New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-02-14

sunrise. August 4, 1914, the German
n mail steamer Zeiten passed Cape
~ Cuardafui, bound for Alden, Port
Said and European ports. She was
Airv DAYS out from Sydney, having touched
=, colonbo six days before for coal and few
,,,,ngers. Her hold was loaded with copper,
"a, copra and other merchandise from the
,os,h Seas. and she carried-in addition to
q. hundred passengers, over a third OF whom
vr, English subjects from Australia hun
ard and fifty German marines on their way
IAN. 10 Bremen at the expiration OF their
.rn Of service. With them were three OH
GERS returning to Germany to be married
Al midnight the following morning the OFF,
or on the bridge was about to go into the
,s.elhouse TO set forward the ships clocks to
.respond with sea time when the wireless
rustor rushed out from his booth waving
usage at him. This aerogram had the effect
n Of setting forward the clocks half an hour,
zvf setting them back hundred years. The
usage read:
sGrqre International situation. Germany
j,larss ,rar on Russia and France. Troops
.bsadv in Belgium and Luxembourg. Eng
ads attitude uncertain. Alden, Red Sea and
me- unsafe for German ships. Turn back to
lpe Gpordafm and aCait for cruiser Koenigs-
| irg nolc coming north from German East
lfrica. All lights out Keep of the steamer
rack"
From that moment until the Zeiten found
/ nie haven, several weeks later, her log-book
reads like an extract from the log Of some old
mecaneer that once sailed the Spanish Main.
Tn. brief cable dispatches flashed around
/ h. world from week to week announcing that
B he Emden had appeared in one place or the
' Koenigsberg in another, always bringing dis
ser TO the British merchant marine, lett
much to the imagination. Only one who was
float on the Indian Ocean under the German
I Tag during those awful weeks of suspense can
I ppreciste the situation OF these two cruisers
nd the steamers they were protecting, cut on
Isl they were not only from all communication
With Germany, but from every port where
ton Of coal or a tank of water could be pur-
3 aased honestly.
4 The Zeiten under normal conditions is
PEACEFUL old tub, combination. passenger ana
afgo steamer OF less than eight thousand
tons When first saw her lying at her tuoy
the harbor OF Colombo she reminded me OF
stcutsh old lady. ] am sure she had never
cace msbehaved in her entire life. This mes
Z nge which turned her back froil her INTENDED
Port where she had expected TO buy COAL
water and food, also closed to her every otner
pom in the northern half Of the Indian ocean
! one would wildly see the situation let him
rL to the atlas and ask himself what nc
you'd do il he were master of German
rsamer with coal running low and hve nun
ssd lives as well as a valuable cargo intrusteo
his care. There would seer to be nothing
DO but sail around in a circle until capt
Isd The nearest neutral port esst OF Aoeh
Goa-Portuguese-over on the southwest
nest Of India. Even here the harbor is poor
&c English guns can shoot across INC
aasnee. There simply are no other ports.
he Zeiten must now live by her wits. She
az Ike COW moose at bay with little ones
Protect. Before morning this well behaveo
q cargo boat was transformed into pirau-
Il craft, bearing no marks OF identihcatioh'
Fas no flag, carrying no lights, answering
angnals, now stealthily creeping, now wildly
5as from one hicing place to another uh'',
had steamed over six thousand miles aho
last found the none-too-friendly shelter Oh
supposedly neutral port
Inc passengers were awakened early inc
~ morning by the violent increased tnroo,
e Of the screw. Marines had been crowoea
10 the stoke room to increase speed TO inc
snnum. We must have been doing hi'eeh
sen, fifteen knots not west in the direeaoh
haen and mail, but east along the northern
~ Of Italian Somaliland. The Zeiten was
saping through the water.
mas Europe gone mad1" we asked. as "e
~ percolated through the ship. Ten Gays
"s over in the eating room at the res',
I've N Tanjore in Southern India mao reao
~ anes in a several days old Madras paPe,
stated tina Europe was on the verge o'
eiysm My mind was jaded with s'sh'-
&c The item meant nothing to me- Il
n'o friend urged me not to take ''e