[Footnote 21:  For.  Rel., 1900, p. 533, Norton and Son to Geldart, Dec. 14, 1899.]

The shipments had been made, many of them on regular monthly orders, to Portuguese and other firms in Lorenzo Marques.  The policy of insurance did not cover war risks, and the company holding the insurance declared that it was not responsible for any accident which might occur while the merchandise was lying in lighters or hulks at a port of discharge which had been forced upon the ship by the English authorities.[22] That portion of the cargo of the Beatrice which was shipped from New York consisted of large consignments of flour, canned goods, and other foodstuffs, but included also a consignment of lubricating oil as well as a miscellaneous assortment of light hardware, but none of the articles shipped were of a contraband character in the usual meaning of that term.  Part of the flour was branded Goldfields and part was labelled Johannesburg, although the whole consignment was marked Delagoa Bay.  The American shippers averred that although they regularly sold flour to merchants engaged in trade in various parts of South Africa they “had never sold flour with direct or ulterior destination to the South African Republic, by re-sale or otherwise.”  They made affidavit that all of their sales had been made for the ordinary uses of life, and that “since the war had broken out they had made no sales of flour to merchants or others in the South African Republic."[23]

[Footnote 22:  According to the terms of sale, on time, the shippers pointed out the obvious fact that unless the goods were delivered, the Delagoa Bay consignees as well as others would refuse to honor the drafts drawn upon them for the amount of the purchase.  Consequently the loss would fall upon the American shippers should Great Britain persist in turning aside innocent consignments from their neutral port of destination.]

[Footnote 23:  For.  Rel., 1900, p. 565; Choate to Salisbury, Jan. 13, 1900.]

The reason assigned in the official report of the English authorities for their action in regard to the Beatrice was that she “contained large quantities of goods, principally flour, destined for the South African Republic, which the customs authorities at East London required should be landed at that port.”  Since the cargo was stowed in such a manner as to make it impossible to land goods destined for the Republic without also discharging goods intended for Portuguese East Africa, it was alleged that the master and agents of the ship preferred to land the whole of the cargo at East London, where it was stowed by the customs.  But it was admitted that the removal of large quantities of the goods so landed had been permitted from time to time “for the purposes of local and bona fide Portuguese consumption.”  The consignment to the Netherlands South African Railway was held to be enemy’s property since it was considered that the railway was owned by the Republic.  The specific reason assigned for the arrest of the steamer was “that the Beatrice being a British ship, was by carrying goods destined for the enemy’s territory, illegally engaged in trade with the enemy in contravention of Her Majesty’s proclamation of December 27, 1899."[24] The vessel sailed for Calcutta in ballast on December 11, 1900.