The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-03-18

No information had been received
at the Department Of State or that
Of the Navy. In Washington the pre-
vallng opinion seemed to be that
the report, while probably exagger-
ated, was substantially correct.
Lieut.. John NJ Hawley, the Exc
cutiye Officer of the Nipsic, who had
been detached from that vessel and
/ 5auJueu at Auckland TO forward in
,OrmatIOn to the Government, re-
urned to Samoa on the steamer
/ Aariposa and rejoined his ship.
Commodore SIcard, Chief of the
| Bureau of Ordnance, said the Off
GERS of the Nipsic ought to have
! been informed as to whether the
/ Olga was supplied with torpedo
/ tubes, and if she was it was the duty
/ Of the commander of the Nipsic to
/ keep away from her. The German
/ Navy use the SchwartzkOpf torpedo,
I only made in Germany, carrying
ninety three pounds of gun cotton
! equal III force to 300 pounds of gun
! powder. It travels at the rate of
/ twenty-five knots per hour, and if
/ the Nipsic was within a short dis
lance of the Olga it would have been
/ impossible for her to have got ont of
/ the way The Nipsic has a torpedo
tube of the old type. The COmmO-
dOre thought that the Vandalia and
I Trenton should be heard from if
anything had happened to the Nip
/ sic admiral Kimberly, the com
/ mander Of the Trenton, is cOur-
| ageous officer, and was with Far
ragut as his Flag Lieutenant all
| through the war. He will stand no
nonsense, and if there is any trouble
Will give an excellent account of
himself. He has a brave set of Off
GERS with him on the two ships"
The Commodore believed the Amer
lean vessels would not be a match for
the German at long-range, owing to
the superior guns of the latter.
Commodore Harmony doubted the
sinking Of the Nipsic, as he did not
believe the news if true could have
been kept so secret. He said the
commander of the Nipsic had the
discretion to act as reported If he
Judged the circumstances demanded
it. In case of war America could
only harass the German merchant
marine, as Germany has no colonies
and is not vulnerable In any way.
The United States could not buy
ships of war because it was against
international law for neutral powers
to sell and there were none to sell.
Admiral Porter did not believe the
report. He had noticed many SEN
sational reports in the German
papers regarding America. If an
eleven inch shell exploded between
the decks of the Olga, it is not likely
she was In a position to have used
torpedOes on the Nipsic.
Secretary Blaine said the report
Of a conflict was unworthy of Gre
dence He regarded it as a mere
stock jobbing rumor, having no
foundation whatever.
Several Berlin papers on March
Sth announced that the Samoan Con
ference would open about the 18th
inst
Capt. Watson, I. S. N, did not
believe any such fight as described
could have taken place. If Capt.
Mullan took the offensive, he could
have chosen his own position, as
near to the Olga as he could get
without fouling, and have trained
certainly four, and perhaps five,
guns on her. and had his torpedo
spar ready. If he had done so, he
must have sunk her, even if de
sTroyed himself. If he failed to do
so he must have been criminally
careless, so much so that I am utterly
unable to believe this part of the
story"
Mrs. GTullan is very i'll, being ut
terly Frustrated by the report from
Samoa with regard to her husband
and the destruction of his ship.
Officers of the various garrisOns at
the port of San Francisco generally
disbelieved IN the story of the Olga
and Nipsic. There was a general
opinion that at present San Fran
cisco was practically defenseless, and
the American merchant marine at
the mercy of warships like the Olga.
What IS calculated to create doubt
of the report in Honolulu is the fact
that the steamer Zealandia brought
private letters from the Vandalia at
Samoa and a shipwrecked crew who
reported that all was quiet, and the
Zealandia called at Tutnila on March
lst, only two days before the rumor
Of the fight first leaked out in Ger
many, which was at KEEL on the Sd
inst. As it is three or four days'
steaming from Samoa to Auckland.
it looks improbable that the reported
fight could have occurred in time to
have been telegraphed from Auck-
land on the Sd. The Alameda ar
rived at Auckland on that day, and
if she had carried the news the world
would quickly have known it. Per
haps the attack on Mataafa's camp
was appointed for day soon after
both the mail steamers should have
passed, and the rumOr started in adj
vance Of any possible trouble as a
feeler of the American as we'll as the
German pulse.
0RRESpONDENEF