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Show DRIFTING AT SEA IN AN OPEN BOAT 1 . . French Convicts Made Desperate Attempt to Escape.- Victoria, E. C, Nov. 25. The steamer Moana, which arrived . this morning from Australia via Honolulu, met with an accident at William Head quaran-tine quaran-tine station last night, as the result of which she may have to go into dry-dock. dry-dock. The steamer was avoiding the steamer Umatilla on entering the- station, sta-tion, and Captain Carey suys the flashing flash-ing of the searchlight of that vessel dazzled the officers of the Moana who failed, at a result, to notice the proximity prox-imity of the liner to the rocks, she having hav-ing been caught up by the current. The Moana struck by the stern on the rocks, breaking, her rudder. Captain Carey after several hours of hacking and filling fill-ing the steamer, being without steering gears-, managed to bring the vessel to .Victoria. Convicts Picked Up. The Moana brought news from Australia Aus-tralia of the picking up at sea of ?even escaped French convicts from the penal settlement at New Caledonia, who had been drifting at sea in an open boat for thirteen days. The prisoners, who had secured a fishing smack, converted a sapling into a mast and put to sea, irtendir.-g to escape to the Australian coast. The boat had been supplied with oars, but only one remained, had no compass and none of the prisoners had the slightest idea of navigation. All would have perished had they not been rescued by the steamer Cromartv. 400 miles north of New Caledonia, whic h took them to Sydney. The convicts, who were all armed, were weak and enaciated from the privation endured when rescued. They are being held by the Sydney police pending advice from the French authorities. Excitement at Suva. There was 'some excitement at Suva when the Moana called there over the ' reported hauling do.vn of the British flag at Tonga, it being said that th2 Friendly islands were to be handed over to Germany by Great Britain in exchange for some "German islands in the Solomon group known as the German Ger-man Solomon islands. An interesting dispute has arisen at Sydney as a result of a decision of the arbitration court there against the American ship Andromeda from Puget Sound with lumber. Captain Ranselius was discharging his timber over the side onto scows with his own crew. Complaint was made by the longshoremen's longshore-men's union and the arbitration court cited Captain Ranselius to appear. He refused. An injunction was granted restraining him from committing further fur-ther breaches of an award made by the arbitration court giving preference to union labor. The American captain, backed by the American consul, refused to allow- any one on board to serve the summons, the American consul having quoted Daniel Webster's letter to the British government govern-ment that the deck of the vessel is the territory of the country to which she belongs. |