DANISH SHIP CAPTURED

INTERNED BY BRAZIL

FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. COPENHAGEN, THURSDAY. It is reported by the South American Press that the Danish steamer Hammershus has been captured in the South Atlantic by a new German raider of the Moewe type, bearing the name Puyme, and forced to assist that vessel, acting partly as an auxiliary cruiser and partly as a supply ship. The owners of the Hammershus intimate that the statement is true in so far as it refers to happenings some time ago, but that a stop has been put to the activities of their vessel. The Hammershus left Rio Grande on Jan. 12 for Santos, fell in with the Puyme, and was captured, her Danish crew being taken on board the German cruiser, and a German naval crew put aboard the Hammershus. On Jan. 22 the Hammershus entered the Bay of Rio de Janeiro, and cast anchor near a number of German ships which have been interned there since the beginning of the war. From these vessels she obtained provisions, and also, as was later brought to light, considerable quantities of munitions, but when by night the Hammershus attempted to leave for Santa Cruz the guard discovered the attempt and ordered her to stop. The order was not obeyed, and the fort guns opened fire, whereupon the Hammershus stopped. She is now interned under the supervision of Brazilian warships. It is the general opinion of Scandinavian sea captains with wide experience of Atlantic voyages during the war, that the Puyme, like the Moewe, is enabled to maintain her supplies of provisions and munitions mainly through the instrumentality of other German ships, which at the very beginning of the war were deliberately posted at various remote points in the South Atlantic. – Central News. The Hammershus is a steamer of 3,931 tons, built at Glasgow in 1903, and owned by the Dannebrog Steamship Company, of Copenhagen. This is the first that has been heard of any such vessel as the Puyme. It was known that another disguised merchant ship was at sea, and it has been reported that she captured, among others, the British vessel St. Theodore, and, placing a prize crew on board, converted her for the purpose of commerce destruction.