The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1916-06-03
THE LOSS Of LIFE
WILL REACH THOUSANDS

I
the British or German official STATE
nent. The survivors of the Elbipz
declared the vessel was rammed bv
another German warship which res.
cued the remainder of the crew.
Several British survivors are also
said to be on their way to port
aboard n trawler.
Hull dispatches said eighty-fiye
members of the crew of the Shark
wefe believed to have perishetl
when the vessel was sunk. The
Danish steamer Wider arrived with
seven survivors. These are the only
members of the Sharks crew of 02
who were saved. These survivors
said the Shark was used as decoy
for the British fleet They were In
the water six hours before they were
picked up.
In the face of the heavy losses
the British public stood calm and
confident today. In clubs and gov
ernmcnt offices and from men i'm
every walk of life came expressions
that while the British had suffered
the greater loss the encounter was
not to be regarded as defeat since
the Germans were forced to flee as
soon as the full force of the British
fleet got into action. In the face of
superior force the light cruisers,
battle cruisers and destroyers fought
gallantly against ships OF their own
class despite the fact that the en-
counter was favorable to the Ger
mans. The Germans were getting
the best OF the encounter at the be-
ginning of the battle, but when
once an equal force drew near they
retired.
Copenhagen dispatches declared
that the steamer Nasborg arriving
there reported that the German
fleet consisted of 40 to 80 warships
Of all classes. The British fleet con-
sisted of only eleven vessels at the
start of the battle. Later eight
more warships of the first line joined
i'm the fighting The fact that Yep
pelins took part i'm the battle was
confirmed by the crew of the Mas
borg who reported sigting one Zep-
pelin. With the arrival of British
reinforcements the Germans were
forced to retire. Heavy gun fire
lasted until far into the night. The
captain of the Nasborg declared that
the concussion was SO great that the
members of his crew could not stand
on the decks although the steamer
was several miles away from the
battle. Shells dropped about the
Nasborg during the action. At the
beginning of the battle German YES
sells pursued the smaller Engiisfl
craft. In few moments BRUSH
cruisers were sighted steaming at
full speed toward the Germans and
firing broadsides. After a sharp ac-
ton the Germans turned and fled.
The wars first serious sea battie
occurred about 12O miles off Huan-
stian. All accounts from Dutch
sources agree that the German fleet
was proceeding as one unit "hen
the first British warships were sight-
ed. The German fleet was estimat-
en- to consist of forty to fifty YES
sells. The weather was misty anu
the sea close. One report fixed the
time of the beginning of the pattie
at 4:15 p. m. All reports say the
R,itish were outnumbered at the
start of the battle Later Zeppeiins
took mart i'm the fight and when the
British grand fleet approached ''e
Germans began retiring. One report
from Weumden was to the efiee'
that the whole British fleet III pur-
suit of German destroyers ana suo-
marines was stopped by a batues"'p'
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