THE WAR IN SAMOA.

Waikato Argus, Volume VI, Issue 421, 13 April 1899, Page 2

THE WAR IN SAMOA.

SEVERE FIGHTING. AN AMBUSCADE. THREE OFFICERS AND FOUR MEN KILLED. OFFICERS DECAPITATED. [by telegraph]. Auckland, Last Night. The mail steamer Alameda arrived from Apia at five o'clock this motning. On Wednesday, the 22nd March, a party of Malietoa's followers came across the enemy near Mr Gurr's place and opened fire. The American guard hurried up with a machine gun and got in two rounds at the White Caps. On Wednesday, March 29, a party marched out. It consisted of 33 Americans under Lieutenants Laasdale, Sweet and Monaghau ; English, 24 marines under Lieuteoant Cave. The party had a Norderfeldt and a seven-pounder. Lieutenant Gaunt was in charge of the friendly natives. An engagement took place at Mangiangi. The Malietoa men, under shelter of our guns, rushed the village of Mangiangi. A great shout was heard and the natives called out, " We have taken heads for Malietoa." The village was burned. Strict orders had been given by the English and American officers that there was to be nocuttiog off of heads, but the lutuila people had only arrived in Apia the pre\ ious day, and did not know the order. There must have been a number of rebels killed. BATTLE OF VAILELE. ADESPERATE ENGAGEMENT. I left Apia on the warship Porpoise late on Good Friday night, and on Saturday just to the east of Apia there occurred the most tragical event of the war, when First-Lieutenant Freeman (of H.M.s. Tauranga), First-Lieutenant Lanßdale (of the U.S. fligship Philadelphia), and Ensign Monaghau (U.S. Navy), were killed and beheaded by the rebels.

Four sailors were killed, including the Philadelphia men Buller (coxswain, U S.N.). andEdsall (electrician, U.S.N.), and J. tons' and A. Prout, leading seamen from the Royalist. Corporal Foxworthy (R .M.L.I), from the Eoyalist, and R. Hunt, from the Porpoise, were wounded.

The Philadelphia's wounded include Wellington (coxswain), Andrews (fireman), Land (A. 8.), Johns (landsman), McCarthy (private). Ensign Monaghan acted like a hero during the affair, and the English officers here declare that his self-sacrifice and his bravery entitled him to the Victoria CroBS.

During the last ten days the European and native forces have made several expeditions inland in various, directions, with the idea of driving the rebels away from the vicinity of the town. I have described several of these expeditions, for I accompanied them, and the great complaint among our men was that the rebels would not make a stand. I recognised that in these expeditions our men ran a considerable r'uk owing to their having to traverse narrow roads edged with dense bush, where the enemy could be concealed. The expeditions were however, necessaty in order to keep the rebels as far as possible from Apia, and to prevent them making strong entrenchments, from which they could attack the town.

The expedition on Saturday wai for the purpose of clearing the country to the eastward of Apia. It wa» commanded by Lieutenant Freeman, and consisted of 110 British and American sailors, and 150 friendly natives. It marched along the coast as far as Vailele, and then turned back.

The Royalist went ahead of the expedition and shelled some of the country, but avoided sending shells into the German plantation, where the enemy happened to be. The expedition saw nothing of the rebels, though they burned two of their villages—Vailele and Tetofo. Instead of returning along the beach by the same route they had taken going out, it was decided to return by the main road, about threequorters of a mile inland. This course was taken because it was thought the enemy might ambuscade the beaoh track. A GERMAN ARRESTED. In passing through the German plantation, Lieutenant Cave spoke to Mr Hufnagel, the manager of the place, and asked him if he had seen any ot the Mataafa people about. Mr Hufnagel declared that there were no Mataafa people within miles. At the moment of writing Mr Hufnagel is under arrest for giving misleading information.

