MINES IN N. Z. WATERS.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 30, Issue 17, 1 March 1918, Page 4

MINES IN N. Z. WATERS.

STATEMENT BY THE NAVAL ADVISER. WELLINGTON, Feb. 27. The following statement is issued by the Naval Adviser to the New Zealand Government with reference to the discovery of mines in New Zealand waters: “In order to allay various rumours as to the origin and type of these mines, it is pointed out that they are of known and distinctly German type and origin. They were firmly moored in position, and it is only under very exceptional circumstances that they would drift. They are not such as could be manufactured locally, nor could any amateurs deal with them, and it may be safely assumed that they were laid by a vessel properly fitted for the purpose by the enemy. It is practically impossible for them to have been laid surreptitiously by any neutral -r other vessel which visited New Zealand or other British ports, as concealment of the mines themselves and the necessary structural apparatus for launching them would be practically impossible. It seems clear, therefore, that they must have been laid by a hostile enemy vessel properly commissioned and organised for the work.”