The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1918-06-13
TORPEDO STEAMER OFF THE
COAST OF MARYLAND
RUMORS OF A U-BOAT CAPTURE
AViators See Enemy Craft. Base at Ze
brugge Embarrassed. Harbor is
Filling Rapidly. WhaIers
are Saved.

| tam ana seventeen members OF the
crew of the American steamship Pinar
Del Rio, sunk by an enemy submarine
last Saturday arrived here today max
| ing all hands accounted for.
These eighteen men were picked up
Off the Jersey coast Saturday night
when a flare which they sent up was
observed by the liner Skipper.
The American steamer Pinar Del
Rio, was sunk by a German submarine
seventy miles off the coast of Mary
land. Another of her boats with six
teen men has landed on the Virginia
coast yesterday.
A brief dispatch to the navy depart
ment announcing the sinking, did not
say whether the ship was sbellcd or
torpedoed.
Sub May Be Captured
Norfolk, Va, June 10.-Reports that
two American dcstroyers had been
seen with an unidentified craft in tow,
believed to be submarine, that avia-
tors patroling the coast during the
last twenty-four hours sighted two
submersibles off the Virginia and
Maryland coasts, and further stories
confirming yesterdays report of a
brush between destroyed and U-boat
off the Virginia capes, were brought
here today by officers of merchant
craft. Naval officers refused to confirm
or deny the reports.
Aviators landing on tht coast are
said to have sighted the two submar-
ines today, but the craft Immediately
submerged on. sighting hfairships.
Nature Aids British.
London, June 1O-The light of the
Germans at the BelgiaH submarine
base at Zeebrugge, in consequence of
the measures taken by the British
navy to blockade the prt, is even
more serious that has ben believed
heretofore. Photographs Just taken
from airplanes show that he entrance
to the harbor is rapidly sting up, and
that accordingly, the British effort to
close inc ClduuCl bSiis
by nature.
The sunken vessel inSie the break
water, which was at frs believed to
be an enemy destroyer, row appears
to be a large drCdger. Tfs. loss OF this
ship evidently has cripJed the Ger
mans in their efforts to char The chan
mel.
Plea of Poverty vins.
New Bedford, Mass, Jne 1.-TWO
whalcrs which arrived hire today re-
ported they had been hid up by. a
German submarine off Cape Hatteras
Capt. ]. E. Gonzales Of he schooner
| A. NJ. Nicholson, said thaton his plead
ing with the captain of tie U-boat that
he was a poor man and that the loss
of his vessel meant ruiz. he was al
lowed to proceed with us ship ana
$4,000 cargo of sperm al unharmeo'
England To Aid America.
By Arthur Mann, Lon@n, June lO.
1T is too early to forecast what the
present summarizing by Germans OH
the American coast vii pOrtend,
said Sir Eric Geddes, Chief of the
Admiralty, in statemnt to the
United Press today.
ION one hand it may lean merely
u sporadic raid similar 70 that one
carried on by the U-boa So at the
beginning of the war, and on the 9TH
err it may mean a series 4 submarine
campaign off the American coast.
1.-The vigorous and successful Brit
ish anti-submarine push against the
German crafts in these waters has
caused the Germans to ty out SER
les of campaigns along the American
coast, in which they hOIe to be sue
Cessful.
"This however today lis doubtful,
and may be a disappointment to the
enemy. All our forces here have
been pressed into the service of the
American administration. which will
thus be able to fight the submarine
menace with practical results.
There is no indication that there
has been sudden increase in the
number of enemy submarines. On
the other hand there are some indica.
lions that we are sinking the subma-
rines faster than the Germans are
building them"