The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1889-03-18
WAR AT SAMOA.
An Engagement Between the
Nipsic and the Olga.
THE NIPsIC SINKS WITH ALL
ON BOARD.

The United States has been stirred
from one end of the country to the
other by a report telegraphed from
Germany that an engagement had
taken place at Apia between the I.
S. S. Nipsic and the German cor
vette Olga. The dispatch reads as
follows:
1.-The German corvette Olga bonn
barded Mataafa's camp. The Cap
tain Of the American man-of-war
sent a protest, which was disre-
garded. He then opened fire on the
Olga, sending a shell between decks,
doing great damage. The Olga fired
a torpedo at the American ship,
blowing her up with all hands"
This news is supposed to have
come by way of Auckland, and it
was first published in the Breslau
Zeitung.
1t is difficult to confirm the re
port, and no official information has
been received at Washington. This
is not surprising, for the Germans at
Samoa would have taken care that
American officials had not oppor-
tunity to send dispatches, and the
only American vessel then at Apia
was the Nipsic IL Bismarck had
received official information, he
would naturally keep it a stIict
secret, and the only means for it so
leak out would be by a private tele-
gram as reported. Later informa
tion is anxiously looked for. When
the occurrence Is reported to have
taken place, neither the Vandalia
nor the Trenton could have reached
Apia. The attack upon Mataafa by
the Germans is only the perform
ance of the revenge that had been
previously outlined by Bismarck.
Herr Stuebel, formerly Consul
General at Copenhagen, has been
sent to take the place vacated by the
recall from Samoa of Consul knappe.
Herr Stuebel had an interview with
Bismarck, and left for Hamburg un-
der instructions to reach Samoa by
the quickest route. Stuebels mis-
sion Is a special one, and if his pres
ence in Samoa is followed by hav
mOnized relations with America he
will obtain a much higher rank. A
correspondent of the Examiner says
StuebeT is not a new man at Samoa,
for he was the Consul recalled by
Germany when Greenebaum was re-
called by the United States aud
Powell by Great Britain. "A new
set of men was sent there in the in
terest of harmony" the correspond
emit says. " His being sent back
again must necessarily be in the in
terest of discord. While the English
and American Consuls we're retired
to private life, Stuebel was promoted
to the mission at Copenhagen a.
Consul General for his services in
trying to get the Samoan Islands
under the German flag, in which
project he would have succeeded had
not Greenebaum hoisted the Ameri-
can flag to protect Samoa and the
SamOans.'
The Latest
New YORK, Mar. S.-Private dis
patches from Berlin, received at mid
night, positively confirm the report
of the destruction of the steamer
Nipsic by the German war vessel of
Samoa.
LONDON, Mar. S.-The fact that the
Schlesische Zeitung is the recog-
nized vehicle of inspired publications
lends great interest to the report in
its columns Of a naval fight in Sa-
moan waters between the German
ship Olga and an American an-of-
war; but even this is not sufficient TO
warrant the belief here that the
American ship, with all on board.
was blown up. 1t is possible thai
there may have been an exchange of
shots, but that there was a battle in
which either ship was injured is
doubted. 1t is suggested that the
item was printed merely as feeler
In view of future possibilities. As
still further evidence that the report
Is not true, the Cologne Gazette,
which Is generally better informed
than Its German contemporaries,
prints carefully prepared and I'm
doubleday official review of the Sa-
moan situation, and concludes bv
saying, We await further develop
ments." This is, perhaps, entitled
to more consideration than the al
legged dispatch in the Zeitung. but as
the Gazette is also an inspired organ.
the two publications indicate that
Germany expects a row in Samoa.
and Is awaiting information Of the
result of its instructions to that end.