166 REFUELING WARSHIPS AT SEA. 



The collier Mazatlan, flying the U. S. flag, cleared from San Francisco for 

 Guaymas, Mexico, August 13, under $20,000 bond to deliver her coal as consigned. 

 North of Magdalena Bay the Mazatlan picked up the German cruiser Leipzig and 

 transferred mail and stores to her. Her coal, however, w^as carried to Guaymas, 

 where it was transferred to the German steamer Marie, which later coaled the 

 Leipzig. 



The Norwegian ship Helicon in Chilean waters was said to have been stopped 

 by a German cruiser and compelled to give up her cargo of coal, the Helicon's 

 port side being badly crushed in the process. 



THE DANGER OF COALING IN PORT. 



The North German Gazette (AT. Y. Sun, October 30) gives the following story 

 of the fight between the auxiliary cruiser Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and the Brit- 

 ish cruiser Highflyer : — 



"On August 26 the cruiser Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse lay in the Spanish har- 

 bor of Rio del Oro with two coaling steamers alongside, while a third German 

 steamer lay at anchor about 500 meters further out. The entire crew had been busy 

 coaling for two days. The bunkers were not yet half filled when toward noon a 

 ship came in sight which turned out to be the English armored cruiser Highflyer. 

 The following searchlight signals were then exchanged by the two ships : — 



"Highflyer: Surrender! (No answer.) 



"Highflyer: I call on you to surrender. 



"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse: German warships do not surrender. I demand 

 of you to observe the Spanish neutrality. 



"Highflyer : You are coaling for the second time in this port ; I call on you to 

 surrender. If not I will fire on you at once. 



"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse : I am coaling here for the first time. Besides, 

 that is a Spanish affair. 



"Highflyer: Surrender at once. 



"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse: I have nothing more to say." 



The above dispatch is valuable. It supplies some approximate data indicating 

 that the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was being coaled at the rate of 500 tons per 

 day per collier. The marine cableway alone could deliver 500 tons per day on the 

 high seas, where the cruiser would have been able to make her escape had she been 

 discovered. 



THE HIGH SEAS A SAFE PLACE TO HIDE. 



The British cruisers Good Hope and Monmouth taking on coal at Coronel, 

 Chile, furnished an opportunity for a wireless message to be sent to the German 

 fleet, which, gathering in full strength, found these ships and sunk them (Novem- 

 ber I ) a day or so afterwards. 



