IN APIA HARBOR.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 March 1916, Page 8

IN APIA HARBOR.

A QUARTER OF A CENTURY AGO. ' AN OLD INCIDENT RECALLED. HOW GERMAN "BLUFF" FAILED. Samoa was once the scone of typical German high-handed methods—and a hurried hack-down at a hint from a British man-o'-war that it would be foolish to act otherwise. The story is told in some early New Zealand dispatches to the Home authorities, and, being an interesting incident in our uneventful and peaceful history, it is, perhaps, worth recalling. In .January, 1889, Germany, because of disturbances by the natives of Samoa, found it expedient to proclaim a state of war in the islands. On 18th January the mail steamer Richmond, of 700 tons burden, owned by Messrs. Donald and Edenborough, of Auckland, from which port the vessel sailed, entered the harbor of Apia. One of the owners, Mr. Edenborough, was the bearer of a cablegram from the German Government to the German Governor of Samoa; and though Mr. Edenborouoh did not know it at the time, the message was an instruction to the Governor to proclaim a state of war in the islands. The following morning the ship's company learned quite unexpectedly that such a proclamation had been made. There followed a most harrassing and annoying experience for the commander of the mail steamer, Captain Hutton, and those with him. The German Consul, backed by the captain and crew of a German man-o'-war in harbor, the Adler, refused to allow the Richmond to unload; armed crews were put aboard her who searched through the whole of her cargo, beaking some of the cases open and boring auger holes into others, the reason for it all being that the Germans believed they had cause to suspect that arms and ammunition were aboard for the natives ashore. Pinnaces from the German warship, and guard-' boats from the shore, kept a watchful eye over tire comings and the goings to | and from the Richmond. Protests and complainings wore in vain. Some of the crew of the Richmond were given leave to go ashore to bathe, but the German authorities refused to allow them to land, except at the German wharf, which they refused to do, and were forced to return tc, the ship. When Captain Hutton heard of this he left the Richmond in a boat with the intention of proceeding on board a British man-o'-war lying in the harbor, the Royalist, to protest to the captain of that vessel. A German gunboat lying handy watching the Richmond, immediately got under way, and gave chase. Captain Hutton, however, went alongside an American man-o'-war, the Nipsie, and the German guard-boat, having watched him for some time, returned to the station it had left Captain Hutton then proceeded to the Royalist and had ae. with its commander, Captain Hands. But that liy the way. For a day or two negotiations proceeded in regard to the landing of cargo consigned to residents of the islands, without much success; until the climax suddenly came in an act of foolishness and high handed bluff on the part of the German authorities. AN IMPUDENT ARREST. At G o'clock on the morning of 2Ut January an armed German boat, with twelve men aboard, ran alongside the Richmond. The officer in charge of her asked to see the passengers. Capt. Hutton enquired the reason of such a demand. and the. German officer replied that he l.ad instructions from the Commandant to arrest one of the passengers. The passengers were, accordingly called np, and the German oflieer said the man they sought was not among them. He said he would search the ship, and Capt. Hutton retorted that he supposed lie must, for he had not the power to prevent him. Then a Gc-"ian sailor, through the bathroom porthole, espied a passenger (an Aucklander, and at that time the Town Clerk of Hamilton, Mr. Gelling, who was enjoying a holiday cruise), and shouted out that he it was whom they sought. Mr Gelling was accordingly called up. and was identified by one of the men as a Britisher who, the previous day, had visited the camp of Mataafa. "The German officer walked over to him, placed his hand on his shoulder," says the Record, "and told him that he arrested him for a breach of military law." Capt. Hutton and Mr. Kdenborough violently protested against an Englishman being arrested and forcibly removed from a British vessel, beneath the British flag. The German exhibited his I warrant,, and said: "I act by this authority; it is no use protesting or obstructing in any way. The man must go!" He told Mr. Gelling to get all his c'othes and belongings together, as he would have to go aboard the Adler, anil would not return to the Richmond. He hoped Mr. Gelling would go peaceably, because he had enough men to compel him, if necessary. Accordingly Mr. Gelling got into the German's boat, and was rowed to the Adler. His offence had been that he had gone to Mataafa's camp; but he had gone purely out of holiday curiosity —in fact, it had been arranged that » party from the ship should go out there the following day, under the gnid--1 anee of the head' bookkeeper of a German firm. The news of Mr. Ceiling's arrest was conveyed to the commander of the Royalist, who advised Mr. Edenborough to go to the British Consul and indue.: him to come aboard the Ecyalist i'.nci talk things over, as a serious outrage had been committed. Mr. Kdenuorouji went ashore in one of the Royalist's boats— .vhieh the Germans did not care to stop! He returned witli the Consul, and, as the result of a conference, Commander Hands said he would forthwith demand the return of Mr. Gel'ing. and. if necessiiry, "take steps to compel his return." Mr. Edenborough went a?liore, and sought permission to .so? Mr. Gel-

ling on the Adler, but the German Consul declared that he had Colling in his power, and lie intended to make an example of him—that he woum ue forwarded to Sydney, and possibly thence, to Germany. At any rate, he intended to deport him to Sydney and await further orders; if the German Government had made a mistake, it could pay for it. Mr, Edenborough was further pompously told that Mr. Gelling had been tried by court-martial, and found guilty of visiting Mataafa's camp—which was an offence against German military law. THE BACK-DOWN. Just at that moment the captain of the Adler arrived, and told Mr. Edenborough it would not be necessary to go aboard the Adler to see Mr. Gelling, as he had been released. '■' What do you mean?" said the German Consul, astonished and angry. "In the exercise of my discretion, I have released the prisoner. He is now aboard the Richmond," replied Captain Fritze. It appeared that Mr. Gelling had been court-martialled and convicted, but shortly afterwards a little conversation — the purport of which is not recorded, but which can be guessed—took place between the British and the German naval commanders, and as a result of this Mr. Gelling and his belongings were hurriedly placed aboard the Richmond. There subsequently ensued claims by the owners of the R.M.S. Richmond for compensation for delay and inconvenience, but these are matters outside the scope of this narrative, which is intended to recall one of those many littla incidents in the past which 'have helped to icaeh German sailors respect for the British Navy, and to apreciate "straight talk" from the British quarter-deck when the sea breezes gently waft it to them.