A naval action is reported from Germans sources to have
taken place off the Chilean coast last Sunday evening. What actually happened still remains a mystery. According to the German reports, five German warships, the Scharnhorst," Gneisenau,' 'Leipzig,' Dresden,' and ‘Niirenberg,' concentrated near Valparaiso and engaged near the island of Santa Maria, off Coronel, four British ships, the cruisers Good Hope' and
Monmouth,' the light cruiser Glasgow,' and the auxiliary cruiser 'Otranto,' of the Orient Line. The two latter ships were completely outranged by the more powerful guns of the enemy's ships. The Germans asserted that the 'Monmouth' was sunk and the Good Hope' very severely damaged, though a New York message declares that the 'Good Hope' escaped without damage. The Admiralty and the world in general are exceedingly puzzled by the nature of this statement. In the first place, there is no mention of the battleship 'Canopus,' though that ship had been specially sent out to strengthen Admiral Cradock's squadron.
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