Show r WAKE ISLAND SEIZED American Commander Takes Posse i session or Uninhabited Reef f Yah1ngton March 21The conditions condi-tions under which Wake Island midway mid-way between Honolulu and the PhiD t pines was taken possession of in the f Dame of the United States by the commander of the Bennington on herr her-r voyage across the Pacific are given in a revort to the navy department from Commander Taussig dated at sea two months ago The officer says he ap proahed the islad steaming slowly along the southern and eastern sides to discover signs of habitation and look 7 ing In vain for an anchorage He did Dot circumnavigate the island but seeing f see-ing that the outet on the north was barred not only bj a wall of coral but also by a sand spit he returned to the lee of the Island A landing was made at 1 oclock on the lUf Januar rda rd-a flagpole was raised Besides mrio pies of wreckage no signs of huma I occupation were visible On the eastern side of the island imbedded in the sand an anchor was seen and what appeared appear-ed to be the wreck of a lower mast was higher on the beach When the flagstaff flag-staff was in place the sailors were formed in two ranks facing seaward and having called aU to witness that the island was not In th possession of any other nation Commander Taussig ordered the American lag to be raised by Ensign Wettengel Upon reaching the truck the fag was saluted by twentjne guns from the Bennington After the saute the flag was nailed to the masthead with battens and a brass plate with the fcjowing Inscription was crewed to the base of the flagstaff United States of America William McKinley President John D Long Secretary of the Navy Commander I Edward T Taussig Commanding the U S steamer Bennington this lith day of January 1899 took possession of the atoll known as Wakes island for the atol I United States of America |