Arizona republican., 1916-02-02

ashore pending further instructions. f, Lieutenant Berge said the Appam ar rived short of both fuel and provisions and that there was not enough food aboard to last through tomorrow. MT. i Hamilton gave permission to take on 1 a quantity of stores tonight.
 Among those aboard are fifteen Wo- l men and many children, the exact :, number has not been determined. !
 Sir Edward Meetiwether, governor i of Sierra Leone, British province in West Africa and his wife are passen- gers. There are also several officers of the British army and navy. Others include Fred James, secretary admin istrator of Nigeria, who is relative of Lord Decies.
 The masters of all of the vessels cap tured are on the Appam except the captain of the Clan MacTavish, who with most of the members of his crew probably were taken aboard the
 Moewe.
 The captured shippers are II. G.
 Harrison of the Appam; Ralph Tyeats of the Author; David Barton of the Corbridge: Robert Reid of the Adri adne: John Crockett of the Dromonby; John |. Jones of the Farrineford. Collector Hamilton was in communi- action by telephone today with treas ury department officials, to whom he made a full statement of the facts as presented to him by Lieutenant Berge Tonight he sent a long written state ment to the department
 Lieutenant BerSe refused to give any information to any newspaper men and would permit none of them to come aboard while the status of the vessel remained undetermined. He refused to identify himself other than to say he was a lieutenant in the naval re- serve and formerly was master Of German merchant vessel During his interview with Collector Hamilton he remarked that many times he had been 1 in the Norfolk custom house to enter and clear vessels engaged in trade. He , did not mention the names of these vessels. however.
 1 From all reports there was great ex- citement aboard the Appam during the battle between the Moewe and the Clan 1 MacTaVish, although the liner was about ten miles away at the time The ! Clan MacTavish was armed with only one or two small guns for defensive purposes, but her encounter with the | Moewe was described as an exciting 1 combat" The fact that the Moewe
 sustained no damage in the fight is ac- cepted as indicating that her guns were 1 of larger calibre and longer range. as l the Clan MacTavis was sunk and fif-
 teen men killed and at least three wounded.
 ! \ rumor was current shortly after l the Appam's arrival here that she had been captured by a submarine. Then when the facts were known another 1 report was circulated that German
 submarine had conveyed the liner 1 across the ocean. Lieutenant Berge did not confirm this and little credence l was given it by port officials. However l the British authorities here have ad- vised merchant vessels of the allies in
 Hampton Roads to stay in port until the situation clears. No ships were
 due to sail today but several had ex- lpected to put to sea tomorrow.
 Lieutenant Berge, a heavy set Ger ,man sailor with reddish moustache and imperial, gave Collector Hamilton. no
 more information than he considered his official duty required. He did not disclose the identity of the Woewe nor the name of her commander, but ad-
 mitted that he himself had been merely q subordinate officer on the raider. He supplied no details of the capture of the vessels taken by the Woewe. firm ly refusing to he cross examined.
 1 After his interview with Lieutenant
 ,Yerge Collector Hamilton issued the
 following statement:
 The German officer commanding
 the Appam came to my office today and made q statement of facts, all of which l have reported to the treas tury departent. [ am awaiting in
 structions as to her status, and in the
 meantime she will remain at anchor
 off old Point Comfort Lieutenant
 Berge gave me his word that no one
 aboard would he permitted to leave
 1.-the vessel. When he told me that he
 tdid not have enough food to last
 through tomorrow gave him pern1is
 sion to take provisions aboard. The
 matter has gone forward rapidly and
 the situation will be cleared up as
 speedily as possible.
 The seas were supposed long since
 to have been swept clear of all Ger 2 man vessels except those of the un- derWater type, as no reports had beer activity of German raiders had beer received since the auxiliary cruiser kron PrinZ Welhelm sought refuge ir Hampton Roads last spring. The Moewe is a ship of mystery, whose existence as a raider had never beer suspected. There are several German vessels bearing that name, but the only warship, a cruiser; was reported sunk early in the war.
 Accepting the Moewe as one of tho merchant vessels shipping men here are at loss to account for her arma ment. One report current here had il that the Moewe, fully armed, haC spilled ont of the Kiel canal, the base of the German fleet, and ran the gauntlet of the British blockade An other report said her armament in cluded ten-inch guns.
 Until those British subjects aboard the Appam are permitted to land, thu interesting features of the MoeWe's exploits cannot be learned. There ar, no Americans on the ship. either among the passengersf or crew. It is assumed here that the MoeWt continued her depredations among tho I allies shipping after the Appan | separated from her, and officials