with water.

Meanwhile, the large store of coal on shore hfld, by the Governor’s orders, been, set on fire, so that in ease the Germans landed it would be of no use to them, and with petrol sprinkled over the pile it was soon a big blaze. The Governor had kept cool and collected while events were shaping on, while the military commandant resolved to rc sist tile Hun to the uttermost, and for that purpose he got a large, firing squad of infantry and marched them down to tin 1 esplanade. When they arrived there it was found that there was no protection for a dog, never mind a soldier, if the German gunners were to fire in tli&t direction. The commandant was at a loss what to do, and while he was thinking it over the Governor arrived and an altercation between the two ensued. The end of it all was that the troops were removed from the danger zone. Abotu half-past seven the bombardment ceased, the centre of the town comprising a number of wooden buildings. chiefly stores and shops, being utterly laid waste. Fortunately, the cathedral, bank, and most of Max welt and Donald’s stores, the principal buildings in the town, escaped. Strange to sav, the death roll was light—a native and a Chinaman being the only ones to lose their lives.