FAILURE OF THE MACHINE GUN. The fotce returned along their route until they reached a short cross-road. There they saw the rebels in large numbers, and opened fire with the Automatic Colt, the only machine gun, strange to say, that the force had with it. The rebels were in splendid position for being punished, but the Colt jammed. This gun had been taken to pieces the previous day by the armourer on the Philadelphia, and was eupposed to be all right, but it had not been tested. When it jammed, Lieut. Lonsdale ordered a halt, and he and the gunner spent nearly half-au-hour trying to put the gun right. They succeeded as they thought, and fired off a few rounds. By this time the rebels were supposed to have cleared inland. The force proceeded aloug the road and crossed tha Fagalii stream, and were passing through a cocoanut plantation, when Air Macdonald, who accompanied the expedition, caught sight of a white cap hiding behind a tree. He drew the atteution of Lieut. Cave to this, and Lieut. Cave ordered a bluejacket to watch the place and be ready to fire. Almost as soon as this order wa* given, the rebels poured in a volley, and the next moment our men were fired on from three sides. At this time the friendly natives were ahead, and had already dipped into the valley of the Vaevase stream, The American bluejackets came next with the gun, and next came the British sailors. SURROUNDED ON THREE SIDES. It is evident that during the halt to re* pair the Colt gun, the rebels, instead o 1 clearing inland, had formed an ambuscade surrounding our men to east, west and south. Lieut. Lansdale opened fire with the Colt, and it is pretty certain that if this gun had been in working order the rebels would have had a warm time, although they were in excellent positions and well concealed. The Colt, which could discharge 400 shots M minute, once more stuck, and became' absolutely useless. Lieut. Lansdale tried to get it to work, and whilst engaged at this task was shot just above the knee. The friendlies, who were descending into the Vaivaae stream, met a heavy cross fire. By some stupid arrangement these men had been given only a few rounds of ammunition—this, I believe, with the idea of preventing them wasting it by careless firing. They quickly expended what they had got, and then turned and came through the British and American lines, causing a good deal of confusion. A RETREAT NECESSARY. When it was found that the enemy wero in gieat numbers, and well posted, and seeing how dangerous it would be to push through the deep Vaivase Valley,

tho rott,jftt was sounded, and it was decided to make due north, through the scrub, to the beach. Soon after the retreat was sounded, Lieutenant Freeman, the leader of the expedition, was shot through the heart. He was just descending a slope, with the idea of collecting the stragglers. Two more steps would have placed him out of the line of fire. Two sailors tried to carry him, but he was a heavy man and the country was rough. All this time the tiring from the rebels was hot. They were up in cocoanut trees, and some were shot there. They were also behind cocoanut trees, and the bullets from the British and American rifles went slap through trees and rebels too. It is impossible to get a detailed account of events at'this time, for the forces were scattered through the scrub and could see little of one another, and by the time that descriptive accounts were thought of somo of the principal actors in the scene were dead. HEROIC ACTIONS.

Lieut. Lansdale, Ensign Monaghan, and a few British and American sailors were together, when the former was shot through the leg. Ensign Monaghan and two American sailors tried to assist their officer; then one of the sailors was shot. Lansdale bade the other retreat and join his comrades, and the man did so. Then a Porpoise bluejacket named Hurat came up, and heard Lansdale urge Monaghan to leave him. " Leave me, Mone,"he said, "I'm done for; " but Monaghan stuck bravely to the wounded man Then a shot struck Lanidale through the heart, and he fell. Brave Ensign Monaghan, who stuck by his comrade to the death, moved a few steps away, when he, too, was shot through the heart, and met the fate of a hero.

