On the Sea

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 50, 4 February 1916, Page 5

On the Sea

THE CASE OF THE APPAM. WHO IS THE MYSTERIOUS RAIDER? REPORTED ESCAPE FROM KIEL CANAL. , APPAM'S RELEASE DEMANDED, "MY MEN MIGHT SHOOT!" United Press Association. • (Received 8-20 a.m.) London } February 3. Official.—Sir Cecil Spring Rice has demanded the Appam's release. .The Daily Telegraph's New York correspondent says that all night the Appam was closely guarded and nobody was allowed ashore. Lieutenant Berg and a prize crew of twenty-two-still control over 409 prisoners. Berg warned the newspaper men "not to come near as my men might shoot!" The reporter occasionally went alongside in boats and received scrappy confusing stories. The passengers mostly scoffed at the idea that the Moewe is from the Kiel" Canal, and hinted that she was from a Bulgarianport equipped by Bulgar s and Turks.. The passengers believe the chief reason she was brought across the Atlantic was to add to the embarrassment of Washington and give the idea that Britain's control of the seas was incomplete.

A QUESTION FOR THE LAWYER

THE POSITION OF THE PAS-

SENDERS.

(Received 8.20 ja.m.) Washington, 'February 3

It is possible a week will elapse before the ownership and status of the Appam will be decided. Lawyers are actively discussing the qeustion.

The. British Consul is arranging a crew for the return of the passengers to England, many of whom are without money. Th t > authorities sent coal and food aboard.

APPAM AS A WAR PRIZE.

THE INTERNATIONAL POSITION. UNSOLVED MYSTERY OF THE RAIDER. (Received 9.35 a.m.) Washingon, February 3. The Neutrally Board [earns that the German Embassy auflrfcis the Appam is a war prize and not a German auxiliary cruiser. The question now to be settled is whether the PrussoAmerican Treaty of 1828, whereby Germany and America agreed to admit each other's prizes to their ports overrides articles 21 and 23 of The Hague Convention, on which the British Ambassador relics. For the moment the United States is treating the Appam as a Briish ship, which has put into an American port flying the German Flag in charge of a man who says he belongs to the German Navy. The identity of the Moowe is still

undisclosed. A member of the crew states that lie road the name "Ponga" upon an armed and 'disguised merchantman which attacked the British ship.

THE CLAN McTAVISH. ENT DOWN WITH THE FLAG FLYING. BERG'S ENCAGING PERSONALITY. THE 1828 TREATY. New York. February 3. The Clan McTavish did not have a seasoned crew. They resisted desperately, but the ['aiders' heavier guns made short work of the cargo ship, which sunk with the flag flying. The Appam's passengers watched the fight two miles off. The Appam's steward states that six of the ■ Moewe's crew were killed. Lieutenant Berg, who is a short stocky little fellow with a pleasant smile, said he would have stayed afloat much longer only lie was short of supplies. Berg came to Norfolk believing the British warship was concentrated at New York. lie said ho also knew that tha Germans interned at Norfolk were having a good time. The German Embassy informed Mr Lansing that Germany relics on the IS2B Treaty giving the right to bring in enemy prizes. VALUE OF THE CARGO. Sydney, February 3. Besides her New Zealand cargo the Clan McTavish took large consignments of general cargo from various Australian ports, including 8126 bales of wool. The ship was valued at €IIO.OOO, and her cargo at £850,000. PRESS COMMENT. The- Westminister Gazette says: The fact that twenty German prisoners from the Camerooon s were on board was the reason the Appam was not sent to the bottom. There has j been no change of policy since the | Lusitania. incident, but the. Germans were not callous enough to -consign their own people to the cruel fate they prepared for otheV nationalities. CONTRABAND CASES. ARRANGEMENTS FOR CAPTURE. Stockholm, February 2. German warships, in April, captured a Swedish steamer bound for England. The police have now discovered that Ohlsson, a Swedish merchant, was acting in concert Meyer, a German buyer, and had arranged for the capture of the gfrods. Ohlsson and Meyer are being prosecuted on a charge of illegally exporting prohibited goods. DUTCH LINER MINED.

London, February 1

The Dutch liner Princess Julia una struck a mine in the North Sea and was beached at Felixstowe. The passengers and crew were saved.

GERMAN SUBMARINES AT CREEK BASES.

The Daily Mail's Athens correspondent reports nearly forty instances of enemy submarines having operated in Greek bays and islands. Three were seen at Zante and Corfu receiving petrol from a vessel.