Evening journal., 1914-08-06
GERMAN Ships ELUDE
WARSHIPS OFF CAPES
Brandenburg Reaches Phila-
delphia in Fog After
Long Chase

Two German liners. their decks
flled with passengers Of many ma
tionalities in all sorts Of costumes
locked in Philadelphia yesterday af-
Ter thrilling passage from Europe
The North German Lloyd steamship
Brandenburg, from Bremen. and the
Hamburg-American liner Prinz Os-
kar, from Hamburg, were the vessels
A thrilling story Of how two un-
known warships chased the Branden-
burg and of the panic among the pas
sengers when it became generally
known that they were being pursued
was graphically told by Captain Fer
dinand Schmetz
For two days after we left Brem-
en-that was on July give were
constantly reminded by wireless re-
| ports from the Bremen Office to be-
ware Of Russian warships." he said
Our men were on the watch both
day and night For five nights our
lights were encased in canvas and
our portfolios closed
we We're instructed TO permit no
wireless messages to be sent from tho
Brandenburg, but we received plen-
W Several times code messages we're
picked up by our operator, but we
could not dccipher them. Some were
IN English, some in Russian and one
or two in French
Captain Schmet2 said that he kent
out of the regular path Of ocean liners
as much as he could and "zigzag-
ged' his course whenever he suspect-
ed that foreign vessels were in his
neighborhood
On Tuesday night, between and s
o'clock, the wireless operator rushed
INTO the captains dining cabin.
War is on between England and
Germany" he declared
War Causes Panic.
Immediately the officers ana sever
a Of the first cabin passengers leaned
from the table. One or two of tho
passengers gave the news 10 the re-
mainder Of the voyagors. Pandemon-
ium broke loose. Chairs we're uneat
and disorder reigned supreme far
nearly a half hour. Several times
y was thought that some of the pas
sengers would have TO be put in irons
the crow, aided by several cool-bead-
ca passengers finally restored order
AFTER the news Of the declaration az
war was received Captain Schmetz
ordered all lights put out. Canvas
was stretched across the portholes
shortly before midnight. the captain
said, the lookout reported thai j
strange vessel with VERY few liphts !"
was dead astern.
All Of our lights were dead" said
me captain. except some of those II
private cabins. We did not oven
carry fore and aft or masthead liqhts
we We're Just off Fenwick Ligbtshin
ABOUT 80 miles from the Delaware
breakWater. when the lookout saw tbe
ulm outlines of the big vessel
Our glasses showed that fbp vas.oI
was ship Of war-we could not deter.
NINE her colors and at about that time
she sighted ms. ! stopped the shin ana
turned squarely around, starting soutb-
ward along the coast at top speed ~
mad been warned that there wera war
vessels near and } took no chancen
4 moment later the captaiu said +ba
wireless operator reported that a mos
sage had been received from the sbin
asking the Brandenbure's identity INV
inner made no reply. because She had
NtN+N'H NAAAtNA III iiic VOYAGE 10
avoid sending messages. Again and
again, the captain said. the vessel de-
manded TO know the steamers identity
The captain always kept silent.
At this point the captain said +bs
following message came. Surrender or
we fire"
Earlier in the evening. heavy foo
hae arisen from the ocean. and AZ the
Brandenhurg carried no lights She soon
escaped under cover OF the thick. fovov /
blanket- When daylight came the Bran
denburg forced her engines TO the M
most and in a short time steamed IN
the Delaware and locked at Vine street
pier, where she landed her passengers.
Prinz 0skar Near Warships.
On the Prinz Oskar. although not
chased by foreign warship an the
lights were blanketed. Captain 4. Mass
said that he also picked up many wire
less messages which showed that vessels
of war were lurking near the Delaware
Rreakwater Music was forbi lden. This
astonished the passengers. the captain
said. for usually the voyage was livened
BY concerts from the ships band, with
dancing on the decks.