Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-03-13
DARING GERMAN CAPTAIN
BREAKS SEAL OF SILENCE
Tells OF Historic Raid of Seas,
Which He Declares Is
Not Over.
SEVERAL TIMES IN BAD WA,
Capture of Prize With Coal Is as il
Roast Pigeon We're to Fly Into
Mouth of Starving Alan-Not a
Single Change in Crew.

! Mouth of Starving NIan-Not Il
Single Change in Crew.
! NEWPORT NEWS, VA. March H.
Captain Max Thlerichons, commander
b OF the German converted cruiser prinz
! Eitcl Friedrich. merchant raider for
! the fathcrland I'm tho Atlantic and Pa
cine Oceans. and destroyer OF an
American ship, to-day broke his seal
! OF silence since he reached anchorage
/ In an American port.
! Tho German commander who
brought his ship and prize crews To
I this port last Wednesday, said he had
b.en too busy 70 talk for publication
untit now, and he consented to say Il
few words.
Il was never Interviewed" said the
captain. smilingly. as he sat in the
( cabin of the Friedrich in dry dock.
Does ii hurt muchY'
( The commander was asked III his his
t""lc raid OF the seas was over. Fest
wciter." he exclaimed in German.
meaning as he explained, we haven't
given II up by long way" The of
iicer emphasized his statement with
! q slam of his fist on the coffee table.
and continued:
We had luck. ana we shall have
moro, hope
AS You know" Commander THE
ricn"ns continued, we cruised for davs
without seeing Il thing off Chile. our
coal was almost gone. We were really
in bad way. Then ono day we
sighted sailing ship. flying no nag.
\ squad went aboard. and we de-
manded that she show her colors
-l.s ii
ship Jean.
LIKE ROAST PIGEON
TO STARVING MAN
When we read the signal wig
waggcd back by our boarding crew IL
was II roast pigeon were to fly into
the mouth Of n starving man. French
mp Jean came the message. loaded
"ith best Cardiff coal
But that wasn't all. There was a
heavy sea running, and we didn't dare
come alongside without risk smashing
both hul!s. So | gave orders that we
sail her to the nearest place
found an ideal place called Easter
Island on an atlas our crew took her
over, but later ! offered the French u
chance to sail their own ship under
our orders with pay. ana they accepted
but this was too slow for US So
we put back n chain and towed her
When we We're under way again we
sighted another ship We made her
out a. the English boat Kildultou. and
took after her with our tow line jerk
Ing along behind. We soon Finished
her, ana then proceeded till we reached
Easter Island with our prize. We
landed, and when we found there was
no particular danger. We rested and
quietly coaled. II was like feeding a
hungry man
: The captain explained that before he
landed the crews Of the Jean and the
. lNildalton, he ascertaincd that an Eng
lishmnn's yacht was in the hnrbor, and
that word could easily be taken for
their relief.
Next TO coal, the greatest need the
Eitel felt In her long journey, the com
mandcr said. was water. Not only for
drinking, he explained, hut for wash
Ing. because OF the water shortage.
he said
The Eitel anchored In the rain belt
near Pcrnambuco and spread all sail
not perpendicularly. but Hat and
waited and in !orty-cicht hours the
rains descended and the tanks were
filed"
WASHING PROBLEM
| FOLLOWED Dy FAMINE
! The washing problem, he said, was
t follo"c ed by famine, and In this cm.r-
Tcncy luck favored them again when
the French ship Floride appeared with
/ ii cargo OF toilet preparations.
! We were OF, OF the track OF liners"
said the captain. and could hardly
believe !, when we saw a French
steamship appearing"
! Here Commander Thierichens paused
! to give word OF sincere praise for the
| Fl"ridc's captain.
| There is a real gentleman" he said,
/ with enthusiasm, referring to Captain
Moiss!on ''.it first his patriotism and
the loss OF his boat made 1t hard for
him 10 compose himself on our boat.
but later. when he had accepted the
situation, he bore his position like a
| true gentleman"
The commanders glance, as he
paused after this tribute to the French
officer chanced to fail on a few green
sprigs Of wheat growing from box
in his cabin window.
You can't imagine what that little
| growing green meant 10 u.s." he said
after a moments meditation. Even In
! the cities you can at least look into
! florist shop, but through these months
| on the sea we yearned for 1t. So
when we reached Easter Island, We
| filled baskets with earth, and then 4
| ~----------~---------