The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-10-05


LONDON. Sept. 20 The Toxic CORE
kpondcnt 81 the Central News ,eie-
graphs that ADMIRAL Ito, who was n.
command of the Japanese fleet during
the battle of the mouth IT the
valu river. has sent an officer a.
make verbal rep ,rt OF the engage
ment 10 the emperor. who + now a.
Hiroshima. According to this oAlecr~
renort. after acting in concert with th,.
army AT the Tai-Tong river. the prince.
pal Japanese squadron. comprising
eleven war ships and the pacisc, >aikio.
Maru. left that point on September H.
AT dawn on the 18th they passed Hal
ian-Tan and sighted Takushad bay III
Manchura in the forenoon The,
found four Chinese war ships and siN
torpedo boats. The Chinese fee
steamed out Of the mouth 81 tn.
river in battle formation. and when
distant 1000 metres opened FIRE The
japanese, fearing tina. their fire woul,l
do little execution at such distance
waited until within 5000 meters of IN.
Chinese ships and then brought their
guns into play. The Japanese main
tanned their line Of battle but the Chi
nese after short time broke their
formation.
The action was extremely hot at
times. The Lai Yuen. of the Chimes.
fleet, sank first. stern foremost ana.
her bows rising stood for minute
and "A half out of water. The Chin
Nuen was the next vessel To 90 down.
and She was followed i'm a short time
by the Chao- Yuen. Many members ~
the crews of the sinking vessels clung
TO the rigging as their ships settled
and cried for help. 1t was a pitifu
sight.
The Yang-Wei was next disabled.
and then the Japanese packet >aikio-
Maru. The steering gear OF the SaiiSio-
Maru was disabled by the explosion az
one of the cnemy's shells. and that YES
sci was obliged TO drop ont OF line
She was pursued 10y the Chinese. and
was forced to pass between the power
fnl Ting-I uen and Chen lucn within
distance of eighty metres. The COM
manders Of these vessels. thinking l.
was her intention To ram them. >teerea
The Chinese discharged two Fish tor
pedocs at her. rat they were aimed loo
low and pa sed beneath her. doing no
damage
Shortly after the mishap 70 ;hc Sal
kio- Maru the flagship Nat>f~hiina'-
forward quick-fring gun was struck
BY she'll. and many casualties re-
suited. The Ship also was 50 >everei,
injured as 10 nece>sitate her with
drawing from the line of battle. ami
Admiral Ito shifted his flag 10 tie
Hashidatc
Another Of the Chinese shells ex-
ploded in the sick bay Of the Iliyei
killing and wounding many persons
including the surgeons. and setting
the ship on fire. She. too eft the
line of battle 10 extinguish the flames
and transfer the wounded. which %
ing done She retur ned and again took
part in the fight
Capt. Salxamato. Of the Akago. was
aloft, watching the torpcdocs and sig
mailing to the other vessels Of the fleet
their location. when the mast was cut
away by shot from the enemy and he
was killed.
The Yoshimo's forward battery was
slightly damaged All the ships ~
the japanese squadron carried new
guns. and they lid excellent service
Tney used no torpedoes. all the dam
age sustained by the Chinese vessels
being inflicted by shot In view Of
this fact, the sinking of doubie-bo,-
toned vessels like the kai-Yuen i re-
markable, and it is the generally-ex-
pressed opinion among nautical au-
thorities that the work of the Japan
csc was the most successful thing since
the time Of Nelson.
Toward the close Of the fgh, great
confusion was observed on board the
Ting Yuen. King Yuen and Ping lucn-
These ships appeared TO bc on fire. Al
shutdown the Chinese feet were in full
retreat. They were pursued by the
japanese ships. which laid their course
parallel to that taken by the enemy
The night being very dark the pursa-
ers kept at some distance from the
Chinese, fearing that. should they fol-
low the enemy too closely. they might
he damaged by the lattcr's torpedo
boats. Owing to this fact and the ex-
treme darkness, the Chinese succeeded
in getting away and reaching safe
shelter.
At daylight the japanese vessels en-
deavored to find the nemv, but were
unable to do So They then returned
TO the scene of the previous days ac-
ton, where they found the YanrWrA
ashore and deserted and destroyed her
with fish torpedo
None Of the japanese vessels were
lost in the engagement. and only three
of them were seriously injured AI
the official reports Of the battle arg
very laconic. and greatly wanting
scientific and useful details.
Attacked by the Ton & Haks-
In<pax sent ne A diSD1fph To Tic