Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1916-02-03

Captain David Barton Of the steamship
CorbrdSo, tho second rrize taken by the
raider VAS prisoner aboard her be-
fore he was transferred with his crew
to the Appam. lie SAYS the raider Is =
brand new ship built FOR the fruit trade
with htr decks strengthened to carry n
battery that would do credit to a first
class naval commerce destroyer
Some of her plates inside had not even
been painted when ! saw her." Captain
Barton said. she is Il trim, fast boa
with single funnel and has her hold
iittcd for carrying fruit. Her guns. six
OF them. probably arc five and seven
tcnths inches bore. -Four of them arc
mounted forward, masked by n colIapsinlc
steel forccastlr, which falls away whom
tho ship gets within range of her prey.
Two others are aft. onr Of them on the
poop, and both so placed that they are
not readily observed
Although | was confined below deck
during most of my stay ON board was
given considerable liberty and managed To
max" rather complete inspection. On "A
"Iatc below tho name Tonga was en-
eraVcd and several of us saw the same
uamc on papers in the commanders ca bin
HAS LARGE CREW.
~ was on the boat beginning the night
OF January II. my ship having been cap
tlWcd a few hours after the raider began
her work by taking the I'arrnford The
ship was manned by a crew Of several
hundred mon, MANY Of whom had IS NJ.
;. Moewc' ON their hats. Others had II.
NJ ;. Paw and in fact there were half a
dozen different names. Whenever the
German was after prize. all OF u> wore
kept below under guard. and we saw vir-
tually nothing of what happened.
wv" were followed by tho raider for
an hour or two during the afternoon,
but ] paid littl" attention to her, as she
appeared to be stcaminC along easily
aud when within Il few miles Of us I
made ont tho British flag at hor stern.
Just at dusk she fired warning short.
unmask"d her battery and hove to-"
THE APPAAI'S CAPTURE.
Except for minor details, the stories
of the capture of the Appam agreed
that the liner was four days out from
Dakar. French West Africa, for Liver
pool with passengers and 5000 tons of
general cargo. when she sighted the
German January Il. Tho raider was
moving at a fair rate OF speed but
seemingly making no attempt to max"
for tho Appam Almost impcrccptiblY
she began to gain speed and before
Captain Harrison Was aware that dan
ger impondcd. tho German had changed
his course and sent a warning shot
across tho liucr's bow.
Captain Harrison Immediately hove to.
The raiders forecastle had fallen away,
exposing her battery Of huge guns trained
upon the Appam. \ small boat put out
with Il board party and in n short time
n prize crew was in possession Of the
shin.
There were - men in the prize crew
under Lieutenant Berg and some - Ger
mans on board the liner bound for prison
canpps in England were pressed into
service.
SEVENTH CAPTURE IN FOUR DAYS
The Appam was the seventh Englsi
vessel taken in peri ID OF four days
all the operations occurring less thar
two hundred miles off the coast Of Spain
ON January II. the steamers Corbridgs
and FHrrinGford were CVcrhauled about
80 miles northwest of cape l'iusterre
ON January IL tho Dromunby. .\uthor
Trader and Aradnc were taken in tn.
Atlantic still further AZ sea and north
ward.
THE MACTANlSH SHOWED FIGHT
It was about sunset on Saturday wher
the Appam was captured, Through the
night and into the next day the raider
followed her closely and on the evening OF
.InnnIrN iG she Grov "a N nj thf
British steamer Clan MacTavish. Ac
counts differ as to the distance from th'
Appam that the attack upon the Mac
lavish took place. II is VarouslY csti
mated at from five to ten miles, but hashc.
of fire were visible from the liner. Only
the prize crew, however, had fair view
Of the capture, for the passengers anC
other prisoners were kept below decks
and Glimpses through portfolios had tt
satisfy them.
II appears that the MacTavsh, mount
ing little six FOUNDER on her bow, at
tempted resistance and was subjected t.
a heavy fire from the raiders big guns
Fifteen of her men were killed and manl
wounded before the merchantmen wen
down. There We're two interior eXpo
sions as she sank The fate Of :he maste
Of the MacTavish is unknown. hut he i
believed to he with many Of his crew OF
board the raider The Appam steere'
+ close but was ordered back. Later fou
! OF the MacTavish crew, three of them Sc
verely wounded, were sent aboard tn
| liner In "A small boat.
Then the prize crew headed the Appar
/ westward and proceeded in company wit
/ the raider until the next morning. Jus
! when the raider disappeared and wha
+ direction she took is unknown to tn
! Englishmen, and there has been no wor
| of her since that day, January H.
FIFTEBN-DAY VOYAGE.
! The Appam, according to the English
men, appeared to be steering a straigh
: westward course until sometime Monda
| night. when she began to zig-Zag nea
! the three-mie limit uf the Virgini
capes. She took fifteen days for tn
journey, steamng only about nine knot
an hour most Of the time, She carrie
no flag, following the habit of man
, British merchantman, but is said to hav
displayed British colors as she entere
the Virginia capes,
I During the long cruise, many Of Tn