The Daily Mail correspondent at Hong-kong gives some most interesting
gossip as to the positions occupied re- spectively by the American, German, and English naval commanders at Manilla. Admiral Dietrichs, the German, is reported to have interviewed Captain Chichester, of H.M.S. Immortalite,' as to what he would do if the Germans inter- fered with the bombardment of Manilla. Captain Chichester replied that only Admiral Dewey and himself knew that. Nothing could be better, for it clearly indicates that our ships have had orders to act on the maxim sacred to the British and American Navies : "Blood is thicker than water." There is something very naive in the German Admiral imagining that we should allow him to bully Admiral Dewey, though as far as that goes there is no reason to think that the American sailors would want any one's help if it came to fighting the Germans.
