File No. 344d62/16
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Sharp)1
357. August Piepenbrink, waiter or steward on American registered steamer Windber bound to New York, was taken from that vessel by officers of French cruiser Condé, about November 13, while on the high seas some two days out of Colon and 250 miles south of Kingston. Piepenbrink is of German birth, but had regularly filed declaration of Intention to become American citizen at Sacramento, California, in 1910. He is now detained prisoner at Kingston, Jamaica, in charge of British officials. Action of French cruiser in seizing Piepenbrink is deemed to have been without right, as also his arrest and detention by British authorities. You will ask French Government for orders for his release.
- The same, mutatis mutandis, to the Ambassador in Great Britain, No. 705, December 7.↩