The ship owners' argument. A long step in civilisation. capture and seizure, and would give compensation to the owners in the event of the capture of their property. All the arguments put forward by the shipowners in 1885 hold good in favour of establishing by international agreement immunity of private property from capture. The shipowners insisted on the certain burdens on trade of heavy war risks, the consequent transference of British vessels to neutral flags, the probable loss during war of our preponderance in the carrying trade, the chance that trade once lost would never return to our flag, the risk of interruption of our food supplies, and lastly on the certainty that no damage we should have it in our power to inflict would seriously, affect any probable enemy. It would be a long step in civilisation if England were to announce to the nations that in any future naval operations it would not touch the private property of the enemy and would treat captures from her own subjects as national losses. But England should not stand before the nations in such a cause in the attitude of a suppliant, nor accept compliance with her demands as a concession from strength to weakness. England's voice must be that of the strong man armed. It must be made plain that her advocacy of a policy of forbearance is inspired, not by fear, but by generosity. CHAPTER XII. THE ESCAPE OF H.M.S. CALLIOPE. WHILE these sheets were going through the press tidings reached Hurricane England of the awful hurricane at Samoa, which caused disasters, at Samoa. which we sincerely deplore, to the ships of friendly powers, attended with a lamentable loss of life. The British ship present escaped after a fearful struggle. The Calliope was handled with admirable courage and skill, both on deck and in the engine-room, and the ship exhibited the highest qualities in relation to seaworthiness and machinery. The following notices of the disaster appeared in the Times:"A telegram from Sydney, New South Wales, says: Her Majesty's Telegrams ship Calliope arrived here this morning from Apia, Samoa, bringing from Sydney. full confirmation of the terrible and destructive hurricane last month, and particulars of her own wonderful escape from the fate which befell the American and German men-of-war. The captain of the Calliope states that the ship's barometers gave due warning of the approaching storm, but no one supposed it would be more serious than others which had been previously experienced. The usual precautions, however, were taken. Even when the barometer had fallen. unusually low and the hurricane was almost at its height, some natives on board the Calliope declared that it was nothing more than an ordinary storm. The hurricane increased in fury every hour, and at length it became evident that the Calliope in her then position would not be able much longer to stand against it. Already, one after another, the cables of four out of her five anchors had parted before the tremendous strain, and the vessel had commenced to drift. One anchor alone was holding her, and that was perceptibly dragging. For a while the captain thought the best plan would be to beach the Calliope on a soft patch to which he thought he could guide her. But such tremendous seas were running that it seemed impossible that any ship could hold together for long after being run ashore. The captain therefore determined to risk everything in an attempt to reach the open sea beyond the dangerous reefs. The remaining anchor was therefore slipped, and the Calliope's head turned toward the most practicable opening in the line of reefs. The wind at the dalia. moment was blowing with tremendous force. The Calliope's engines, capable of steaming at a speed of 15 knots, seemed almost powerless, and, as a matter of fact, the highest speed attained in the teeth of the gale was half a knot, at which rate the vessel gradually got out The Van- of the dangerous harbour. The Vandalia, of the American squadron, was still holding by her anchors, and the Calliope twice came into collision with her, but fortunately without serious damage to either vessel. The Calliope, however, sprung her foreyard, damaged her head and stem, and lost all her boats, except one, partly by the collisions, and partly by the seas. She did not, however, lose a single man, though one seaman was seriously hurt, but his injuries are not considered dangerous. Thousands of people have flocked to see the Calliope, and the knowledge of the splendid manner in which she was navigated out of Apia harbour has aroused the greatest enthusiasm here. The officers have been overwhelmed with congratulations from all sides, and Lord Carrington, the Governor, has personally inspected the ship, and expressed his admiration and congratulations to the officers and crew." The Losses. German losses. Berlin telegram. The Calliope is under the command of Captain Henry C. Kane. HURRICANE IN SAMOA.