This announcement naturally caused a great deal of comment amongst the British public. The general opinion was that the alleged spies knew the risk they were running and must take the consequences. Various attempts were made on the part of the press to discover the identity of John and William Smith. Enquiries at the Naval Intelligence Department gave no tangible result. The authorities there expressed their ignorance of the whole business.
The morning editions on the following day came out with highly coloured reports emanating from imaginative German journalists; but the only particle of truth was the information that the request of the British Consul at Bremen had been refused. In order to give the accused every possible advantage a military officer of high rank had been dispatched from Berlin to act as "prisoners' friend". Owing to the possibilities of important military and naval secrets being disclosed at the impending trial, the proceedings were to be conducted behind closed doors.
Even with this announcement the Great British Public maintained its customary apathy. Had some Polish revolutionary been tried under similar circumstances in far-off Russia a certain section of the British Press would have howled itself black in the face at the injustice and inhumanity of the proceedings. In this instance it was merely an attempt on the part of two venturesome Englishmen to gain notoriety at the expense of risking our amiable relations with a friendly State. John and William Smith must take the consequences.
In a paper of the same date appeared a short column headed:
"FEARED FATALITY TO TWO ENGLISH YACHTSMEN
"A ketch yacht, named Diomeda, has been brought into the port of Delfzyl by the Dutch steam trawler Hoorn. The master of the trawler reports having found the yacht derelict, with all sails set, nine miles N.N.W. of Norderney. There are three yachts named Diomeda in Lloyd's Register, but from the Dutch skipper's description the abandoned yacht is the property of Mr. Octavius Valerian Smith of Lowestoft."
At ten o'clock a telegram was handed in at the London offices of The Yachtsman's Journal. It was from that paper's Lowestoft correspondent:
"Smith, owner Diomeda, reports yacht chartered Sub-Lieutenant Hamerton, R. N. Owner starting Delfzyl immediately. Shall I accompany?—Stirling."
The editor thought over the message for some minutes. Here was a chance of obtaining copy direct from the scene of the disaster. He would dearly like to steal a march on his contemporaries. The mystery might prove far more exciting than it looked according to the morning dailies. But there was the expense; The Yachtman's Journal had not a large amount of capital behind it. Of course, Stirling would not want a large sum for the trip, but there were the travelling expenses.
A thought struck him: why not consult his friend Thompson, the news editor of the influential Westminster Daily Record?