Page:Dramatic Moments in American Diplomacy (1918).djvu/294

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274
DRAMATIC MOMENTS

played. He did have a formidable squadron in Asiatic waters, with instructions which can only be guessed at, but from subsequent proceedings pretty well imagined. Admiral Von Diederich headed this squadron to Manila, and began his pleasantries shortly after the defeat of the Spanish Navy there. Admiral Dewey, the soul of naval etiquette, but no Polish peasant, was at first unable to understand manœuvres originating in the conception that the Kaiser's orders were sufficient reason for any action on earth. Dewey was blockading the harbour and, by the rules of the sea, as well as by the established code of International Law, no vessels of any kind could enter except by his permission. Von Diederich sailed the Irene in without as much as "with your leave." Dewey knew he was discourteous, but supposed he was ignorant. However, when the Cormoran followed suit, the Admiral brought her to with solid shot across the bow, and then pretty soon the premeditation behind this affair began to develop. Dewey casually mentioned that it