Item 02: General William Holmes operation orders, 1914-June 1916 - Page 60

[Page 60]

Ralum, September 13th 1914.

To the Commanding Captain of the Australian Forces at Herbertshohe.

The undersigned confirms his conversation with you this morning re supplies:  Our firm, the Hamburgische Sudsee Aktiengesellschaft, has 30 Europeans and 1200 labourers to provide for.  Other firms have besides an about equal staff each a total of 15 000 labourers. Ordinary we get every four weeks our supplies from Sydney and our rice from Hong Kong.  About the 10th of August our Government promised to send a message to our Agents in Manila "Behn, Meyer & Co" ordering 10 000 pivuls of rice.  If this order is taken up, we do not know.

The day before your arrival, on the 10th of September, our business manager left with a motorketch for the Dutch East India to try and charter a vessel and bring supplies and rice here.  If successfull, this boat cannot turn up before six or eight weeks are over.  Our agents are "Messres Justus Scharff Ltd, Sydney Yorkstreet 18;  Messres Melchers & Co, Hongkong, as well as the above mentioned Behn, Meyer in Manila; theese and the owners  in Hamburg amy, knowing our situation, made  have arrangements to send supplies to us and we would be very much obliged to the Admiral of the Australien Squadron, if at our expense inquiry by wireless could be made at the above mentioned agents to find out if they have done anything for us allready.  We had four months of exceptionable dry weather and rice, of