THE EXPLOITS OF THE MOWE

Otago Witness, Issue 3333, 30 January 1918, Page 24

THE EXPLOITS OF THE MOWE

AS TOLD BY THE COMMANDER. The Mowenbuch, in whffeh Count zu Dohna Schlodion (commander of the German sea raider Mowe) publishes his exploits, was circulated recently. It is a book (states the Daily News) that one reads with mixed feelings; but, take it all in all, it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. The orders given before the start were: "To lay mines at various places off the cnemv coast, then a raiding campaign'' (Kreubei'krieg fubren). The count pays an unconscious tribute to his chief enemy_ by taying he had to have recourse to "mimikry" (note the k), and describes with gusto the way in which the Mowo was disguised. The first coat o-f paint was washed off by a rainstorm, and the Mowe looked like a "floatma: zebra." With amazinc: (rood fortune the Mowe evaded British _ patrols even in the sunniest weather. His comment is characteristic: "The English are, after all, obviously nicer people than we are in general inclined to assume." A gale on New Year's Day, 1916, delayed the work of mine-laying, but it was completed soon afterwards, and it suggests the following reflections: Wait and see, you all-too-confident rulers of the ocean, what perhaps the very near future has'in store for you. With the, fall of the last mine the first appointed' minefield is successfully c'ompleteJ, and who knows but that in a very short time the -first gull's egg (Mowenei) will have its effect? Another gale nearly drove the Mowe back on to her own - minefield, but " the good German God" intervened. Another revelation of the captain's less pleasing self comes in the passage: For 12 days wo have cruised in English waters, and no one has disturbed us. Only one single auxiliary cruiser did we see, and - even about her we can't be quite sure whether she really, was one. Did the bad weather perhaps keep the brave British sentinels of the sea from their post? In Nelson's time they say things were different. We now come to the descriptions of the various sinkings. He tells us how the first thing he did on sighting a ship was to try to find out whether she carried a wireless installation. If she did the firstehot was meant for it, and before shooting at it he started " chattering- wildly" himself, so. that nobody, could understand the other's message. THE CAPTURE OF THE APPAM. When he sights 'the Appam he is overjoyed, and says: That such a huge ship should carry a valuable cargo it is safe to assume; but also that, in accordance with the criminal practice of the English, she is armed with guns,_ tho use of which would bo fraught with the most serious consequences for the ships, and more particularly for the passengers. We have heard this before, but it is useful to know that it is not only a strictlycensored press 'that talks in this strain. It is still more useful to have the count's confession that he only showed consideration to Sir Edward' Merewother and Mr James because he had been told by the German prisoners on board the . Appam that they had treated the Germans In' Sierra Leone t and Nigcriawell, thus proving "an honourable exception" to the general run of British administration. The account of tho fight with the Clan M'Tavish agrees with what we already know if it. The Count's heart—like that of his Emperor at Louvain —bleeds for' tho sailors who were killed. When ho spoke to the captain he "read him a severo lecture" about his "oriminal recklessness" in trying to defend himself. The captain's answer was the one that every good British sailor would have given, and here we have a ■somewhat astonishing confession: I must confess that I liked the sturdy frankness with which the old Scotch seadog defended his point of view. I shook him by tho hand, and admitted that in his plaoe I should probably have done likewise. I still think so to-day. A fewer linos lower down ho repents, seemingly, of his kindly thoughts of the captain of the Clan M'Tavish. and he concludes his exposition of tho Sea Law with the remark, "Anyway, I don't think he wept a tear over the dead Indians. They are, after all, only coloured, not white, Englishmen." He has a good deal to say, by the way, about Indians. They welcomed the German allies of the Commander of the Faithful as brethren, and complained bitterly of English cruelty and so forth. Tin's is, of course, for home consumption. OUT AND HOME. Tho story of tho way in which the Mowe took in coal at sea? from the Coiibridge, ■which was ono of her earliest captures, is now to us, and new, too, is the account of tho csoape of the Wostburn from capture by a British cruiser, owing to the sinking of the cruiser just outside tho harbour of* Toncrifl'e. The Westburn had just discharged her cargo of prisoners, mostly English. The arrival of the Appam in an American port, and the presence of the Westburn at Tencriffe, mado it impossible for the Mowo to keep tho seas. Moreover, we are told, the British Intelligence Department is perfect. So she made for home. She had several narrow esoapos from capture, but for obvious reasons we are not told much about them. How the Mowe reached Heligoland, escorted by warships, and with (he house flags of the ships she had sunk and captured flying on the foremast, we know from other sources. A few human touches. Tho crossing of tho lino was celebrated in the traditional fashion. The Germans taken over from the Appam were treated to sparkling Moselle. The Emperor sent a wireless message to the Mowe tolling the Count that ho could distribute 50 Iron Crosses among the crew. The Count's greatest regret during the oruiso was the loss of 1000 cases of Pommery on board the Maroni. The taking over of a largo quantity of eggs and excellent cheese was a poor compensation. Bills of fare from the Apoam before and after capture are reproduced. The first contains 21 items; the second consists of macaroni, "bread and butter" tea.