The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-04-02
Especial TO THE NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Dispatc

WASHINGTON, April 1.-The disaster, its
cause and its effects, were the uppermOst
topics of conversation here to-day, both in
naval circles and among the general public.
The naval officers were 10th to advance
theories as to an event Of whose details
they were in ignorance, but it seemed a
common belief that if our vessels and those
of the Germans had been properly supplied
with coal, and had had their fires burning,
they might have steamed out To sea, as the
English steamer CalliOpe is reported to
have done, and rode out the storm in deep
water This view is merely an hypothesis
governed, of course, by the premOnitiOnS
the storm gave of its coming, the positions
of the vessels in the har0Or and the direc-
ton of the hurricane, but 1t IS very prob
able hypothesis. The British vessel was
anchored nearer the open sea than any of
the others, but the American crafts were
not much further in. 1t is certain they
were entirely without coal.
The Nipsic relieved the Adams at the
harbor of Apia in January, and has been
under strict orders to stay there and watch
the Germans. The Trenton started from
\ Panama, 1920 miles from Apia. and the
Eandalia from the Mare Island navy yard
at San Francisco,
-FOUR THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED MILES FROM
APIA,
early in the year, and both arrived there
the latter part Of February with their
bunkers and deck loads entirely cleaned
out. There was not a pound of coal to be
had, and the Nipsic was afraid to go to
Auckland to fill up her bunlers, because by
so doug she would leave the three German
ships III control of the naval situation. 1t
seems strange that there was no coal at
Page Page, the island of the group which
belongs to this country, only thirty mileK
from Apia. 1t is called a cOaling station,
but this seems to have proved a misnOmer.
The island was acquired in 1872 and it would
seem that this government through
its state or navy department would
have discovered in all the seventeen years
which have elapsed since, the strategic i'm
portance Of having an ample supply of coal
there. But the coal was not there, and the
nearest point at which 1t can be obtained Is
Honolulu, Zoo miles away. After the be-
ginning of the Samoan difficulties, Secre-
tary Whitney saw the
IMPORTANCE OF SUPPLYING OUR FLEET,
and Immediately took measures to do it.
The Vandalia arrived at Apia February %,
and the next day the store ship MOnOn-
gahela, loaded with stores and carrying
a large deck load of coal, left San Fran
cisco for Samoa She is a wooden sailing
vessel, and although looked upon as fast,
cannot make the run in less than fifty days.
This would carry her to Apia April -,
nearly a month after the hurricane There
is also a cargo of coal en- route from Phlla-
delphia by way of Cape Horn, but it VIII be
months before IL will arrive
From the conversation Of the naval Of
ficers, it is evident that the Englishman
who had first arrived on the station was
better supplied with coal than either the
American or German ships. The Caliope
stopped at Auckland and COaled on her way
to Apia, and had large supply on board. a
naval officer said, in discussing the disaster
to-day: MY theory of the English ship
escaping is that she was either under
banked fires or distilling. If the latter, it
was an easy matter to heave anchor and run
out of the harbor But our poor fellows
had to coal, and with the Germans had to
remain and face death as calmly as they
COULD
The German vessels appear to have been
no better off, and they had no coaling
station where they could expect to get coal.
THE HARBoR AT APIA
is a somewhat exposed one, opening
towards the north. 1t is reef harbor, per
fectly secure, unless, perhaps, in December,
January and February, when the north
wind drives in the heavy sea, rendering
approach and anchorage little trying TO
the navigator. Around the shore of the
harbor, which is shaped something like
horseshoe, extend The struggling SetLIS-
ments, consisting of about two
hundred houses of the whites, and
fine more numerous habitations of
the natives. A chart recently re-
ceiyed at the Examiners Washington
bureau from Apia shows the anchorage of
the different fleets, and easily suggests how
the disaster might have occurred.
THE BRITISH SHIP CALLIoPE
1,as anchored nearest the mouth of the har-
Dor. where with her fires up, she might
have got to sea- The American feet was
anchored farther in, where a gale from
either north or south would blow the yes
sells on the reef. With steam up, however,
it would have required but short time
to follow in the wake of the Calliope and
reach the open sea. The German feet was
in far the worst position, anchored well in
between coral reefs which threatened the
vessels with destruction if they dragged
their anchors in either direction. The Sa
moan islands
ARE OF VOLCANIC ORIGIN,
and apparently the remains Of extinct vol
canoes They are surrounded in most cases
by coral reefs. within which are the har-
bors. The months from December to
March are the hurricane months IN Samoa,
and her meteorological history is filed with
the stories of just such disasters as that OF
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