FILIBUSTERING

Taranaki Daily News, 28 December 1929, Page 11

FILIBUSTERING

A VENEZUELAN RAID.

ADVENTURES OF THE FALKE.

Soon to resume her prcsaic role as a common cargo carrier, the steamship Falke is now in port here after participating in the most remarkable episode of gun running and insurrection -of the last twenty years in these tropical waters, stated a New York Herald Tribune correspondent at Port of Spain, Trinidad, last month. As the autumn gale's whip the North Atlantic the Falke will be plodding along to Europe filled 'fvith a cargo of, asphalt, ih strange contrast to her outward bound voyage last; summer, when she sailed from the Baltic —bound for Venezuela carrying millions of rounds of ammunitionj ; thousands •of rifles and several Venezuelan generals—enjbark:ed on an attempt to overthrow the Venezulan Government. For the first time the details of the Falke expedition, garnered,,by the cor? respondent, from members of the crew of the steamer and from Venezuelan revolutionists who participated in" the battle of Cumana, are made public. The revolutionary expedition, after months of planning and an expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars—collected from enemies of the present regime in Venezuela—sailed from Gdingen, a Polish port, near Danzig. On board were the principal leaders, General Delgado Chalbaud, who was forced to flee from Venezuela years ago for activities against the administration of President Juan Vincente Gomez; General Linares Alcantara, a West Point trained officer, and twenty Venezuelans, mostly political outcasts. Stowed away' in the hold were fifty-four cases of rifles and 100 cases of ammunition reported to have been taken from .a European ammunition dump. Captain Ernest Zipplitt was in command of the Falke, a salvage vessel capable of making sixteen to seventeen knots. CREW IGNORANT OF MISSION. xis soon as the Falke- was well away land the cases of rifles were brought on deck and the crew set to work mounting and cleaning the weapons. They were not informed of the mission of the vessel until the coast of Venezuela was close by. Dropping anchor off the island of near Venezuela, the Falke establish communication with the leaders of the rebels on the mainland. The following day more than 300 Venezuelans came -on board the Falke and were fitted with rifles and ammunition. Many of these men landed the same dav. Three large native boats, manned by’ 150 men, who also were supplied with arms and munitions by General Chal,baud, then accompanied the Falke to Cumana Point. At 4 a.m., August 11, the Falke came to anchor within a stone’s throw of the wharf of the town of Cumana, capital of the States of Sucre. As two of the native boats had been lost en route, the ship’s boats were pressed into service, the crew being'forced to row the revolutionists ashore.

TREASURY LOOTED BY REBELS. . Ae the revolutionists reached the landing stage members of the local garrison opened fire." Heated firing continued throughout the morning, the loyal forces gradually retiring through the streets of Cumana, until the rebels were finally in complete control of-the town. Laige sums of Government funds were seized by the rebels who looted the treasury and Customs safes. More than 20,000 pesos, in silver, were reported to have been left on the beach, the rebels being unable to transport it- because of the orreat weight. However, just as the venture appeared to be on the verge of success, the leader, General Chalbaud, v.-ho, with the Venezuelan banner in one hand and a revolver in the other, was directing tae attack, was shot and killed. A nurhbei of the rebels, seeing their leader fall, became panic stricken and rushed to the boats and returned to the Falke. The rebels forced Captain Zipplitt to weigh anchor immediately, declaring that all was lost. The Falke steamed out of the harbour, abandoning the several hundred rebels still on shore. * , All arms and munitions remaining on the Falke were thrown overboard and the vessel arrived at Trinidad several days later without any evidence on board to connect her with the revolutionary attempt. The Falke was held for investigation on charges by the Venezuelan Government that the vessel engaged in an “act of piracy. While the investigation disclosed the vessel had not engaged in piracy, as the Falke was never armed, nor did any member o f the crew fire a gun during the entire voyage, the steamer is still lying at anchor in the Port of Spain, awaiting a final decision by the board of inquiry. Captain Zipplitt has returned to Hamburg, and a new skipper is expected from Germany to take over the command and to sail the vessel to Europe with a cargo of asphalt as soon as she is released from custody.