Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-03-06
NODECISION YET
REACHED TOMOVE
GERMAN VESSELS
Continued from page one)

the two members Of the harbor board.
the attorney-general's department. and
Capt. William r. Foster, harbormas-
ter OF this port, began at 1890. about
five minutes after the departure from
Chairman Forbes office OF J. F. c.
Hagens, yice-president and auditor Of
II. Hackfeld & Company, Ltd, the
local agency for all the refugee Ger
man vessels in Honolulu.
Hagens conferred with Forbes for
nearly half On hour. While the con-
ference was In progress Commissioner
Church arrived, having been summon
ed to the office on the telephone call
from Forbes. The three talked over
the situation carefully. Hagens de
clfned to make a statement for publi-
cation as he left the office.
No Written Opinion
At his point a Star-Bulletin repre-
sents i've attempted to obtain state
ment rom Chairman Forbes. He had
no sooner asked him a question than
the attorney-general and his deputy,
followed by Harbormaster Foster, en-
tered the office.
Es- ucu 10. II SclllSQs IHdla tue UOd1u
vii move the Pommern and Setos
on side?" asked the reporter.
tYe-es, answered Forbes. we
went on record yesterday to move
/ { Iem."
NO." sharply interjected Deputy
Attorney General Smith, you referred
the matter to the attorney-generaIs
department for consideration and we
have not yet rendered a written opin-
ion on IT.
At this point Attorney General
Stainback said in reply to a question
from the reporter, that he had told
the board it could move the ships if it
wanted to-" at the boards executive
session Monday, at which the board
came out of executive session long
enough to pass resolution to move
the Pommern and Setos outside.
Decide on Another Session
Forbes then requested the newspa-
perman to leave the office for few
minutes. On conclusion of the con-
ference he told him that an executive
session would be held at 1 80 this aft
ernoon and that following it there
would probably be an announcement
for the press. Forbes first set 2
O'Clock as the hour but on a re-
quest from Commissioner Church
made it half an hour earlier.
A report which came to the Star
Bulletin this morning was that Col
lector of the Port Malcolm A. Frank
lin would refuse to allow the German
refugee merchantmen to be moved
outside. the harbor board can do
as 1t pleases SO far as am concern
ed . said the collector.
Berths Badly Needed Now f'i'i,h
Commissf6der James Wakefield
said this morning the board at it's
executive session Monday voted to do
what we have wanted to do for the
last two and half years"
"The refugee German steamers
have been q menace and drawback.
to the commerce of this port" he
said. There would have been no
danger to them lying outside had they
not wilfully destroyed their machin-
cry. We have ordered the Pommen
and Setos to move because we need
their room at Pier and Pier Is"
In the last few days the crews of
the merchantmen are said by customs
Inspectors on duty watching the yes
sells to have -been. painting out rust
spots and giving the engine rooms
and machinery of the vessels a thor
cugh cleanup. -
No Notification Received
F, w. .Klebahn, manager of Hack
field & Company's shipping depart
ment, said at noon today he had not
received any notification from the har-
bormaster to move the Pommern and
Setos outside within "a hours. 1t is
known today that no such notice will
be sent until after a definite decision
in the matter is reached at the execu-
tive session this afternoon. Probably
a longer time than "a hours would be
required to make the vessels ready by
taking on provisions, coal for cooking,
extra anchor lines and various equip
ment for holding the big freighters
safe at anchorage in case of kona
storms. The harbormaster at 5
o'clock Monday afternoon received in
structicns to serve notice on the local
agency today to move the two freight
ers outside within "a hbGfs from the
time of serving such notice, but he is
holding off. pending this afternoons
meeting.
In commenting on the situation to-
day Deputy Attorney-General Arthur
G. Smith said there are two questions
to be decided before definite action
toward moving the refugees can be
/ A.. L.. kl.a