File No. 341.115St2/17
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Page)
Washington, October 22, 1914.
[Telegram]
375. Department is advised that tank steamer Brindilla owned by the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, formerly the Washington owned by the Deutsch-Amerikanische Petroleum Gesellschaft, a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company controlled by American capital, has been seized during her voyage to Alexandria, Egypt, and taken into the port of Halifax by the British cruiser Caronia. Department advised that Brindilla carries a cargo of oil owned by Americans. Please bring the foregoing to the attention of the British Government and state that this Government finds difficulty in seeing cause for the seizure and detention of an American vessel with a cargo of petroleum bound for the port of Alexandria, Egypt, and therefore requests that the vessel and cargo be released immediately and allowed to proceed to her destination.