IN THE PACIFIC.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 275, 18 November 1914, Page 4

IN THE PACIFIC.

The German Pacific squadron of five ships, the Scharnhorst and the Gneisonau among them, has united at Valparaiso. There is no news of the pursuing ships of the Allies—the Canopus, the Japanese battleships, and others. They were all, we may presume from recent messages, headed in the right direction, comments the able military writer for the New Zealand Times. It is probable, as he says, that! the opportunity will be shortly given to the German press for another jibe at the success of the British, with the help of numerous Allies of other nations. Talk like that is a pinprick to the mistress of the seas. Another pinprick is the German statement that the Nuvnberg did all the damage to the ships of Admiral Cradork. We are triumphantly asked to believe that th»s cruiser, unarmoured. with her battery" of 4-inch "guns, settled two much

larger and more heavily armed British cruisers, one of them protected, in .32 minutes at the fabulous distance of 10.400 metres. It is just another pinprick'. It is notable in this connection that while the Leipzig and the Dresden are reported as having denied participation in the fight, nothing has been said of the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau, which were in port at Valparaiso. Moreover, the commander of the squadron distinctly reported that: his'ships had been engaged. He will! be able to supplement presently, for it cannot be long before he will give the German press another opportunity of commenting favorably on the correct' and generous treatment accorded by the British Navy to the vanquisheed. We appreciate very much what they said about the treatment of the Emden's captain, her wounded, and the other survivors of her crew. And we hope to be able soon to. say the same with regard to Commodore von Spee and his wounded and survivors. It is another way of saying that soon we hope to see the sea absolutely clear of all enemy ships. The last German squadron is facing the inevitable. The revelation of the machinery set in motion by the Admiralty, which caught the Emden and the Konigsherg, forbids Us to doubt it.