ON THE SEA.

Taihape Daily Times, 18 March 1918, Page 5

ON THE SEA.

SEIZURE OP DUTCH SHIPS

AN HISTORIC" PRECEDENT.

NEW YORK, March 15.

The New York World” says the seizure of Dutch ships is fully warranted by international law. The “New York Tribune” says it may be taken for granted that Holland will not resent the seizure, though she may formally protest. Germany may threaten, dire consequences if Holland submits/ but is hardly likely to deliberately add Holland to her list of enemies. The seizure has a historic precedent in Germany’s seizure of neutral shipping in the Franco-Prus-sian war in 1870.

THE WOLF’S SEAPLANE.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

SYDNEY, this day

Speaking at the fete in aid of the battleplane fund, Mr. Cook referred to the German officer’s boast that the Wolf’s seaplane flew over Sydney, said worse things could have happened If it had it would have stirred Australians up and enabled the people to visualise the actualities of war, and they could re.alise what was happening on the other side of the wortd and ltt“jr aciivit.»* would in«' ase a hundredfold. LOSS OF BRITISH SHIPS. OWNERS GREATLY CONCERNED. LONDON, March 6.

Speakers at a meeting of the Chamber of Shipping urged that the Government should be more candid concerning the effect of the submarine war. Lord Inchcape, chairman of directors of the P. and O. Company, said that many parts of the country showed a curious lack of sense as to the realities of the position, The sinking of vessels was going on at a rate of which the people had no conception. Comments on the speech of Sir Eric Gcddes dwell on shipbuilding. . The Times, which describes the position as exceedingly grave, believes that the flagging output is not due to the failure of labour in the ordinary sense but perhaps to system which substituted official control for individual initiative It suggests a searching inquiry by a body representing the trade unions and the employers.

The Daily News l says that the main responsibility for the- mercantile marine situation rests with the Government. The policy of sccrocy, has been disastrous. If the 'public is allowed to see and understand the naked facts, it will not be slow to act.

The Morning Post remarks: The trouble in the shipyards l is more serious than the submarine war We believe that if the men in the shipyards had been honestly and fairly treated from the first by the Government, and the hordes of Government officials, they would cordially have responded. The Government must deal with the situation immediately.

The Daily Chronicle thinks that the, only way to get the workmen to realise how much depends on them is to give greater publicity as regards the progress of the German submarine war and the progress made in British and allied shipyards. HOW THE OTAKI FOUGHT. A fuller account of the sinking of the New Zealand Steamship Company’s steamship Otakl by the German raider Moewc on March 26, 1917, is given by Lieut. Bohr, an officer on board the latter ship. The Mocwe fired shell after shell at the Otaki (he says) whilst the steamer was hit several times, her gun was left undamaged, 'She had the luck to have an extremely good gunner on board, and soon he scored an "outer” which passed the signal bridge of the Moewe, without causing much damage. Shell followed shell, each side firing hard. I was' on my way along the deck, and just as I passed by the funnel I was flung down full length. I scrambled up to sec a large smoke cloud upouring from the side of the ship. Tho enemy had scored a bull’s-eye. Nobody thought of such a thing and even H, and G, discovered great respect for the English. A pigmy shell had pierced the belt and set the bunker coal on fire. The flamjess were spreading rapidly and water was pouring in from the hole in the hull. Then the prisoners broke loose. Our situation was far from happy, and all the time the enemy lay refusing to sink and firing shot after shot. Fortunately her -own condition and the weather prevented her aim from being effective. Half an hour later, hammered and torn by our guns but still firing, the Otaki sunk beneath the waves

CONCRETE SHIPS. FIFTY-FOUR TO BE BUILT. SAN FRANCISCO, March' 15 A reinforced concrete ship of 7000 tons was launched from a Pacific port to-day. Fifty-four others will be built without delay. dutch shipping seizure. DUTCHMEN INDIGNANT. Received 11.30. , AMSTERDAM, March 17. Dutch newspapers are indignant at the Entente’s pressure on the shipping question, but admit the Dutch attitude contributed to the Entente's action. The “Telegraaf” says the people are now gathering the fruits of the Government’s pro-German inclinations. COLLISION IN NORTH SEA. PASSENGER STEAMER AND WAR VESSEL. LONDON, March 16. The steamer Rathmore, with 640 passengers, collided with a naval vessel in the Irish Sea. Thitry-six are missing. Destroyers rescued the remainder. The Rathmore was towed to Dublin. Twenty survivors were injured. The North-Western Railway Company states there were no fatalities on the Rathmore. ■A telegram from Dublin states that possibly there were four casualties on the Rathmore, which was carrying 660 soldiers and 38 civilians, including women and children. She collided with a mine-sweeper in the darkness. One boat capsized, but the inmates were rescued. The soldiers and crew showed the coolest behaviour. Both vessels were towned to port.

THE U-BOAT AND PEACE

Received 11.30

AMSTERDAM, March 17

Admiral von Tirpitz, in a speech, said:'; “If the U-boat campaign was continued unflinchingly, we would get peace from England, ensuring Germany a naval base on the Flemish coast for ever.” MORE WRECKAGE ASHORE. WELLINGTON, this day. The Secretary of the General Post Office has received the following telegram from the Chief Postmaster at Napier:—“Postmaster at Wairoa reports lifeboat and buoy washed up on beach, thre, miles north of the mouth of the Wairoa river; American flag painted on buoy.” LOST FpOD SHIPS.

When this question was raised last winter the Admiralty had no difficulty in showing (says the Army and Navy Gazette) that the number of cargoes sunk between one British port and another was small. We had assumed that our supplies of food would, in any event, come along the familiar lines of communication, and disembark at the most convenient ports. Hence facilities for discharging perishable cargo in large quantities for cold storage and for transport, were concentrated in a few great distributing centres. But, all things considered, the number which failed to make the passage safely was surprisingly low, even before the seriousness of the situation was realised. It is a fine tribute to the Admiralty administration, both on land and sea; for, in the first place, cold storage and other means of dealing effectively at various British ports during the past year. This minimises risk by enabling a vessel to discharge her cargo at her port of call whenever possible. In the second place, since the convoy system has been adopted the decrease in the number of food ships lost has been appreciable. For instance, in October tht percentage fell to 0.7, while for the previous month the figures stood 3.3.