Montevideo, Dec, 17.
A flurry of hurried diplomatic activity today preceded the departure of the German pocket-battleship Admiral Gref Spee for its "burial ground" five miles off the Uruguayan coast this evening, The British Minister, E. Millington-Drake, called on Foreign Minister A. Guani this morning and handed him a Note the contents of which were not revealed. Conferences then were held in Government House to decide the status and fate of the Graf Spee.
Senor Guani next conferred with War Minister. General A.R. Campos and forwarded to him the Note handed over earlier in the day by the British envoy.
While the War Minister studied this Note, Senor Gunni proceeded with a conference at the Chancellery with diplomatic representatives of the American republics who examined together the whole problem raised by Wednesday's naval encounter within the 300-mile neutrality zone proclaimed at Panama, The conference, it was learned, was convened by request of the Ambassador of Brazil.—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.