New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-12-25

London. Dec. 15.-An officer on
board Il. VI. A. S. Sydney, in a letter
to his father, writes;
81 will now give you some account
Of our action with the Emden on NO
vember 9 and some subsequent hap
Jennings on November 10 and IL.
/ "On November we were steaming
about fifty miles to the eastward OF
the Cocos Islands, southwest OF Java,
heading for Colombo, when at Z a. m.
Ne took in q very interrupted wireless
message from the Cocos wireless sta
tion-'Strange warship OH en-
trance The Melbourne, as senior ON
Ger. ordered us TO raise steam for lulI
speed and 90 and investigate.
81 was in my bath when Bell-SaIter
came in with news that the enemy was
within forty miles of us. ], OF course,
took it for a leg haul but he soon
convinced me, and the noise made by
the propellers going at rapidly lncreas.
inc speed soon left US in a state of
great elation. II was, as far as ] was
Concerned, quite sincere, though | had
q balf-formed thought at the back Of
my mind. wondering whether l might
be knocked out
Emden Is Sighted.
/ az am a little interested as TO what
other fellows were feeling, but il is 8
/ question | have never heard answered
satisfactorily. Any one ] have hearc
speaking on the subject says, 'O-o-oh
YES, of course, was in an awful funk!
This usually from a most stolid anc
unimaginstive looking man. At any
rate, although | had been little livery
the two previous days, | happened e
feel as fl as a lark that morning, anC
al 1880 a. m. sent for the barber an'
had my hair cut, TO the accompaniment
of no end Of badinage from the sur
rounding cabins, which they got baci
in kind and with interest.
"At 9:15 a. m. the tops of the cocoa
nut trees Of the Keeling Islands wer'
sighted At 900 we sighted the Emden
or. rather, the tops of her tunnels
twelve or fifteen mires away. AT ga
a. m. she opened fire at a very BIZ
range, and shortly after that we starte'
in on her. Throughout the action
was almost constantly engaged run
ming backward and forward betweel
the ammunition hoist and the forecas
tie gun or between the hoist and No.
starboard or NO. port
One Hot Half Hour.
"Ths hottest part of the action 70
us was the first half hour. We opene
fire from our port guns to begin with
| was standing Just behind No. port
and the gunlayer atkins, first elias
, petty offlcer) said: Shall | load, sir
i was surprised, but deadly keen Their
should be no Zap so said: NO, don
load till you get the order Next h
said: 'Emden's fired, sir So ! said
4 All right, load, but don't bring the gu
: to the ready | found out afterwar
= that the order to load had been re
. ceived by the other guns ten minute
, before, and my anti-'fap' precautions
/ though they did not the slightest harm
\ were thrown away on Atkins, who wa
@ as cool as q cucumber throughout tn
{ action.
Later I heard a crash and lookin
. aft saw that shell had hit near gu
9 No. starboard But owing 20 III
r screen being in the way, ! did not kno'
5 il had knocked out practically Oh
whole of that guns crew. Not seein
any fame or smoke rising 1--WE COP
with the smallest fire immed lately,
went on with my job. This require
continual attention. The men az
} splendid at loading drill, but to pra'
tise supply of ammunition 10 almo.
impossible in peace time. To have
e big supply stacked on the upper dec
= is far too dangerous proceeding
n action, and what with getting an eve
Z distribution of prOjectiles and car
f ridges between the two guns, gettin
the safety caps off, with fddly pin
= and things TO take out. attending
missfres, cheering up the one or w
who seemed 70 be pulling dry you ca
imagine | had little time to be thini
ing much about the Emden.
81 noticed once or twice when goin
forward the starboard side 70 the for,
castle gun that we seemed 20 be in th
thick of It. There was a lot Q
'Wheee-oo, Wheee-oo, Wheee-oo, an
the 'but-but-but' Of the she'll strikin
L water beyond, and as the range wa
pretty big, this IS quite possible, sine
the angle Of descent would be prett
steep.
Coming aft, heard a shot graz
the top Of the shield OF No / star
board. a petty officer now came u
limping from aft and said that he ha
just carried an officer below (he wa
not dangerously hiD, and that III
after control position had bee
knocked right out and every on
wounded lthey were marvellous.
lucky. told him If he was real,
able 70 carry on 10 go aft 10 No.
starboard and see there was no fire
and IL there was. that any charge
about we're to be thrown overheard a
once. lie WAS very game and !impe,
away aft. lie got aft TO find a verl
bad cordite fire just starting. lie with
/ others got this put out.
Il later noticed some smoke rising
aft, and ran aft, to find that It wa.
just the remains Of what they had put
out, but found two men, one with :