GERMAN CRUISERS IN THE PACIFIC

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2370, 28 January 1915, Page 7

GERMAN CRUISERS IN THE PACIFIC

9 ... .. .WEEKSOF NIGHTMAEE. An interesting letter written, to a friend by an officer of the German cruiser Scliarnhorsfc, which was sunk by British warships near the Falkland Islands, has been published in an American journal. ] . .. "You cannot imagine what.a timo I ha.ve had," he writes. "Wo, have had |no holiday, and' wo have li\ ejL.through • weeks of nightmaro. We livejn horror of great speeding Japanese battleships and John Bull warships. Doubtless somo British captains have been feeling pretty scared. We did not sink any Australian ships or raid their ports, and why, because we could not have douo so safe-, Iy. I think our commanders were very" careful of powder and shot,: and. many of tho men were grumbling ■ because there was nothing doing. Of course, our object was to concentrate the whole fleet somewhere, and you will recognise that that was done well. Soveral'timos we could have created some, sensations for tho people of Sydney, and a good many passengers would have kept to their homes, had they known how close the Scharnhorst was going to pass their liner. Everyone in tho ship wanted a raid on Suva or one of tho New Zealand ports; but always there was'the fear ofthe Australian battleship Australia, and of Japanese battleships, which we expected everywhere. We got a good deal' of news of sorts, and should have liked to have joined the Eniden "We all felt sick at seeing the Bri--tish flag flying at Samoa, though wo Hoped to find a small eraser lying at Apia. What dreadful weoks these were on tho Pacilie I Day after day we steamed along, not knowing whon ws. should run up against an enemy fleet. When we were in tho region of Australia we hoped to have got among the .troopships, hut things were altogether too warm for us. What is going to happen to us now I can't tell. We are golug into the Atlantic, I thrnlc, but we can hardly' hope oil get far. Anyhow, no runjiing J