The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-04-08

Apia, Samoa, March "a (via San Fran
cisco, April O.-The United States and
British warships have shelled Mataa-
fa's forces repeatedly, and sailors have
been landed in Apia to protect prop
| erty. Numerous casualties have re-
suited on both sides. Admiral Kautz
and the commanders of the British
ships are anxiously awaiting advices
! from their governments, and in the
meantime the shelling process pro-
ceeds daily.
! When Admiral Kautz arrived on the
| Philadelphia he spent two days in
making inquiries, and then called a
meeting of all the consuls and the
( senior officers of all the warships in
Inc harbor. AS result of the meeting.
a proclamation was issued by the ad-
/ mfral, declaring that the so-called pro-
! v1sionaI government under Mataafa
can have no legal status under the
Berlin treaty, and, therefore. cannot
be recognized by the consular and
naval representatives, and ordering
Mataafa and his supporters to quietly
tSo to their homes and respect the laws
Of the Berlin treaty.
| 1t was further ordered that the peo-
pie elected from their homes be re-
| turned, and the power of the naval
against all who disregarded the rights
of peaceably disposed people. The au-
( thority Of the chief justice was upheld
/ by the proclamation, and the admiral
closed by saying that he trusted that
I there might be no occasion to use mill
'tary force. The proclamation was
signed by Admiral Kautz.
GERMANY'S PROCLAMATION.
This proclamation was taken to Ma
| taafa and read to him by Flag Iieuten-
ant Miller. 1t was received in silence
and no answer was made. Mataafa and
/ his chiefs quietly left and went to the
weezern portion of the municipality,
and it seemed as if they were about to
obey the command to return to their
! homes. The German consul, however,
/ issued a counter proclamation in the
I Samoan language, recognizing the pro
visional government, which was dis
| tributed among the Mataafans-
J The immediate result of this act was
| that the rebels blackened their faces
/ and prepared for war. declaring that
| they would not obey the admiraPs or
ders.
The next day Apia was surrounded
/ by Mataafa's warriors. Forces from
/ the Philadelphia and Porpoise, under
Lieutenants Brown and Cave, were
/ landed to protect the loyal natives. On
Tuesday, Mataafa having failed to an
| swer the admiral's proclamation, Flag
/ Lieutenant Miller was sent to deliver
an ultimatum He was not allowed to
see the chief. but delivered the mes
sage and retired. Everything looked
ugly, and British and American blue
jackets were landed in Apia to protect
! the consulates. Quick-fring machine
guns and small field-pieceS were also
landed.
FIRED ON THE REBELS.
Hostihties commenced on Tuesday af-
ternoon, when half a dozen MaIietoa
men were taken by the Mataafas. They
were taken to headquarters and bound.
Early Wednesday morning notice was
spread that if no answer was received
from Mataafa by L o'clock the Phila-
delphia would fire one Of her large
guns. followed by tTree-minute guns
Mataafa sent no answer. He and his
chiefs were buoyed up by the German
conSuPs proclamation and vague talk
that Germany would support them, and
was the grandest nation on earth, in
vincible in war, and that Great Brit
ain and America would never dare 10
engage Germany in conflict.
Signal guns were fired, and the for
eign population of British and Amer.
leans was taken on board their respec-
tive warships. Other nationalities went
on board sailing vessels in the harbor.
One hundred and Seventy-fve men and
officers were landed, and at Admiral
Kautz's request, Captain Sturdy of the
POrpoise assumed command of the
combined forces on shore. Flag Lieu
tenant Miller of the Philadelphia. as
sisted.
Surgeons were landed from both ships
and Miss Mccoy and Miss Forth, mis-
sionaTies, volunteered as nurses. The
whole loyal native population sought
/
AS soon as the land forces were sta
toned, the Philadelphia opened fire by
throwing a smell into the outskirts OF
Apia. The RoyaliSt followed with six
inch shells, and the Porpoise went down
the coast a couple of miles and bonn
barded the village of Vaiusu, where
large parties of rebels were supposed to
be. The church was smashed by a
shell and the house of the manager of
the German plantation was damaged.
ATTACK MADE ON BRITISHERS.
About dusk the rebels made an at
tack on the Britishers at the TivOli ho-
tel. Their fire was returned. but it is
not known how many were killed. About
2:30 a. m the natives made a rush on
the guard at the Tivoli. Three British
sailors were killed and one wounded.
The native loss is unknown
The next day a body of 300 Mahetoans
had their rifles returned to them from
the Porpoise and rendered good service
in clearing the brush. The rebel viii
lage of Vaiala was burned in order to
prevent the close approach to the con-
sulate.
The German warship Fake attempted
to leave port on a. secret mission, when
Admiral Kautz ordered her captain to
stay where he was and be ready to ar
ford help to his countrymen- The
Fake remained.
Early Friday morning 200 rebels rush
ed up 10 within thirty yards of the con-
sulate The sailors behaved splendidly
and the natives were reDulsed One
American sailor was killed and one
British sailor was shot in both legs.
Major General Cunliffe of the British
army assisted in directing operations at
| the consulate.
There IS intense feeling here against