New Britain herald., 1917-02-01
Shipping Men in Doubt As to What Action
 to Take Regarding < Salings
PORT OF NEW YORK
 IS OPENED TODAY
Collector Malone Heard of Plot to ;, Scuttle German Ships 1nterned at Hoboken. and Rushed Reserve Guar,d to Docks-NO Restrictions at -Scandinavian Ship Post pones Trip.

S New York Feb. 1.-The effect of Germany's declaration of sea block ade of the Entente nations to be en- forced with every available weapon and without further notice," was felt today in every port on the Atlantic coast Owners and agents of vessels flying neutral flags were in doubt as 70 their future course of action and ! it is believed that most of them Will keep their ships in port until instruc- tions are received from their govern sments.
 In the offices of British and French Mines it was said that there will be f,o reduction in the sailing from merican ports of ships carrying the h ags of the Entente allies. To meet ,dust such an emergency as this the
 Rritish government has assembled, it / was said large fleet of small, fast
 cruisers to be used as submarine chasers." These vessels, said to num-
 Der 4,00O will be available to keep
 the sea clear of raiders and sub-
 marines and act as conveys.
 No Danger For Americans.
 P. A. s. Franklin, president of the
 International Merchant Marine and head of the American line, declared:
 1T do not think there is any danger
 for American ships on the present
 voyages N
 Halvoord Jacobson, representative
 of the, Scandinavian-America line,
 and William Vandoorn, manager of
 the Holland-American line, expected
 to receive cable instructions today F from their governments. Neither of E .Iese lines, 1t was said, has carried
 munitions of war or contraband since 9the early days of the war.
 NJ Shipping men pointed out that the \ most obvious effect of the German ' declaration would be the reduction in the tonnage which the ships of the European neutral lines could carry son account of the increased space (which would have to be sacrificed to carry coal and provisions for the con- stinuous voyage from American ports
 to neutral ports. Hitherto neutral sships have relied largely upon British ports to renew their supplies.
 i% Port of New York Closed. No shipping of any kind was per
 1nitted to leave the port of New York
 fast night The harbor gates were 4e closed by Dudley Field Malone. col lector of the port, who has full au- < thority to act upon his own initiative # In cases of emergency MT. Malone dic anot disclose his ideas as to the nature N of this emergency but after station V ing two destroyers off quarantine x where the harbor narrows like the #neck of a bottle, the federal officials q devoted most of their attention to the German merchant fleet which has
 been interned here since the begin. < ming of the war.
 Collector Malone called upon polio, $ of New York and Hoboken for as
 sjstance and sent squads of men to as H s.yt the guards which have been or .s duty at all the piers where the 6 German vessels lie. A search by tn, neutrality guards disclosed no evi N dence of any preparation to justify N rumors that the Hamburg American a and North German Lloyd liners wer, preparing to escape from the harbor 4 rumor that the crews of these ship N would attempt to scuttle their vesseI ~ and destroy the machinery proved un .1 truIJ-so far as the federal officials x. (Continued on Ninth Pase.) r .az ts .a ss