The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-09-23
THE EXACT TRUTH OF THIS
FAMOUS EPISODE.
Told the German Admiral's Lieuten-
ant That If the Germans Wanted
War They Could Have It in Five
Minutes-A Misunderstanding with
Prince Henry Which Was Subse-
quently Cleared Up.


interest for Americans than has the
manner in which he dealt with Vice
Admiral Won Diederichs of the German
navy. Hearsay tales have been pub
lished without number, but they have
all lacked some of the important facts.
while many of them have been con-
cocted with little reference to the truth.
In order that the so-caled German
episode" may be handed down correct
ly to the historian Of the future l pre-
sent the following sketch thereof as it
was given to me on the deck of the
Olympia by Admiral Dewey himself.
Speaking of an enterprising biographer
who had written a condensed life" of
the admiral the latter said:
ADMIRAL DEWEY'S VERSION.
Il received a biography of myself
yesterday from a publisher in the
United States who wished to know
whether he had got the facts about my
life correctly. 1 couldn't afford to let
1t go in the way it was written when 1
received it,. 1t misrepresented many
neutrality-suspicious. for instance, my
experience with the Germans in Ma
Mia bay. You were there and know all
about what happened before the eyes
of every one. l was maintaining a
strict blockade of Manila and had to
know, of course, the character and
identity Of. every vessel that entered
the bay. The fact that a ship flew the
German flag was no proof that she was
really a German. Consequently when
any craft came into the bay or moved
about in it it was not only my right
but my duty to learn beyond question
whether she really was what she ap-
peared to be. In carrying out my or
ders my commanding officers acted dis
creetly and taCtfully, giving no offense
to the naval representatives of any
power except Germany. ] do not know
why Vice-Admiral Won Diederichs
should have felt aggrieved. l always
attributed his protest to a lack of
knowledge of international law. This
view is borne out by not only the cir
cumstances of the case but by his note
to me, written after having received
the letter in which 1 defined my atti-
tude toward the warships of other ma
tions, as he informed me that he should
lay my letter before the commanding
officers of other squadrons in the bay,
iit SUI Sllldll COIlIlOII lIOIn any VI
them.
SUSTAINED BY ENGLISH CAPTAIN
Captain Chichester, the senior Off
Ger present of the British navy. told
him that I was only only acting within
nv rights, but that l was entitled to a
great deal more than 1 had required
from the foreign cruisers. AS Von-
chester showed him the orders he had
received from the British government,
in which he was specifically notified
that he was to assume no rights of
entrance to ports under our blockade
unless I should be willing to grant
them. Won Diederichs wanted to take
a copy of Chichester's instructions,
but the captain told him he had let
him see them for his personal informG-
tion only and that he would not allow
them to be copied"
Admiral, in the story about the Won
Dederichs affair that l wrote for
Harper's Monthly last FebruaryI gave
a hearsay account, told by one who,
I believed, was in a position to know
the exact facts ! have since learned
that there We're some inaccuracies in
that story? Are you willing to let nte
| publish the correct version?"
You We're mistaken" replied the ad-
miral, "in saying that I sent Brumby
| to convey my message. Admiral Won
| Diederichs sent his flag lieutenant ia
me with a list of complaints that he
| wished to make against the way ]
treat q the ships under his commaEd
| They had exhausted my patience. !
| had been forbearing in the extreme
| and this protest or complaint was too
much. The German officer who
| brought the message was on the after
deck, and when ' read it I stepped Ia
the door of my cabin. He came part
way to meet me and stood in the dooc-
| way. As nearly as I can remember
my exact words were:
What is it you want? Do you wan;
| war? You know what that means. II
| you do you can have it in five min
| utes. We are a peaceable people, but
we have got into fight now and we
| are ready to go on. If necessary We
| are ready to fight the world. You may
| tell Admiral Won Diederichs that ] am
| blockading this bay, and that / shG Il
| take such steps as are the right and
duty of the blockading officer
ABOUT SHANGHAI BANQUET.
There has been also" continued the
| admiral, "a good deal Of sensational
| talk about the banquet given by Prince
| Henry of Prussia in Shanghai. It has
| been reported that left the table be.
| cause no toast was offered the presi.
dent of the United States and that
Prince Henry was Obliged to send mc
a written apology. After the toast t
! the emperor Of Germany-whiCh, oi
course, took precedence Of all othc.
toasts--the health of the c7ar of Russia
was proposed by Prince Henry. Now
the Prussan navy was represented al
the banquet by two captains only. A
I was a commodore, commanding III,
AsiatiC station. ! outranked these Rus
sian officers and the chief magistrate
of nv country should have been toast,
ed before their emperor The presiden
Of the United States was toasted ant
also the emperor OF China, although
there We're no Chinese guests present
said nothing at the time, but there
after neither nor my officers appcare,
at any Of the entertainments where
Prince Henry was present
"Finaly he noticed our absence, anC
asked why he had not seen more o
US. The gentleman to whom he sp0ll
told him that could not run the risl
Of a similar lack of courtesy toward TIL
president again. and that 7 was seri
ously offended, The next mornin
Prince Henry came aboard the Olym
pia i'm civilian clothes to call upon m
for the purpose Of expressing his re
grct at the incident, Tie said he ha,
made a mistake through lack of knOWl