GERMAN CRUISERS AT PAPEETE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 17 October 1914, Page 6

GERMAN CRUISERS AT PAPEETE.

;WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

With the arrival of the Maitai in Wei- ' < lington on Thursday, came the first di- '< - rect news of the bombardment mI Pa- ' - peeto (Tahiti) by the German cruise s' ' Scharnhor3t and Gneisenau, on Septem.! - ber 22, j ' ■ Mr Gray, second officer of the Mai- | ' tai/ an officer who knows Tahiti I'o1!, ! stated that news of the bombardwi-jit : had been communicated to the Maitai by wireless from the Moana < n the run'l down from San Francisco, ki no' w li;s- ' per of the news was allowed to reach • the passengers. I learned (said Mr Gray) i from authentic sources that .the two ' cruisers arrived off Papeete at about 6 •■ o'clock on the morning of September 22, \ accompanied by a large collier that was ' * said to bfe flying light-. The cruisers sig- j nailed in the international code, "Will you supply coal and water?" To this request; the French authorities replied, "No." And at once the "place was all activity Order* were given j to fire the reserve of coal in the town; entrenchments were made in the streets, I and the fort was manned. "Ten blank shots were fired from the forts as a signal for the people to get cut before 'the hand began to play.' j The cruisers also fired a few blanks, I • hoping, perhaps, to scare up a favorable !. signal. But the French people, poorly „ equipped' as they were, were game. ■' Nearly all the townspeople left hurriedly,for the hills at the back of the town, ts as the guns of the cruisers opened fire. Zelee, which was lying near the ""wharf, had her flag flying, and naturally J was made a good target, as the whole of the waterfront was plainly visible to the ' cruisers across the low-lying reef. The j gunboat had been partly dismantled, i and her guns were said to have been mounted at the forts, but as the cruisers stood about a mile off, the Zelee's ' shots landed about half-way,, whilst the ! . first shell from the Scharnhorst put th-v fort out of action. The Zelee herself was ' mortally wounded with the first two or three shells, but some time elapsed before they sank the Walkure. Here's a * picture of her!" With £hat Mi Gray produced a ' photograph of the scene. "Indeed," said he, resuming, "I was! told that no fewer than 42 shots were fired at the Walkure before she sank, j and even now she, ij only three-parts , submerged, as it is shallow water on! that side of the harbor. The Zelee sank in deep water near the wharf, and nothing of her is visible. "She went down ! with her colors flying like a good Frenchman. '"About half the town was demolish- . ed by shells, and the Resultant fires. . This consisted of the big markets and the shopping and tradesmen's quarters, an area of buildings (ivooden, brick, and concrete), of some acres in extent 'between the harbor front and the Roman Catholic Church (.which was not affected). The damage was roughly estimated at about £180,000. "There were only two deaths—a Chinaman and a.Tahitian, who, I was - given to understand, were killed by splinters from shells. Here are a, few of them." With that Mr Gray pulled out a drawer and produced a couple of pieces of jagged iron, riven and twisted, which he bad1 found in the market place, unquestionably from the German shells. Captain Carson, of the Maitai, also had a large ugly piece of a shell that had been found after the - trouble was over. "Practically, little damage was done along the waterfront. The wharf, a ricketty old structure, which would fall down with a good push, was untouched. A. B, Donald and Co.'s big two-storey . brick store got off with a few broken windows, and I don't think the Societe Commerciale's place suffered. In front of S. R. Maxwell and Co.'s store (agents for the /Union Steam Ship Company) was an schooner flying an American flag, which probably saved that building, as the Germans would think twice about firing on the American flag. Three shots were fired at the British Consul's place on the opposite side of the harbor to the ship, but no damage was done. It is believed that the German warships fired between 150 snd 160 shells during the four hours' bombardment, but a great number of them flew- high over the town, and found billets in open spaces and occa- •- sionally. in a. deserted, suburban residence." . . "As soon as they heard at Tahiti that - the German, prisoners had, been placed 11 .—.en; Somes;-Isldnd.^.ere t they rounded aff the Germans .up m, Tahiti'and placed' x them on-Quarantine Island. There were about thirty of them altogether, but finding that they were'a hit of a nuisance to feed and guard, they allowed the majority of them to leave for America by the schooner referred to. The rest of the Germans were brought to Tahiti after the bombardment, and made to clear up the debris of the fires caused by the shell-fire. "One of the shells struck the wellknown Club Hotel, a wooden .structure, bored a hole through the trunk of a tree, and then exploded in the market area behind' showing that considerable resistance is needed to explode a shell in flight." Mr Gray ventured the opinion that the story about the Walkure leaving with the cruisers probably arose out of the fact that the warships had a collier -•in attendance. The French people of Papeete seemed to be quite cheerful over their loss, and gleeful that they were able to prevent the cruisers getting coal. The still blazing heap testified to their loyalty in that respect.— The Dominion.