New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-08-03

before they fell into the hsnos OF war
ships Of hostile nations
SIO.7OO.OOO Gold Abroad.
Details OF the capture Of the North
German LLOYD Lines fastest ana isre
est steamer that reached New ioiH
were meagre. Locked m the ssies o.
the Kronprinzessin Cecilie Is Nlo'fVO,-
600 in gold. placed there before inc SNIP
sailed from this port last TUESDAY az
I o'clock in the morning. Inc money
was consigned TO bankers in England
and France. 49,,
The only pretext upon which the
British men OF war might have seized
the Cecilie, according 10 local steam
shin men. was that the big German
vessel. which was scheduled 20 touch
~ Plymouth. had received orders by
wireless 10 proceed direct TO Bremen
emitting the British port Of call. In
that event il would be doubtful II the
rold would reach London, If war we're
declared between England and Ger
many.
Earlier i'm the afternoon word was
received here that German war SHIPS
had captured two small English mer-
chsntmen The steamer Saxon, win
A cargo Of coal from Kings Lynn, was
reported TO have been seized by the
Germans and conveyed into CuNhSNeh'
The Wilson liner Castro, plying
netveen English and scandinavian
ports. was reported to be the other
German prize. -,
Line in this city said last night that
thew had received no confirmation OF
he seizure OF the Kronprinzessln
Cccilie. Carl Won Helmolt. the Amer
lean director of the line. said that the
German Office had not informed him OF
the capture. and that he could not con-
firm il By cabling to Germany, because
all communication was cut OF.
Captain Charles Polack was IN com
mand Of the Kronprirzessin Cecihe
when she left this pori lie Is one
of the veteran navigatOrs Of the line,
and is held in high esteem by trans
atlantic travellers. His ship is inc
crack vessel of the line, and is second
only 10 the Mauretania and Lusitanlp,
Of the Cunard Line. in speed. She
was built i'm 1907. and was the largest
vessel in the world when put into COM
mission. She is valued at about So
600 600
Resides the gold the Kronprinzessin
Cecihe carried valuable cargo. Be
cause Of her speed. she carries eX-
press freight. which is likely 10 be
valued in the millions The exact
figures were not obtainable yesterday,
III taken by the English as a prize
Of war, she would be valuable
capture.
American Passengers.
yln the first cabin of the steamer are
frga2 passengers. 131 in the second cabin
and 79A in the third cabin. C. Ledyard
blair and James Blair, Of New York,
. are among the passengers.
Others are the Swiss Ambassador 10
the United States. DR.. P. Ritter;
James r. Roosevelt, Eugene Delano,
Mr.. and Mrs. Jules Demetre. Mrs.
Mertimor ]. Downing and Miss Dorothy
Downing. DR.. Paul Federn. Judge Fisch-
bach. of Chicago; Mr.. and Mrs. August
Funke, Dr. Edward c. Gale, Of Chi
cago: Mrs John j. Hall and Miss
Lillian L. Hall, Of Boston; Mr.. and
Mrs. Crammond Kennedy, OF Washing
ION; Mr.. and Mrs. Harry b. Kuhns, of
Dayton: Professor Horst Oretel, Miss
Elizabeth Pabst, John II. Pardee, DIR.
Frank L. Plesdwell, L. s. N; DR.. AXel
Tn. Preyer, Mr.. and Mrs. Frederick
Sturges, jr., Dr. and Mrs. Charles A.
futile, of New Haven.
Passengers, IL was believed, would
be landed at Southampton, into which
port il was said by cable that the
British cruisers were conveying the
Kronprinzessin Cecilie. and would not
be detained, but permitted TO 90 on TO
London. If war is declared, however,
German subjects on the steamer may
be detained.
Seizure May Mean War.
Whether the seizure Of the Kron-
pripzessin Cecilie would precipitate a
declaration of war between Germany
and Great Britain was a much dis
cussed question last night. lnasmuch
as the vessel was supposed 10 call at
Plymouth. the action of the British
cruisers might be construed as merely
a precaution TO protect the vessel from
capture by waTships of other nations.
III the vessel is not released, how
ever. it is likely that Germany will
look upon the seizure as an open dec
laration Of hostilities, il England had
not already regarded the capture Of
the two British vessels as such and
taken the Cecilie in retaliation.
That the Kaiser would resent the
eapture OF the Cecilie is certain. lie
h heavy stakeholder of both the
North German LLOYD Line and the
Hamburg Line, a large part
OF his great personal fortune being
invested in the securities. Captain
Polack. the ships commander, IS
member OF the German Naval Reserve,
and in the case Of war could be placed
in position Of high authority in the
German navy. He is also personal
friend Of the German Emperor.