SAMOA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16646, 3 September 1914, Page 7

SAMOA.

OFFICIAL REPORTS. AN EXPEDITIOUS LANDING. THE GOVERNOR SURRENDERS. [Pee- Press Association.] , '*' ; WELLINGTON, September 2. Official reports received from his Excellency '' the Governor from Colonel Logan, officer commanding the advance guard of the Expeditionary Force, and from Captain Marshall, senior, naval officer in these waters, have been made available for publication. A telegram received from Colonel Logan, dated August 31, is as follows: "I have the honour to inform your Excellency that the Expedition under my command .occupied Apia on August 31 with the assistance of ships of the allied fleet. The 'Governor of Samoa htfs surrendered himself • to me, and is being sent with prisoners to Fiji. I am glad to be able to inform your Excellency that there was no opposition, that there have been no serious casualties since . the Expedition started, and that the health of the troops is excellent." NAVAL REPORT. THE NEW ADMINISTRATOR. ' The following telegram was sent to his Excellency the. Governor by Captain Marshall, senior naval officer New Zealand division: — , * "Expedition arrived at Apia on August 29, western time. In view of its overwhelming force the Governor had no choice but to give in without opposition. Tito landing of the troops commenced at about one o'clock p.m., and was carried out with great expedition, reflecting great credit on the population concerned. The British flag was hoisted on the shore . at 12.30 p.m. Colonel Logan took oyer control from the German authorities at 2.30 p.m. At 8 a.m. on August 30 the Union Jack brought from New Zealand was officially hoisted and the proclamation read in the presence of naval and military officers, native chiefs, local residents, etc. A salute of, twenty-one guns.was fired by H.M.S. Psyche. The; German Governor was sent' with prisoners to Suva. The German wireless station is at present . hors de combat, but it is expected to be in use shortly. The new administrator, Colonel Logan, visited H.M.S. Psyche and received a salute of thirteen guns." Lord Liverpool sent a message of congratulation, and. on Tuesday Captain Marshall replied: "'I beg to thank your Excellency ' for, the kind message which I have communicated to all concerned." NEWSPAPER COMMENT. PRAISE FROM BRITAIN. " Times " and Sydney " Sun " Servioea. (Received Sepember 2, £.50 p.m.) LONDON, September 1. All the newspapers warmly praise New Zealand in connection with the seizure of Samoa.

ON THE WAY. THE RUN TO NOUMEA. EVERY PRECAUTION TAKEN. [From Our Correspondent.] AUCKLAND, September 2. • The first letter' from a member of what has been called tho advance guard of., the ,NeTV Zealand Expeditionary Force has just reached Auckland. Tb«

letter was posted* at Noumea, ; Now Caledonia, on-August 22, and, as there has been no boat in from the islands for some considerable time—theß.M.S. Niagara did not call at Suva—it is . obvious that the letter, must have been despatched from Noumea to an Australian port and. forwarded thence-'-'to t Auckland. ' " The communication, written in pen- . cil on official, paper, comes from ll W\'~" ticularly well-known Aucklander, who » was cne of the first -to volunteer for ; service. ■• ,'•i '-■-'■ '"-. ■<;■ ■''■ Although; the enemy had not b'een. sighted by members of the 'expedition £ up to the time of reaching New Cale-. donia. tho trip up to that point; „as,_ the letter indicates, had not been de-,>V void of interest. * « ;,-iiw'"J' {'■ AN UNKNOWN DESTINATION/^;; The writer fiist describes the of the men as they sailed out of •Wei- Islington- Harbour, bu't*the regrets which ; followed the last farewells soon gave... place to keen speculation as to their destination. After being farewelled' by the Governor and the Prime Minister, the troopships Moncwai and Moeraki anchored out in the 'stream* until; early . on the morning of August 15; then they steamed through the Straits, arid, although they still ; had no real idea- of - their destination, it was understood that their first mission was to make for the North Cape. During Saturday'and . Sunday the troopships travelled up'the ki west coast of the. North" Island. MoSt ; I of the men proved at orice that they • were fairly good sailors, and the -first ■ day out there were practically no. Vin; valids." The weather* Was' fine, "aifc ■ the men found, the. quarters, though cramped, not altogether'lincomfortabfe MEETING THE CONVOY. Evidently ! the Three: ; Kings were meant to be- the rendezvous of - the troopships and the warships' which were . to convoy .them to their destination, for , there on Sunday they met several warships; including the three vessels or the i& New Zealand Squadron, which, had steamed out of Auckland on the Satur- ~' ri day evening. V ■ The writer mentions the names of the various ships which'proceeded to convoy the transports to''their destina- ? tion, but, in view-of tho restrictions which the New Zr'r.land authorities have>£ imposed at the desire of the'Admiralty, it is deemed advisable Jnot to _ the list at this juncture IN THB SOUTH- 'SEAS. Fine weather favoured the passage northwards, and, 'even' before it. Was officially announced that Samoa was, to - be the destination of the expedition, » the men felt' certain. that the South " Seas would be their field of operation's.'For instance, surf boats Lad been takeff" aboard in considerable numbers, ami from Auckland, had come several sea captains, well known to have had lifelong experience in the island trade. Moreover, from Auckland, also, had , come two well-known ex-residents of Samoa, who, it was conjectured, would }, act as guides and interpreters. .'".. THE INITIAL DISAPPOINTMENT." "Some of us felt rather keenly,dj*K appointed when- we knew .that we-were not bound for Europe and the actual seat of war," writes the Aucklander in question, " but we realise, that it' is our duty,, as loyal New Zealahders, to go when and where we are told, and so we have bottled any disappointment we at first felt and are looking forward to an interesting and perhaps exciting time ahead. We are taking no risks and a close watch is; kept, and every precaution-taken, all.', the time. From what wo'hear of the shipsr which-act ; as our- convoy, ,: i;he appearance of German -cruisers. an unlikely contingency, and we rirej told that the crews sleep every night?, beside their guns. -They are r<pouting all the time, and, apparently, are car-' rying out a sweeping movement, while, at the same time, acting as a convoy .to /

