Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-13

COPYRIGHTED BIZ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 1885,,
APIA, SAMOA, April 27.-The ittle.town
of Apia has had the appearance of camp
ing ground during the last few weeks.
Since the hurricane occurred on March 16,
in which six men-ofwar and ten other YES
sells were wrecked or driven ashore, there
has been more people living here than was
ever before known in the history OF the
place. Nearly all the survivors OF the
three German war ships have gone to sgd
new. and the 600 American sailors who CON-
posed the crews of the Trenton and Van
dalia have been waiting for steamer to
be sent to Apia to take them to San Fran
cisco.
The guns of the Trenton and large
amount of stores from it and the Vandalia
have been saved. An attempt was made to
send the Nipsic home with temporary
rudder, in tow of the steamer Mawhera, but
it proved futile. Admiral Kimberly is
anxious to get the shipwrecked steamer back
to San Francisco, and is impatiently await
ing some action by the Navy Department.
KIMBER1Y's PRoCLAMATIoNs.
The most important political event which
has occurred here for some time was the
issuance of a proclamation by Admiral
Kimberly on April H., advising the
natives to put an end to the war which they
have been carrying on among themselves
for months The proclamation was in the
form of memorandum, and was as follows:
NOTICE-SAMOANs.
AP1A, SAMOA, April II, 1889.
aod ID
themselves have therefore, prepared pa
per that can be signed by such parties desirous
of obtaining peace and establishing order. Men
who love their country better than themselves
are patriots. Are there no patriots in Samoa?
/ should not like to believe it. This paper l
have written only applies to Samoans
themselves, not to foreigners and
s'r1bgers q b4STe people. pas' The sa@oans are are
brave but in keeping up this war they are not
wise If they wish TO preserve their country
become united. A mans life is but short, but
a nation lives many generations and the
country given by the great Father OF all should
be preserved by the fathers for their children:
because it is true 8. A. KIMBERLY,
Rear Admiral o. s. Navy, Commanding q. s.
Naval force on Pacific station.
A GENERAL AMNESTY.
The other proclamation was as follows:
To the Samoan people:
Samoans, your country is more important to
you than to strangers. therefore save it by be-
coming one people. It is the only way to save
it for your children. To this end mutual and
bearing arms. This amnesty should be hon
ored and kept in good faith by all concerned,
thereby bringing back the blessings OF
peace order and good will and prosperity to
all Samoans. Samoans, become brothers and
friends and bury war in SO deep grave that
it will sleep forever unseen and forgot. TO
ySS5 SDd IS
you will stand, divided you must fall. AS ye
s. A. KIMBERLY,
Rear Admiral United States Navy,
Commanding United States naval force on
Pacific station.
APIA, SAMOA, April H. 1883.
When Admiral Kimberly arrived here |
March II last he commenced to aequaint |
himself with the situation with a view to |
establishing peace between the two native |
factions. A storm interfered with his ef- |
forts, but during the last few weeks ne be- |
came convinced the natives desired peace, |
and that the present time was most favora- |
BILE for some preliminary action on his part. |
Accordingly he issued the above proclama- |
tions had them translated in Samoan and |
distributed all over the island.
THOROUGHLY DISTRIBUTED.
The proclamations were nailed upon trees |
in every part of Apia, and copies were sent |
to the German and British Consuls, to Ma |
taafa's camp at Magiagis and to Tamasese's |
camp at Suatuanun. Admiral Kimberly !
sent Capain N. b. Farquhar of the Tren- |
ton. to Suatuanun with instructions to lay |
the matter before Tamasese and request him |
to distribute circulars among his men. |
Captain FarQuhar was accompanied by |
Captain Mullan, of the Nipsic, and United |
States Vice Consul Blackjack. The party |
went to Suatuanun in a small boat, and |
received every courtesy by Tamasese. |
Mattea, Tamaseses' secretary and chief ad-
wiser, was absent at the time, but number |
of other chiefs were present.
A number of natives crowded around the |
house to learn what American officers had |
to say. Captain Farquhar explained his 1
mission and said the Admiral desired to es-
tablish peace between the two native fac
tions and to bring the war to q close. He |
also had proclamations read in the presence |
of all the natives, and he requested Tamasese |
to distribute them among his men. Tama- |
sese replied that he, too, desired to see the |
war close and promised to distribute the cir
culars. His secretary was away from the /
camp at present, but he would send for him |
at once and put his views in writing He |
promised to send letter to the Admiral in |
a few days.
MERELY PRELIMINARY.
Admiral Kimberly stated to the CORE |
spondent:
These proelamations are mere preliminary
steps, but felt that something must be done
at once to assist the natives in establishing
peace. commenced to make some effort in
that direction month ago, but after the storm
my attention was entirely taken up with other
matters. had interviews with the
German and British Consuls on the |
subject, but found they could do moth
ing to assist me so determined to issue
proclamations entirely on my own resonsibility
At least the present conditions are most favor
able. The heroic efforts of Mataafa's men
in saving the Americans lives and property /
during the storm certainly ought to impress the
Germans favorably and induce them to throw
no obstacle in the way of establishing peace
My hope is that the proclamations will have
the effect of drawing the two parties |
together for the purpose of discus
sing the situation and agreeing upon
some plan Of closing the war. There is GER
tainly nothing in my notice which either party
can object to. have prepared paper which |
refer to in one of the notices and which can
be signed by both parties desirous of obtaining
this paper public now, as in the present state
of affairs it amounts to nothing. 1t is to be |
used only in the event of the natives agreeing
upon
SOME PLAN OF ACTION.
NY desire is to assist the Berlin conference.
which will be in session soon, by bringing
about such condition of affairs here that a
government can be formed in Samoa Immedi.
ately upon the conclusion of the conference |
1 have advised Mataafa to remain perfectly
quiet and not to do the slightest thing which !
would in any way interfere with the plans for
the establishing of peace, or which would in
cite the animoslty Of the Germans. Tamasese
has promised to communicate with me, and I |
am looking for letter from him daily. have |
hopes that the difficulty may be settled without
further bloodshed.
Admiral Kimberly received letter from
Tamasese April %, in which the latter ex-
pressed his views upon the proposition to
establish peace. Tamasese signed himself
"King Of Samoa" He declined to make