A GERMAN BASE?

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2502, 1 July 1915, Page 9

A GERMAN BASE?

■ IN THE PACIFIC NIAGARA SAID TO HAVE BEEN WARNED Just as the Union Steam SHip Company's big liner Niagara was on. the point of leaving Honolulu for New Zealand on Juno 16 last, the "Honolulu Star Bulletin" was brought on board containing the following remarkable articles, relating to the probability of a submarine'attack. Mr. M. Myers, of Wellington, was on board, and he' states that the news was regarded by most of the passengers as absurd, though there were some • Who were a little' nervous. Just after the gangway had been removed, two of the' passengers wanW to go back and wait for one of tho .—^aerican. ships for Sydney, but as the gangway was down, and the only way ashore was to swim, they stayed on aboard. Tho article was as follows:— "That the Germans long ago took preliminary steps toward establishinf a submarine base in the Pacific, and have now ■ laid plans to conduct a vigorous raid on merchantmen flying the flag'of the Allies employed in-the_ movement of vast quantities of munitions and war material from the United States by the way of Puget Sound and Panama Canal to Siberia, is the. reported belief of some officers in- ' tlhe Canadian-Australasian liner. Niagara who are. keenly alive to the mysterious movements of the American steamer Maverick now at Hilo. The British Admiralty, According: to warnings sent to tihe Niagara before she sailed .from Vancouver last Thursday, evjdently has reason to fear that the Germans have in some manner been able to assemble > parts of a submarine on some Pacific island, and that an un-der-sea terror -will soon attack ships of the Allies in these waters. Though a . shipment of submarine parts_ from Europe at present seems almost impossible, even by.secret means ';through Denmark, the parts. might have been made at some South' American port, or 'even purchased secretly from- some South American or Central American Government. One' hundred thousand tons of nrms, accoutrements, ammunition for large and small guns, motorcars ,and trucks, barbed wire and fortification material, not to mention staple food supplies are said to be afloat and in, trnnsit from both coasts of the United States to Vladivostook and other Siberian ports. The' Russian Government is known, to have' made Wvy- .purchases for immediate delivery, Five large,tramp freighters under charter to the Russian Government, said to be dairying approximately 50.000 tons of supplies, are due at Honolulu within a week to take coal before continuing the voyage 'to Vladivostock. From the standpoint of tho Allies, the appearance of the . Maverick, said to be commanded by German' officers, who during, the stay at Hilo have, been in constant communication with other Germans on board tho war-bound steam-, er J. O. D. Ahlers, is considered significant, coming as it. does at a timo when the transportation . of : Russian war material in the Pacific is greatest. The British steamers Chinese Prince, Indrawadi, the Norwegian freighter Strinda. and the big Japanese -cargo steamer Ginsan Mam are reported to have taken cargoes at New York and other Atlantic ports, which should they be destroyed by the Germans, would seriously handicap the Russian forces. At least one freighter filled with sup-' plies for Russia is leaving the Pacific .coast daily for the terminal of " the-Trans-Siberian railway at Vladivostok, it was said to-day on board the Niagara. That the Germans Jiavo_ not before attempted to stem this' tide of. ammunir tion reinforoements to their enemy is a matter of comment by sympathised of the Allies how travelling to Australia, The Niagara steamed southward at 2 o'clock this afternoon. Its officers are gravely concerned over the outcome of the voyage, to Sydney by tho way of Suva and Auckland. They are instructed by the Admiralty to mask'all lights at night and suspend wireless communication with Pacific stations. The movements of the Maverick in this part of the will be closely watched was the prediction made to-day. A British cruiser now at Victoria is believed to havo been ordered to Hawaiian waters. The Japanese cruiser Idzumo, patrolling the Mexican coast, it is reported by officers of the Niagara, will take a hand in the Watchful,-waiting game, which within a few. days.is expected to centre around tho apparently harmless Maverick and its German officers and. cosmopolitan crew. The few officers in the German war-' bound vessels in Honolulu are mum "as the proverbial oyster in regard to expressing an opinion concerning the mission of the Maverick. They look wise and reply to queries by a sirup of the' shoulder. .The crew carried 'by the Maverick resembles that brought 'to Honolulu last-year by German vessels sent scurrying from the Marshall' Islands to'the protection of a neutral port. The. "motley, delegation of Gilbert'. Marshall Islanders, Chilenos, Mexicans, and South American. Indians in Maverick have' nothing to say in reply to questions from the curious. The fabled tower of Babel has nothing on;the'Maverick"a3 a lingual meltingpot. -

Collector of Customs M. A". Franklin ■was asked to-day if he had taken official coenisanee of the Maverick or its mission at Hilo. He replied that the vessel was purported to be of American' register, and no'report other than that had been received. To-day it seems certain the. Maverick may soon be over,, hauled bv a Japanese or. British cruiser. should it steam from Hilo before the suspicion hovering about it has been cleared to the satisfaction of local representatives of the Allioii Powers."