A TEUTONIC BLUNDER.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1916, Page 6

A TEUTONIC BLUNDER.

GERMAN* - AMERICAN* CON*. SPIRATORS, Writing on the subject of the Ham-burg-America conspiracy trial, the New York correspondent of the Central News says:— Teutonic thoroughness of detail, of which a great deal is being heard just now, was at fault in one instance brought out by the evidence offered on the last day of the Government's case. It appears that when the accused German citizens chartered and sent forth from Philadelphia the steamship Unita, laden with supplies for German warships—all of which the defence conceded —they overlooked the detail that the skipper of the Unita was a loyal British subject. Doubtless the name of the Unita's captain, Emil Olsen, had misled them. Olsen was born in Norway, but many years ago was naturalised in Canada. When the Unita started from Philadelphia he was told he was to clear for Cadiz, with his cargo, but as soon as the Delaware Capes had been passed a Hamburg-America supercargo, who had come aboard with a letter directing the skipper to, obey the supercargo's instructions, told him that what he really was supposed to do was to coal and supply German warships on the high seas. " 'Nothing doing,' I told the supercargo," said Captain Olsen in his evidence, which caused much laughter in court. "So the supercargo offered me SOOdol. to change my course. 'Nothing doing—nothing doing for a million dollars,' The third day lie offered me Ht.OOOdol. Nothing doing. So I sailed the Unita to Cadiz, and after we got there I sold the cargo and then looked up the British Consul."

Defending counsel suggested tli.lt the supercargo thought Olsen was a Norwegian or a Swede, and picked tty* wrong man to betray his country for IO.OOOdoI. '-He surely did,'' bellowed the skipper.