18. Prorogation of Parliament. (See Eng. Hist., Chap. V.)
18. Near Astoria, Oregon, the United States merchant steamer Francis H. Leggett foundered in a gale; seventy lives were lost.
—A South African force occupied Lüderitzbucht, German West Africa.
19. The Pacific Mail steamer Ortega, 8,000 tons, Capt. D. R. Kinneir, bound from Valparaiso to Liverpool, escaped from a German cruiser into the Straits of Magellan, through Nelson Strait, a dangerous and quite unsurveyed passage—a daring feat of seamanship.
20. At Zanzibar, H.M.S. Pegasus, while at anchor, was surprised by the German cruiser Königsberg, and disabled; thirty-four of her crew were killed and sixty-one wounded; the Königsberg escaped.
—German bombardment of Rheims Cathedral. (See For. Hist., Chap. I.)
22. Two Parliamentary seats were filled, by arrangement, without opposition. At Hartlepool Sir Walter Runciman (L.) was returned, vice Sir Stephen Furness (L.), deceased; at Bolton Mr. A. H. Gill (Lab.), deceased, was succeeded by Mr. A. H. Tootil (Lab.).
—At 6 A.M., H.M.S. cruiser Aboukir was torpedoed by a German submarine in the North Sea and sank; H.M.S. cruisers Cressy and (two hours later) Hogue suffered the same fate while standing by to save life. The total loss was sixty-two officers and 1,397 men; the saved numbered 917.
—British air raid on Düsseldorf; Flight-Lieut. C. H. Collet dropped three bombs on the Zeppelin sheds, approaching within 400 feet; an attack on the sheds at Cologne was frustrated by fog; all five aviators returned safely. (See Eng. Hist. Chap. V.)