AT NOUMEA. * > . The Writer goes, on, to.say that U the ' men on the, troopships were somewhat surprised when theyHfound that Noumea, in New Caledonia, was to be their ' first port bl call, for, although near tc New Zealand and Fiji and Samoa, it was nevertheless, a little-out of their • course. They presumed, iowever, that it was in order to pick up possible news, and.to see if any-assistance, was requir- 'O, they first called in at .jthe island. "We Were allgfeatly interested in Noumea, for it is a place that not-orie of us three weeks ago dreamt of visit- " ing in a lifetime," states the writer. - "The place, however, !could not*fail :to" interest us, for-we in New Zealand ■ have heard and reail so many' strange stories of tho famous French convict island. Of that aspect-of the place, how- , ever, we have seen Very little; The J French people are very excited over our visit, and when we landed cheered as ; wildly." : •; '!..'■ !_. : THE CABLE CUT.' ; "'' i Apparently little news was allowed, to filter through to the men on the troop- ';. ships. Possibly it had been expected > to pick up despatches. All that was learned, however, was that ■■ cruisers had been in that locality some" days previously, and that the enemy . had succeeded iii cutting the cable.' ■ _' " The Frenchmen here know eveiiless ".V, of what is happening in Europe than ;-'■■ we do, and what' we learn is exasperat- . iiigly little," 'remarks- the writer.'" £Ho ' adds that it is generally believed ihat * the information picked up at Nounieaf^' indicated that *thd: enemy's ships might 1 . not be far away, and that it was hoped keen scouting would be attended success before Fiji or Apia was reached THE MONOWAI'S EXPERIENCE. At Noumea the most exciting episode of the voyage occurred. The warship? and transports were-;to have sailed at ,9.30 on the, morning, of, August 22, for ' Suva, but the s.s. Monpwai, with about,' ' 500 men aboard, ran aground. The sea ; in this region abounds with coral reefs, arid it was apparently on one of these that the Monowai became fast. ', '£ "There was no excitement caused,"; : writes the Aucklander' " for it was realised that there was nokserious danger. She had to be lightened in order to get her afloat again,-but beyond tli* delay there was no serious trouble.- Now all is clear again, and we leave almost directly for Fiji and Samoa. w« hope, the fun begins."

NEWS FROM NOUMEA. " THOSE NICE NEW ZEALAND-• v _ ERS." ■;"• ' •' A STRONG CONVOY. [Per Press -Association.] ■--':? WELLINGTON, September 3.\ ' A French resident of Noumea, wrjt*. ing under datei August 2i to a friend in Wellington, refers as follows to the ; arrival of the New-Zealand Expeditionary Force at Noumea:— " The Monowai and Moeraki arrived in our'port'on Thursday last at nine in the morning, after a good trip. The New Zealand Expeditionary Force was'Very well received, and- Noumea people;were nearly all the time near the two .boats* throwing oranges,' chocolates, bananas and allsbrts or souvenirs to all £ thdsi\ nice New Zealanders.? They only came on shore once, on Friday morning;,just h for a march. Every night the Nonme* [ band gave a concert near the two-; steamers. They all left Noumea yester- 1 day morning at ten. o'clock, and,"W« i suppose, they are going to the Samoa •' Islands." _, ' " l *. . The correspondent added that "the force had a strong convoy of warshipai' 1