Salt Lake Tribune | 1915-02-28 | Page 1 | French Cruisers capture the Dacia Capture the Dacia

FRENCH CRUISERS GAPTUREJHE DMA Vessel Taken to Brest; Announcement An-nouncement Is Officially Made From Paris. PARIS, Feb. 28, 1:50 a. m. French cruisers have arrested the American steamer Dacia in the channel and taken her to Brest. This announcement announce-ment is officially made. Th steamship Dacia left Galveston for Rotterdam January 31 with 11,000 bales of cotton to be trans-shipped to Bremen. Bre-men. It was fully expected at that time that the ship would be seized on her 1 way to Rotterdam, as Great Britain questioned ques-tioned the validity of the recent transfer of the Dacia from German to American registry. The Dacia touched at NorfolK February 11 and proceeded. The Dacia was formerly a Hamburg-American Hamburg-American freighl steamship which had been used before the war in trade between be-tween Bremen and New Orleans and other gulf ports. At the outbreak of hostilities hostili-ties she was interned at Port Arthur, Tex. On December 24 the Dacia was purchased by an American and on January Jan-uary 4 American registry was obtained. It was then announced that she was to be used to relieve the cotton congestion, and loading was begun with a cargo of cotton to be taken to Rotterdam and thence shipped to Bremen, where it was already sold. Representations were made Immediately by the British embassy at Washing-ton, questioning the validity of the transfer of the Interned German vessel, and it was generally understood that if the ship sailed she would be seized by British or French warships and taken before a prize , court. WASHINGTON, Feb. 27. While no official of-ficial word has reached the state department depart-ment LonigM as to the seizure of the American steamer Dacia, It is known that no protest by this government Is probable until a French prize court passes upon the ship's status. Thia has been the general policy In all similar cases. The voyage of the Dacia has been regarded re-garded as a test case upon which final decision as to the right of neutrals to purchase vessels from citizens of belligerent belliger-ent countries might be based.