PACIFIC ROUTES NOW REPORTED TO BE SAFE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15716, 17 September 1914, Page 8

PACIFIC ROUTES NOW REPORTED TO BE SAFE.

ENEMY'S WIRELESS STATIONS PUT OUT OF ACTION.

AUSTRALIAN SQUADRON'S SEARCH FOR HOSTILE CRUISERS.

Sydney, September 16.

Senator Millen, Commonwealth Minister for Defence, in a statement reviewing the operations of the Australian Squadron, said:— " We have the routes now safe."

Continuing, he. said that acting in co-operation with the China Squadron, search for the enemy's cruisers had been prosecuted, and the wireless stations of the Pacific put out of action. The operations also included the covering of the New Zealand expedition's seizure of Samoa. In attending first to the requirements of the sister Dominion, Australia showed a disinterestedness that would certainly be appreciated by New Zealand.

After referring to the capture of German possessions in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Bismarck Archipelago, he said the operations would still call for some detached work before complete.

Admiral Patey, in a later message regarding the capture of Herbertshohe, reports that Seaman Moffatt has succumbed to his wounds. The enemy's loss is uncertain, but it is estimated at twenty to thirty killed. The prisoners comprise seventeen German commissioned and non-commissioned officers, including the commandant and fifty-six native police.

Admiral Patey adds: " Considering the dense bush, the narrow road, the pits, trenches, and mines laid, and the superior force opposing us, our casualties were slight. The operations were ably and determinedly carried out under Commander Beresford."

Mr. Cook has received congratulatory messages on the success of the expedition, including cables from the Secretary of State for the Colonies and the Governor of New Zealand.