Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-12-20


saving the United States many future
complications by letting the Latin re-
publics understand that the United
States will not protect them from the
effects of financial delinquency and in I
ternal disorder. -
Mtnister Bowen Ii Cautious. ~.
Caracas, Venezuela, Dec. 1.-THE
governor of Margarita Island reports
that British and German warships are
off that island. :. +
Minister Bowen Monday politely re-
fused to have a monster patriotic pa
rade pass before the United States le-
cation. Everyone here hopes that the
arbitration proposed by Venezuela,
through Mr.. Bowen and Washington,
will be granted.
SEEKING of Venezuelan Ships.
When the combined fleets seized the
Venezuelan ships at La Guayra the
German commander delivered to the
Venezuelan captains the following doc
ument:
by order of my sovereign, and at
the command of the commodore of the
German squadron in West Indian wa
tiers, I, the commander of the Panther,
request you to lower your ships flag
Immediately and leave your ship with
your crew within ten minutes. This
is not a measure of war on the part
of Germany, but only with the object
of making a provisional seizure of
your ship in order to oblige the Vene-
zuelan government to recognize our
just demands. In case you disobey
and wish to defend your ship l shall
be obliged to prevent you from so do
ing by the discharge of arms.
"ECKERMAN, Commander.
December l." >
British Ship Took Part.
Further details of the sinking of the
Venezuelan ships have been obtained
from an entry made in the book of the
signal men of the fortress of La
Guayra. It is as follows:
TUESDAY, Dec. 9, 1880 night. The
adjutant called me to see if 1 knew
that the steamer Retribution, of the
English navy, was towing the steamers
| Crespo and Totuno, of the national
navy, three or four miles north. I
! had heard four cannon shots and said
| the two steamers had disappeared and
| understood they had been sunk by the
| Vineta and Retribution. At the. end
| of an hour the Retribution returned
! to the harbor alone.
"(Signed)
"sIGNAL COMMANDER OF THE
"FOKTS.''
The fact that the Retribution re-
| turned to La Guayra alone two hours
after leaving with the captured YES
sells was confirmed by English resi-
dents of La Guayra. Consequently,
she did not have time to conduct the
Venezuelan ships to Curacao or Trini-
dad.
1t is now said that the object of
the German cruiser Panther in sail
| ing for Maracaibo is to capture the
Venezuelan steamer Miranda, for
merly the Spanish torpedo boat
Diego Velasquez, and the remaining
vessels of the Venezuelan fleet.
Bad Scare at La Guayra.
La Guayra, Venezuela, Dec. 1.-THE
arrival of the British cruiser Charyb-
dis and torpedo boat destroyer Quail
Monday caused a bad scare among the
population of this place. The com
of hn f01,fr
American, French, Spanish and Dutch
consuls and asked them in case the
British landed marines to intervene to
prevent firing on the fort and to de-
lay any movement on the fort, as he
had received orders from the govern
ment to evacuate the place. The COM
mander added that if the consuls re-
fused to intervene and the fort was
attacked he would defend his post
and could not answer for the conse-
quences to the town, which is with
out any defense now with the excep-
ton of few armed policemen. AT
five o'clock, however, the Charybdis
and the Quail left La Guayra and the
fears. of the population subsidized.
What caused most OF the alarm was
the fact that when the British" ships
arrived here they took up commando
ing position, their guns covering the
fort, and remained stationary for a
few moments, as if about to open fire.
The Charybdis and the Quail subse'
quently steamed away in the direction
of Curacao.
The foreign consuls subsequently
called on the project, who assured
them there was no danger at present
He added that the commander of the
fort had been needlessly alarmed and
had only succeeded in almost causing
a panic. -
| MORE TROUBLE IN HAYTI. y