Lieut. Lanadale, with the gun's crew, was leading when the engagement commenced, and when the retreat began he and his party were naturally in the rear and consequently exposed to the heaviest tire. The line of retreat was wisely chosen, it was the nearest route to the beach. Had our forces continued to advance, they would have been exterminated, for the enemy would hare had them at their mercy, as they were well sheltered, whilst our men were exposed. Mr Macdonald, who guided a stretcher party through the bush towards the sea, was asked to push on and apply for reinforcements. He hurried forward, caught a horso at Matautau, and rode in to Apia, where he met Captain White of the Philidelphia, and told him the position of affairs. Captain White at first doubted that reinforcements were required and asked what officer had sent the message. Mr Macdonald replied that word had been passed to him by the men. Then he told Captain White that the rebels had possession of the gun, " Got my gun," said the Captain, and he immediately signalled for reinforcements. The wounded began to pour into the American Consulate where Dr. Beatty of the Royalist, was in charge of the base hospital. The medical arragements seem to have been well chosen. Dr. Lang, of the Philadelphia, accompanied the expedition. When the fighting commenced, an English marine was knocked over with a bullet. Dr. Lang seized the man's rifle and blazed at the enemy right merrily, then he began attending to the wounded, and bandaged many of those who had been shot. It was about 5 o'clock on Saturday night when the wounded began to arrive at the Consulate, and Dr. Beatty was kept very bußy. He is a cool and skilful man or he could not have attended to bo many people so promptly as he did. Mrs Oshorn, wife of the American Con-sul-General, assisted splendidly, and so did Sick Bay Steward Perrot, from the Tauranga; then Dr. Lang arrived, and all the patients were well attended to. HEADLESS BODIES RECOVERED. Late on Saturday night, Tamasese, the Vise-king, went out with about 350 Malietoi warriors to search the battlefield for the missing officers and men, and early on Sunday morning they brought in the bodies of seven men. Lieut. Freeman, Lieut. Lansdale and Ensign Monaghan, were headleus. The rebels recognising them as chiefs, had decapitated them. This may cause a thrill of horror and repulsion, but it is Samoan custom to cut off the heads of those slain in battle, and has been the custom of many nations. Was not the head of General Gordon cut off when Khartoum fell to the Mahdi. The ears were taken from the dead Bailors, and it is supposed that both e*rs and heads were taken to Mataafa. The French Roman Catholic priestß, who have made many appeals for the Mataafa people, volunteered to go in search of the heads, and late in the afternoon they brought back the three heads wrapped in mats. There were seven dead bodies lying at the American Consulate on Sunday morning, three officers and four men. They were buried that day at Mulinuu, where, already four of our sailors have found their resting place. All Apia followed the sad funeral. The American chaplain read the English burial service over the common grave, for officers and men were buried in coffins in one place. The French priests chanted their prayers and the American bugler standing by the grave sounded " The Last Peal."

STORIES OF THE FIGHT. There are many stories being told of the Vailele tight, but I have only time to relate one, this of Hunt's wonderful escape. Hunt is an A.B. on the Porpoise. During the fight he was knocked senseless either with a club or the butt of a rifle. His right ear was cut off, and the rebels had commenced to cut off the other when a shell from the Royalist exploded near the natives. Hunt regained his senses and rushed down to the beach, where he was picked up by an armed Royalist boat, and now, though lacking an ear, is doing well. Two things seem to have gone against us at the battle of Vailele. The first was tho breakdown ot the automatic Colt, and the second was the absence of any other machine gun. The rebels cannot stand against the machine guns, and had the Colt been able to send in its hail of bullets or a Nordenfeldt to pour out its stream ot lead, the rebels would have suffered most severely. It is not definitely known how many Mataafa people were killed, but from Tamasese's reports and from the reports of the French priests, both of which went over the field of battle, it is thought that at least 30 rebels were killed and twice that number wounded, WHITE MEN LEADING THE REBELS. It is commonly reported among the British and American sailors that two white men, both of whom were said to be Germane, were assisting the rebels during the fight , , , . , m On Monday the Philadelphia, the laurauga, the Porpoise, and the Royalist began tojgWl the localities near Apia, wherp4j£-rebela were supposed to be, and f'.i/some hours every house in Apia shook with the thunder of big guns. It is not known what damage was done by the bombardment, for no one can go into the rebel country now, though it is only on the outskirts of Apia. SYMPATHY WITH THE REBELS. Mr H. J. Moors, who has made himself unpleasantly notorious iu Apia by his sympathy with the rebels and his threatening letters to British officials, is now likely to get into serious trouble. A sworn affidavit has been handed into the authorities to the effect that Moors was seen in the rebel camp last Sunday night, and that he had direct communication with Mataafa, the rebel chief. The military authorities have burnt several houses near the British and American Cousulates iu order to spoil

the cover. They include Gebauer's, Coe's, part of the U.S.S. Company's store, sheds, and other places. Three Malietoa men, who escaped from the rebels yesterday, declare that Mataafa intends to make a sudden raid on Apia. Last night was supposed to be the time chosen.

