Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-12-08
olsToRTINe WAR NEWS.

: Editor Honolulu Star Bulletin
Sir: The Advertiser Of November
is published the following alleged des-
patch from London, also dated the
18th. under the credit line OF The As
ISOLATED Press: i
The British hospital ship Anglia,
sailing under the Red Cross flag with
wounded, was attacked and sunk by a
German submarine in the channel yes
terday, 50 out OF her complement of
3S5-crew. wounded passengers. sur
geons and nurses-being either killed
by the force of the explosion or drown
ed. The 300 survivors, who managed
to reach the small boats, have been
lpicked up and brought to port
The first news of the sinking of
the Anglia credited the disaster to a
floating mine, inasmuch as il was not
believed that a submarine attack
would be made upon a Red Cross ship
in broad daylight, when a mistake in
the character Of the ship would be i'm
possible.
"That the attack was made by a
submarine, deliberately, was shown
when the British collier Lusitania,
4 which went to the aid of the Anglia
and which was standing by to assist
in the rescue of the wounded passen-
gers, was likewise attacked by the
submarine and sunk with torpedo.
Her crew was picked up without loss"
The dispatches actually sent out by
The Associated Press on the night o;
November II, reporting the truth of
this double disaster anu published in
full in mainland papers of the follow
ing morning, are these, taken from
the New York Times Of November 49,
/ DOVER, Nov. 1S.-The British
i hospital ship Anglia, with about
1 300 wounded men aboard, in ad-
dition to the crew, nurses and at
tendants, bound from France for
i Dover, struck mine in mid
channel today and sank in very
short time.
Nearly 100 men, most of them
seriously wounded and therefore
in their cots, lost their lives.
"The collier Lusitania, which
/ was near at the time of the acct
dent, Immediately went to the as
sistance of the Anglia, and her
boats had just been lowered when
she also struck mine and foun-
i dered. All her crew we're saved.
"A patrol vessel succeeded in
rescuing 800 of the Anglia's pas
sengers and crew, including some
j nurses. A number Of bodies were
recovered.
LONDON, NoYs 1.-THE fol-.
lowing official communication
concerning the sinking of the hos
pital ship Anglias was made pub
| lie tonight:
/ The War Office reports that
! the hospital ship Anglia struck
mine in the channel today and
sank. The total number on board
/ was Ii officers and 372 men of
other ranks, of-whon about 3U0
we're saved by a patrol vessel.
Another ship proceeding to
the rescue was also sunk by an
other mine
Another official Communication
says; -
King George was shocked to
hear that the Anglia, which so
recently conveyed him across the
Channel, had been sunk. His Maj
esty is grieyed. at the loss incur
red, but trusts that the survivors
/ have not unduly suffered from
| their terrible exposure. >.".
/ "The loss of the two ships is
thought in some quarters to have
| been due to mines which broke
from their moorings in the recent
storm"
/ ahn aware of the professional |
courtesy which exists among editors
in respect of their own foibles. and er.
/ rors This case falls outside the |
class of personalities.
| A gross injustice, wearing the ap. |
pearance of deliberate malignity, has
| been done by the publication of a
false statement which never has been |
corrected, though the arrival of San
Francisco and other mainland papers, |
also served by The Associated Press, |
| long ago supplied the opportunity.
presume it would be humiliating for |
| an editor to urge in a matter of such |
capital Importance that he did not
read the metropolitan papers, but even |
that extenuation does not exist, for
| the Advertiser this morning quotes at
| length from the New York Times |
showing that the editor keeps in |
| touch with such portions of the war |
news published elsewhere as supports |
his policy and serves his convenience. |
Discredit has been thrown by the |
| fabrication of this purported telegram |
not only on the newspaper which dis |
played it on its front page, but also |
or the source of your own news, which |
IikewisS derives from The Associated |
Press. That organization is extreme |
ly jealous of the integrity of its des' |
patches. 1t prides itself on the ac |
curacy and impartiality of its news |
and does not permit its subscribers to
write in their individual bias or edi- |
torial partisanship. In this connection |
/ call your attention to the studiously
II