The Hawaiian gazette., 1917-03-20
Refuses To Forward Harbor
Boards Appeal To Washing
ton For Assistance
GERMANS IGNORE DEMAND
TO MOVE TEUT0N VESSELS
Local Towing Companies Decline
To Lend Tugs Fearing
Legal Consequences

The situation as regards the German
refugee merchant ships Pommern and
Setos is absolutely deadlocked. Gov
ernor Pinkham, fatty refusing request
Of the board of harbor commissioners,
has thrown the weight of his executive
authority into the balance with the
Germans and their German American
allies, and has completely blocked the
efforts of the board to remove the dan.
gerous ships from the territorial
wharves. 49,.
The harbor board demanded that the
Pommern be removed from Pier 7 By
ten O'Clock yesterday morning. The
Pommern is still at Pier 7, and there Is
no immediate prospect that she will be
moved. H. Hackfeld & Co, agents for
the vessel, virtually put pistol to the
head and said, Move at
your peril" And the Territory put up
its hands an didn 4 move.
Hackfeld & Co. dared any company in
the Territory owning towboat to use
the boat for the purpose Of moving the
Pommern. II threatened that if any
one of those companies dared to put a
man aboard the vessel, or to fasten a
line TO her, II would "hOld the owners
of the tug liable for any damage" that
might occur to the Pommern by reason
Of her being moved to anchorage out.
side the harbor.
No Company Moved q
And not one of the American compa.
mics owning towboats dared to attempt
to move the Pommern. a. ..
The German. American agents of the
Pommern, by Frederick wilhelm Kle.
balm, sent an identical letter to the har.
Dor board Klebahn virtually dared
the harbor board to touehuthe sacred
German vessel. aFtts -. o.. ..lYg..s.
And the harbor board didn Z touch
the vessel. Z 1t didn't move 1.-The Pom.
rhern because II COULDN'T get q tug ia
move her with, 4, .,aet NJ VI n y
The members Of the hasbor board
phatically that they would not permit
themselves to, be baked. re- i,
Harbormaster Foster ut ten O'Clock
went aboard the Pommern and de
manded of Captain Minssen If he in.
tended to obey the orders of the
board to take his ship outside the! har
Dor. -. '' ',.I.. a.. 2:
Refuses To Move Ship n H'" - -
"No," was the cool reply of the
ship master who had already expressed
his contempt for the American gov
pernment by wrecking her machinery
in an American harbor in defiance Of
law. ..
Foster then applied to Castle
Cooke, the Inter-Island, Young Broth
ers and the Oahu Shipping Company
for a tug to move the Pommern. Each
concern turned him down. They haG
been warned by Hackfeld & Co. that
legal complications might ensue IL they
allowed the use of any of their boats
Captain Foster went to the CapitO
and conferred with the members Of
the harbor board, telling them tn,
situation. In order to get the TOW
boat companies on record, the harbOl
board sent each of them a writer
communication, asking for the use Of
tug to move the Pommern. Each Of
the four companies refused.
Then Charles r. Forbes, chairman o.
the board, used the telephone and called
NJ Captain Clark, commandant of tn,
Pearl Harbor naval station, and asked
for the use of the naval tug Navajo t,
move the Pommern. Clark refused
saying he could not permit such use O.
the tug without permission from tn
authorities at Washington. ~,
Governor Backs Down Il. 49,,
The harbor board then turned to Lu
cius +. Pinkham, Governor Of the Terri
tory, to back them up. And Pinkhan
turned them down. The board di
rected a communication to him, askin
him that he get in touch with Wash
ington and ask permission for the us
OF the Navajo to move the Pommern.
Pinkham fatty and unequiyocally r,
fused-and gave no reason for his II
| fusal. When asked over the phone VIII
he would not send the cable the boar
has asked him to send, the Governor II
piled: THAT'S my own business"
| And there the matter stands. TIL
board of harbor commissioners has toll
the Germans and their allies, H. Hacl
| field 4 Co., to do something, and the
have fatty refused. II has appealed I
the American business houses to mid 4
and they have turned it down. 1t ha
gone to the chief local representative c
the United States Navy for assistance
and he has refused IT, II has appeale
&c the Governor of the Territory, and
has not only refused to lend his ali
but has done so in way that places tn
board in an extremely embarrassing p,
sition. The members of the harbC
hoard are the apDointees of GoyernC
Pinkhnm. but If he could have. hcc'
some of the remarks made about him
some of them yesterday he would prol
ably call for their undated resignation
within fifteen minutes. T.. p.
Situation Dead-locked .....,.
1 Commissioner James Wakefield sal
late last night that the situation W,
dead locked. He didn't know of an
thing lint could be done. in view of IL
fact that the Governor had refused
send TO Washington the eablegram II
board has asked him TO send, He sai
be didn't know what move the boar
Il utn,,1d n,ala naNt M x.ihu1f ~. -. a (