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Show FIVE AMERICAN PRISONERS; j HELD BY GERMAN SUBMARINE H Washington, Aug. 12. Five H - Americans ure believed to bo prlaon- B era aboard u Gorman submarine, nc- B cording to liiformatlon mado public B today by tho navl department. Tlio B department's statement, Issued B through the commlttco on public iu- J formation, Is as follows: i "The Standard Oil tanker Cam-paua, Cam-paua, ail American steamer, was sunk by a submnrlno tho morning of Aug. C, one hundred nnd forty-three miles west of the Islo Do Itlo. Fourty-seven Fourty-seven survhors reached land In safo-ty. safo-ty. It Is believed that tho captain of the steamer and four of tho armed guards are prisoners on board tho German submarine." For military reasons further details de-tails of tho sinking were withhold by tho nal dopaitmont. It was stated that nothing additional to tho official offici-al statement would bo glvon out for tho present at loast. If It Is truo that flvo of tho company com-pany of tho Campana aro prisoners on tho submarlno they represent tho first naval captives Germany has taken tak-en from tho United States slnco the war began. The Islo do Ilo (Ilho) Is a fortified forti-fied Island off tho west coast of Franco In tho Gulf of Gascony nnd lies opposite tho town of La Itachelle. It Is eighteen miles long. Washington officialdom tonight recalled that whon tho Germans cap-turod cap-turod tho commander of tho British merchantman who had presumed to dofend hlmsolf and his ship against submarlno attack, Captain Fryatt was taken to Germany, tried and Bhot as a pirate. Germany has taken tho stand that any American merchantman which attacks a submarlno in order to defend de-fend herself Is guilty of piracy under tho International law which doflnps the attack by prlvato vossols upon ships of war as such a crlmo, Inter national law permits tho arming of merchant vessels for defense. Dut, i despite the methods 6t attack" without with-out warning, tho Imperial admiralty has held that any defensive measures In advance Which merchantshlpa may use are crlmw punishable by execution. execu-tion. Washington bollovcs, Inasmuch as tho Campana had an armed guard, that she was not sunk without resistance. re-sistance. The stato department tonight to-night is owaltlng news from Germany giving some hint of "what happened to the captain of tho Campana. Thero Is no method by which this government can make an 'effective protest to Germany. She can threaten threat-en reprisals. Tho question of roprlsal was brought up In tho state department when tho men of tho crow of the Belgian Prince were utrlppett to" tho skin and drowned from tho deck of the submarlno which captured thorn. At that tlmo Secretary of State Lansing Lan-sing said in answer to a question about reprisal: "What would you have us do? Can wo take the Interned Germans wo havo hero nnd send them to sea and drown thom7" It Is nevertheless expected that thero will ho a radical chango In tho kindly treatment' which tho United States has meted out to all tho nationals na-tionals of Germany In this 'Country if a merchant captain and a naval crew should meet tho fato of Captain Fryatt. Fry-att. , |