urged them forward by word and deed in cheery fashion, and soon Apia was
swarming with our troops.

Guards were placed all about the Government buildings, and Col. Logan,
with his staff, was quickly installed in the Government offices.

Lieut. Col. Fulton dashed off to the telephone exchange and pulled out
all the plugs, so that the residents could hold no intercommunication by
that means. The Custom House and the offices of the Governor were also
seized without a moment's loss of time. An armed party was dispatched
along a bush road to seize the wireless station. Late that evening the
man in charge rang up in some alarm to state that there was dynamite
lying about and that the engine had been tampered with to such an extent
that the apparatus could not be used until we got our own machinery in
position.

Meantime the German flag, that had flown over the island for fourteen
years, was hauled down, the Germans present doffing their hats and
standing bareheaded and silent on the veranda of the Supreme Court as
they watched the soldier in khaki from New Zealand unceremoniously
pulling it down, detaching it from the rope, and carrying it inside the
building.

Next morning the British flag was hoisted with all due ceremony. In the
harbor the emblem of Britain's might fluttered from the masts of our
cruiser escort, the Stars and Stripes waved in the tropic breeze above
the palms surrounding the American Consulate, and out in the open sea
the white ensign and tricolor flew on the powerful warships of the
allied fleets of England and France.

A large crowd of British and other residents and Samoans had gathered.
In the background were groups of Chinese coolies, gazing wonderingly
upon the scene. The balconies of the adjoining buildings were crowded
with British and Samoans. Only the Germans were conspicuous by their
absence. With undisguised feelings of sadness they had seen their own
flag hauled down the day before. Naturally they had no desire to witness
the flag of the rival nation going up in its place.

A few minutes before 8 o'clock all was ready. Two bluejackets and a
naval Lieutenant stood with the flag, awaiting the signal. The first gun
of the royal salute from the Psyche boomed out across the bay. Then
slowly, to the booming of twenty-one guns, the flag was hoisted to the
summit of the staff, the officers, with drawn swords, silently watching
it go up. With the sound of the last gun it reached the top of the