-MEN-OF-WAR WRECKED. Philadelphia, March 30. - Admiral Kimberly, commanding the American Samoan Squadron, has telegraphed as follows to the Secretary of the Navy :"Hurricane at Apia on March 15. Every vessel in the harbour is ashore, except the English ship Calliope, which got to sea. "The American ships Trenton and Vandalia are total losses. The Nipsic was beached, with her rudder gone, and may be saved; but the chances are against it. Captain Schoonmaker, 4 officers, and 93 men of the Vandalia were lost. The Nipsic lost 7 men. The Trenton's crew were all saved. The German ships Adler and Eber are total losses. The Olga was beached, and may be saved. The German losses number 96." Admiral Kimberly having asked for orders to send 300 men home, the Secretary of the Navy sent him full power. The American vessels lost are wooden corvettes. The Trenton, flagship, was of 3900 tons, the Vandalia of 2100, and the Nipsic of 1375. They had 800 men on board. Auckland, March 30. A terrific hurricane, which raged for well-nigh two days, broke over the Samoan Islands on the night of March 16. Its effects upon the shipping, and especially the foreign men-of-war stationed in those waters, was disastrous in the extreme. "The storm burst before the ships could escape from the insecure anchorage at Apia, and although they made every effort to get out to sea and away from the dangerous coast, only Her Majesty's ship Calliope, out of the seven foreign war-vessels caught by the hurricane, was so fortunate as to make the open sea. Drifting before the gale, she headed seaward and escaped, setting sail for Sydney. Those that remained were overtaken one after the other by utter disaster. The fury of the wind was tremendous. vessel Eber. "The German gunboat Eber was the first to drag her anchors and to German be driven, totally helpless, upon the coral reef which surrounds the harbour of Apia. She struck, broadside on, at 6 o'clock in the morning. The ill-fated vessel gave a lurch, then staggered back from the shock and went down in a moment in deep water. Most of the men on board were under hatches, and scarcely a single soul escaped. "Her consort, the Adler, was the next to succumb to the remorseless German vessel gale. She was lifted bodily by a gigantic sea and cast on her beam- Adler. ends on the reef. Then followed a terrible struggle for life. Many of the sailors plunged into the raging surf and struck out for the shore. Some reached it. Others clung to the rigging until the masts went. Of these, too, some afterwards made their way to the land. Several of the officers, among them the captain, were saved. vessel "Meanwhile, the United States sloop of war Nipsic had been drag- American ging her anchors and drifting towards the shore. Happily, the Nipsic. captain had not lost all control over his ship, and he was able to run her ashore on a bank of sand. The boats were lowered and the whole ship's company reached the land in safety, except six men who were drowned through the capsizing of one of the boats. The American corvette Vandalia met with a worse fate. Like the American corvette Eber, she was carried before the gale right on to the reef. The Vandalia. captain was hurled by the shock against a Gatling gun and rendered insensible. While he lay unconscious on the deck a sea swept the deck and he was washed away. The vessel sank about 50 yards from where the Nipsic lay. Of the officers and crew, several were washed overboard and drowned. Others perished after a hard struggle to swim ashore. Others remained for hours in the rigging, which still remained above the water, but were carried away one by one by the great waves that never ceased to dash over them. "By this time night had come on, and although the European residents and the native Samoans were gathered on the shore eagerly anxious to help the hapless sailors, they could do nothing in the German corvette Olga. Merchant shipping losses. Mr. Goschen. darkness. Not long after the Vandalia had gone down, the American corvette Trenton broke loose from her anchorage and was driven upon the sunken wreck of the Vandalia. Then she drifted on to the shore, with her bottom completely stove in and with her hold half full of water. Fortunately, although the ship was totally lost, all on board of her were saved. "As morning broke, the German corvette Olga, which had up to that time withstood the gale, although she was much battered, became unmanageable and was driven on to the beach, where she rested in a tolerably favourable position. Not one of her crew was lost. The record of the losses is as follows:-Eber-captain, all officers except one, and 76 men; Nipsic-6 men; Vandalia-captain, 4 officers, and 40 men; Adler-altogether 15. "Some slight hopes are entertained of floating the Olga, and Mataafa sent a number of his men to the shore, who rendered splendid service in the combined efforts made to get her off the beach. There is also just a possibility of saving the Nipsic, but it is not likely. "The merchant shipping on the coast suffered as much as the menof-war, the barque Peter Godeffroy and seven coasting vessels being wrecked and four persons drowned." In his speech at Sheffield on the 22nd May, Mr. Goschen told the story of the Calliope in graphic language. He spoke as follows:"I am going to remind you of a circumstance of which every Briton will be proud. I wonder how many of you have read of the story of that gallant ship the Calliope, which alone of the ships in the harbour of Samoa, when the fiercest hurricane almost of the century blew, rode out the gale and made away, you remember how, surrounded by the coral reefs, with the ships of war of other countries drifting around her, through seamanship, through the strength of the craft, through the perfection of the engines, and the work of the crew, a monument, I hope, to all time that seamanship, nerve, and perfection are still characteristic of the British Navy. I read yesterday the report of the captain of the Calliope. It will be published in a few days and you will read it for yourselves. But I will tell you one of the points which struck me most in this splendid achievement. Remember what are the criticisms that are mainly made upon our ships. It is that the boilers are never adequate, it is that the engines are generally defective, it is that generally the stokers are too few, and that the steering of our ships is unsatisfactory. If in any one of these respects there had been a default, the Calliope would not now be the glory of all those who rejoice in the doings of the British Navy, but her crew and the ship itself would be beneath the waves of |