Salt Lake Telegram | 1905-04-14 | Page 8 | Engineer of Tacoma Tells of Its Capture

TELLS' ORIIS.GAPIORE, Sailed With Contraband Cargo and Was Captured bj Japs, Who Knew All About Crew. u 1 : SEATTLE!, tVash.! April 14. In a let-ter let-ter written to a friend In this city. Otto ' Daniels, chief engineer" of the North- western Steamship company's steamer . Tacoma, which was captured by Japanese Jap-anese cruisers while attempting to run the blockade to Vladivostok, dispels v ' . the mystery which has surrounded the history of that craft since. leaving this . port on January ' ' I - Daniels? strUes that the officers of the . -. -steamer knew - that they Were bound for the "Siberian port, and that their cargo was contraband, lie, says that some of the officers were only prevailed upon to make the- voyage by the prom-! prom-! ises of the Russian agent aboard - the steamer. The crew did . not know of their destination until -, the steamer reached Dutch harbor. When they found It out' they threatened to desert ! the ship, and a mutiny was only avoided avoid-ed by - the diplomacy of the Russian agent, who promised them a small for-I for-I tune If the attempt was successful. ; The writer states after the Tacoma was caught in the lee shewas in momentary mo-mentary danger . of being' crushed by the terrible pressure exerted by the floes as they drifted about with the current. - The men were forced to -burn the deckhouses and other parts of the steamer's- upnerv structure to keep warm., and were obliged to subsist for a part, of the time onfthe beef intended for the Russians'. Daniels says that after being captured cap-tured the entire, crew were treated with the utmost kindness by the Japanese, who were in. possession of -the names and position of every member almost from the moment of the steamer's leaving leav-ing this port.