MYSTERY OF A SHIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20366, 21 September 1929, Page 14

MYSTERY OF A SHIP.

A VENEZUELAN RAIDER.

BRANDED AS A PIRATE*

Mystery has surrounded the status of the German steamship Falke, which had been branded as a "pirate" by tho Venezuelan Government, with the consequent penalties for the crew, on account of tho insurgent raid recently carried out at Cumana. Tho Falko was anchored in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and officials there were puzzled as to how sho should bo treated. The crew was divided, tho officers denouncing Captain Tipplitt, who, they contended, led them into trouble without their knowledge. They consulted tho Gorman Consul at Port of Spain to determine what action to tako against tho captain.

According to tho officers' Ktory they left Hamburg in ballast for Gdnynia. Poland, where they took aboard 125 Venezuelan exiles, headod by General Delgado Chalbatid and his son. Thenco they proceeded to Cumana, Venezuela, near which place thoy took aboard 200 other insurgents and a largo quantity of ammunition. They contend they were forced to land this with the rebels in tho abortive attempt to soizo Cumana, in tho process of which tho vessol's third officer was killed at tho helm.

When the Government troops routed the insurgents Chalbaud's son, with a small group, succeeded in regaining the Falko, which took them to Grenada.

Tho Venozuelan Government has denounced tho Falko as a pirato vessel, asking all Governments to proceod against her on that status as a result of her participation in the attack on Cumana. Tho fact that tho Falko was apparently obtained for tho express purposo of raiding Cumana puts a differont complexion on tho first reports, which told of the seizuro of tho vessel by insurgents near Cumana, and its subsequent use in the raid. To whom doos tho rebel ship Falko belong, is a question that has boen asked in Berlin. Tho German authorities are still in the dark as to which German company owns hor and as to tho details of her adventurous voyage. Tho German Government is particularly desirous of bringing to book any Germans who had a hand in tho buccaneering adventuro.

It is stated that tho Venezuelan Government has not protested to the German Government, as stated in some leports. Before tho B'alko loft Gdnynia, in Poland, tho German Communist press wrote sensational stories of how tho ship —which it declared belonged to tho North Deutsche Lloyd—contained "an enormous shipment of guns and machine-gun munu tions" destined to arm China. On inquiry at the time a correspondent was told by official sources that tho Falke had a tonnage of only 9CO tons and was unsuitablo for munition transport, and also that the ship was on its way to London. The Socialist newspaper Vorwaerts says it considers that tho Venezuelan rebels must liavo been supported by foreign capitalist circles which had an interest in a coup d'otat in Venezuela so as to obtain from the now Government' concessions end business rights*