Show German Steamship Captain Declares English Attacked Kaiser Wilhelm der ! Grosse at Anchor i NAVAL BATTLE IN SPANISH TERRITORY Steamer Magdeburg Struck by Stray Shot Fired by British Cruiser High flyer j FW YORK Sept 8 The Cerman steamship Magdelur" a w tness of the na al engagement between the Br t sh cru ser II bflycr and the German con verted cru ser Ka ser W lheln der Grosse off the west coast of Afr ca on August steamed into th s port to day Accord ng to "her eapta n S Or gel the Magdeburg herself was st uck by one of the H ghflyer s shells after be n ntercepted wh le supply ng coal to the German cru ser Capta n Orgel asserted that the Ka ser W lhelm der Grosse was at tacked vh le at anchor n Hpan h waters neutral terr tory w thout steam up He sa d it was reported several persons on board the II ghflyer were k lied Transferred Prisoners Capta n Orgel s story of h s sh p s eiper ence during the encounter told ton ght sets torth that vihen the II gh flyer came upon the Ka ser Wilhelm the German sh p had on board 100 Br t ons pr souerB taken from Br t sh pr zes Capta n Orgel sa d that the Ka ser W 1 he m translerred these pr soners to an othei (jermany coaling essel the Aru kas ly ng near bj The Engl sh gave the captain no thanks for tfi s act on commented the Magdeburg s master The Magdeburg lett Gothenburg Ger many on July 18 for Aust al a Put t ng in at Las Palmas Canary slands. on August 5 Capta n Orgel rece vod orders ne sa d to del ver some of h s coal to the Ka ser Vr lheln der Grosse at the south end of the bay of R o de Oro on the African coast Capta n Or gel sa d Th s part of the coast belongs to Spa n On August 26 at 11 60 a m an Fngl sh cru ser was s ghted wh ch began to s gnal to the Wil helm Would Not Surrender Tho commander of the German aux 1 ary cru ser nformed me that the Engl sh cru ser ordered b m to surrender his sh p otherwise he would open f re As far as I know the German eommander re pi ed to tho English cru ser as fol lows We Germans do not surren der Capta n Reymann the command er of the Wilhelm thereupon in formed me that the Engl sh cru ser would soon open f re and that he therefore advised me to we gh an chor and steam out of the fir ng 1 ne The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse herself could not lea e her anchor age as she could not get up suf f c ent 6team to move w th n two hours It would have required e ght hours to have got on a full head of steam The reason the vessel had no steam on was because she was in neutral waters Shot Hits Magdeburg Wh le I was st 11 engaged in weigh ng anchor the Engl sh cruiser began to f re although the Magde burg lay d rectly in the firing 1 ne between the W lhelm and the Eng 1 sh cru ser The Brit sh shells fell to the left and r ght of ns but short of the r mark Finally one shell took effect in the forecastle of the Magdeburg and caused great damage Happily no member of the crew was at that t me in the fore castle The Wilhelm immediately repl ed to the fire of the English cruiser with her three a ailable guns It was said that the Engl sh cnuser was struck several t mes and that several persons on board were k lied. I myself took the Magdeburg n der f 11 tean s thwa d and soon 1 t s ht o both es els Vl en we saw the W lhelm last sh was 1 sted heav 1 to port I had the impres s on that she was sinking |