Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-11-23
FIGHT AT PORT ARTHUR
Three Times Were the Japa-
 nese Land Forces Repulsed.
CHINA HAS LOST A BIG wARSHIP.

The Chen Yuen Blown Up by Torpedocs and
 Beached-Her Captain Immediately Com
 mitted Suicide - New Japanese Treaty
 Signed at Washington.
 LONDON, Nov. 23.-The Chinese and Japanese navies have had battle off Port Arthur. Tho Chinamen are said to have continued tho fight even to close quarters. suffering great damage Tho battlcship Chen Yuen fed into the har- bor of Wei Hai- Wei, which is almost di- rectly opposite Port Arthur.
 A dispatch says that tho Chen Yuen ran aground while entering Wei Hal Wei. She was trying to avoid tho torpedOes laid there to blow up the enemy in case he en- tered the harbor. There is little doubt, however, that tho crack warship wss ac- tually blown up and many of her crew either killed or wounded.
 Lin Tai Sau, her commander. commit ted suicide the instant he realized the disaster that had befallen his vessel LONDON, Nov. 23.-A dispatch from Shanghai says that the efforts of foreign CTS to reach the Chinese wounded meet with small success. The wounded Chi nese mostly remain at Simenting. between New Chang and Mukden, the state of the country preventing the Chinese medical staff and the foreign volunteers from pro- ceeding there. Wounded stragglers haye ! reached Mukden and New Chang, and | some of them have even reached Tien- tsin. where they have been attended to, but no succor has reached tho main body | of tho Chinese wounded
 All the foreigners have evacuated Muk- den. A portion of the road between Tion tsin and Poking is occupied by Hou. nanese troops. and this locality Is becom. I inc nnnioaSnnt fnr trnyelarS Cold wanth- | CT is setting in.
 The Catholic fathers remain at their | stations in ManchurIa. but the Protcs- tants have returned. The latter reported that tho Chinese soldiers fought most stubbornly under General Sung and they add that If the Chinese had good leaders they would certainly ropel the Japanese. China's Finest Vessel Lost. WASHINGTON, Nov a3-The Chinese have lost the finest and most powerful vessel of their navy-the great battleship Chen Yuen. which stood the brunt of tho | fighting at Ealu. The news came to the | navy department in a cablegram just re- ceived. It states that the Chen Yuen, in | leaving Wei Hai- Wei harbor on the 18th inst. accidentally struck a torpedo She was beached, but was rendered useless for lack of docking facilities. In despair at the catastrophe the commander. Commo- dorc Lin. committed suicide.
 | The Chen Iuen was magnificent | fighting machine, very much like our own battleship Maine. She was built in | Europe in lSS2 and was of :. i30 tons displacement. It would appear from the
 brief statement of facts in tho cablegram | that the ship fell n victim to one of the | torpedoes planted by the Chinese them- selves to guard the entrance to Wei Hai- | Wei. which was the last of the great ma
 val strongholds of the empire save Port
 Arthur. now tottering to its fall. It was as we'll that Commodore Lin
 committed suicide, for he would doubt
 less have been decapitated as the result of his error. It is believed here that this
 loss has deprived the Chinese navy of Its | offensive power Thero remains the Ting | Yuen, another powerful battleship. and
 n flow lesser ironclads. but without tho
 aid of the Chen Yuen they would hardly
 dsro to make m offensive campaign, and
 probably will remain in port to assist in | tho defense
 Lieutenant MiyOka, naval attache of
 the Japanese legation here, says the ad- | vance on Port Arthur has been very eau | tious, as the ground for miles around has ] been filled with powder mines connected l with electric wires running to Port Ar
 thur. Three days ago the Japanese were
 within n day s march of the fortress, but | 1t was necessary to send ahead small
 scouting parties to pick route away | from the mines and wires
 The regular road could not be usod for
 artillery, as 1t would have been blown
 up, and accordingly the big guns havo
 had to be moved through woods and | swamps.
 This cautious march should have been
 completed. and the Japanese legation Is
 hourly expecting word that the decisive
 blow has been struck, though a siege may
 be necessary, as the fortress has one of | the strongest defenses of modern timos.