THE PRESENT ASPECT IN SAMOA. ANTI-GERMAN FEELING. The present aspect of affairs in Samoa is serious. Nearly all the Europeans are gathered in Apia. The rebels come nightly close to the town, and there is not a sufficient force of Europeans here to hold more than a portion of the town against a sudden night attack. There are now three British and one American warships in the harbour, and they are capable of blowing every Samoan in the whole group to pieces in the space of half an hour, provided that the Samoans could be seen in sufficient numbers. But the rebels take very good caretoktep out of sight, and they may go on for an indefinite time potting British and American guards at night time, or laying ambuscades for expeditions, burning or looting European houses, and making attacks on undefended parts of Apia. I have said from the beginning that Apia was one of the worst places possible to defend, and it is feared, beyond a doubt, that rebels can come right into the main street without being seen. The town fringes the beach, and the warships would actually have to shell the houses before they could reach the enemy. The rebels scatter in all directions, and are hidden by the dense bush, consequently shelling them can only be done by mere guess work. It is certain that the rebels are in constant communication with people in Apia, both Germans and Samoans, and they are well-advised of every movement of the warships. It is stated on very good authority that there are trained Germans assisting and directing the rebels. The feeling among the British and Americans here against the Germans is intense, and if on'y some of the numerous charges of German complicity with the rebels can be proved, severe punishment will be insisted on. I saw a British resident, a most good-natured and highly respectable citizen, knock a German sympathiser twice his own size, flat on his back and then threaten to throw him downstairs.

It seems at present as if the rebels were as Btrong. if not stronger, than ever. It is unfair to put warships against them, for warships are not built for bushfighting, and it is simply murder to send small forces of sailors into the bush to operate against the enemy. I know no better plan than to employ a strong force of picked Maori volunteers, officered by New Zealanders who have had experience in native fighting. The methods of the Samoan and the Maori are similar. But the Maori is a lorn; way a better man than the Samoan, and has been used to rougher country than this.

The present state of things cannot be permitted to exist. The rebels must be severely punished or Englishmen and Americans must leave the islands altogether, and this would mean German annexation.

THE PROGRAMME OF THE AUTHORITIES. The authorities here have outlined a plan of future operations, which shows that they recognise the serious position of affairs.

The Royalist is to go to Tutuila and to Falealili to pick up every Malietoa supporter capable of bearing arms. These are to swell the army of friendly natives here.

I believe that another warship is to be asked for to bring arms and ammunition for the Friendlies, and also to request the services of officers and men from Sydney or Auckland. It is calculated that in a short time it will be possible to put 1000 armed warriors in the field, and if these are assisted by officers trained to bush warfare, then it will .be possible to make short work of the rebels.

ACTION IN NEW ZEALAND. THE TUTANEKAI TO BE IN READINESS. 500 MEN READY IN 48 HOURS. (BY TELKGRAPH—PEESS ASSOCIATION). Wkllington, Last Night. The Government have given orders for the Tutanekai to return at once to Auckland from Awanui. She could take 200 men at a pinch, and the Premier states 500 would be in readiness in 48 hours if there were steamers to take them. He has not renewed his offer to the Home Government, as if the men are wanted they are aware the New Zealand Government is prepared to supply them and there are any number ready to go. He expects the English Government will probably cable here if they desire to avail themselves of the recent offer.

ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS Auckland, Last Night. The American Marine Also, who was struck at the opening of the bombardment by a shell from the Philadelphia, died of bis injury. It is reported that 40 Mataafa native* were killed and wounded in the Vailele engagement, H.M.S. Poi poise destroyed 50 boatß, and several villages on the Savaii were destroyed. One friendly and two native women were wounded while acting as water carriers to the expedition.

MALIETOA TANU CROWNED KING GERMAN OFFICIALS ABSENT. Malietoa Tanu was crowned King o* Samoa on Thursday, March 23. Admiral Kautz and Chief Justice Chambers were present, and also the American and English Consuls, Capts. Sturdee and Tories. When the flag was raised the band struck up the Samoan anthem, " Hail Columbia," and " God Save the Queen." The Philadelphia and Porpoise saluted the flag. None of the officers of the Falke were present, no salute was fired, and the German Consul-General took no part in the proceedings.

DETERMINED TO FIGHT TO THE END. Father Forester has been endeavouring to induce the Mataafa party to accept the terms of Admiral Kautz's proclamation. It was reported to the Admiral that although Mataafa himself is willing to give up, his chiefs have decided not to do so, but to fight to the bitter end. INSTRUCTIONS FOR ADMIRAL KAUTZ. Mr Dillingham, American Consul at Auckland, states that he sent by the Hauroto to Samoa a number of cables he had received from the Secretary of State for the United States and the Secretary of War for the United States to the American Consul-General and Admiral Kautz. RELEASE OF HUFNAGEL. Private letters state that Hufnagel, the manager of the Oerman plantation, who was arrested on a charge of alleged misleading inlormation, and sent as prisoner to H.M.S. Tauranga, was subsequently released, as the charge stated could not be supported by evidence.