Paris, July 4.
Two French warships are racing to the help of a French merchantman captured by rebel warships this morning as she was trying to enter the port of Santander, which is still held by Spanish Government forces, The merchantman was the s, Tregastel, which was fired on by the insurgent cruiser Almirante Cervera at 10 o'clock this morning. The Tregastel stopped on the fourth shot and was taken in charge by another rebel ship, the Ciudad de Valencia, with "which she proceeded caste wards? The Ciudad de Valencia is reported to be escorting her to ao, which is in the hands of rebel forces, The Foreign Office here has-confirmed news of the seizure of the merchantman, to whose help the warships Chasseur and Vauquois have been dispatched. 4 The Tregastel, the Foreign Oce later declared, was believed to be in insurgent hands in Bilbao and the French Government was maki representations to Salamanca aat her seizure.
Meanwhile, the, Ministry of Marine has pointed out that the warships Chasseur and Vauquois do not have the right to enter Spanish territorial waters,—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.