The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-03

| Chinese feet, thus bringing the latter
| into the dangerous position of cross
| fire range. The Chinese commanders
at this juncture appeared to become
| paEic-SIricken. Some of the vessels
moved hither and thither, as If in a
desperate effort to get out of the way
| of the annihilating fire of the enemy.
| The Chen Yuen and the Ting Yuen, of
the Chine Sc feet were the special tar
gets for five of the Japanese vessels.
The Chinese admiral was wounded
! early in the fight. He occupied a post
of great danger, for he resolutely stood
upon the bridge Notwithstanding the
fact that he had been cautioned against
the rashness of such exposure. A shot
| from one of the guns of the enemy,
| landed beneath the spot on which he
| stood, and the admiral was tossed
aloft, pierced by splinters and his face
| badly burned as the result of the eX-
plosion. The command fell upon Com
modore Lice Tai Tsan. Meanwhile. the
| heavy guns of the Chen Yuen were dis
abled and the only service of which she
remained possessed was that found in
the two siX-inch guns in the stern and
| bow of the ship
The flagship of the Japanese admiral,
| the MatSuShuna, received twelve
| inch she'll in her turret, resulting in the
firing of the deck. Another shell eX-
| ploded Immediately on board, resulting
| in the killing of several men, and the
| destruction of a useful rapid fire gun.
| Upon this flagship. 120 men were either
| killed or wounded. The condition OF
things pecessitated the transfer of
| the admiral and his flag to the HoShi-
date.
| The effectiveness of the Japanese
Gunnery was thus exemplified. 1t was
said that 200 projectils from the ships
of that fleet struck the Ting Yuen, pro-
ducing little or no damage, and 1ndent-
| ing her armor not to exceed three
inches; yet her upper deck was set on
fire; two secondary battery guns were
| knocked out of usefulness; the signal
halliards were carried off, but her en-
gines suffered no damage. The Chen
| Yuen received upwards of 100 shots,
| and when she reached anchorage she
was in almost a sinking condition with
her main battery practically useless.
Value of Ranid-Fire Guns.
The operations in this battle demon
| strated among other things the value
of the rapid firing guns, and with these
weapons the Japanese fleet was strong
| ly equipped, having as many as sixty
| five of this class. There We're in this
battle on either side upwards of thlr-
| ty slow fire guns of medium calibre,
and the Chinese carried number of
| eight, ten and twelve-inch calibre.
There was much more rapid firing by
| the Japanese throughout the engage
ment, and 1t was by these tactics and
auXiliaries that they managed to get
| in their effective work. The Chinese
| warriors did not stand we'll to their
| posts in the face of SO calling an on
| Slaught. The men deserted the decks
| of the ships and the officers alone were
left to do duty, and many fell dead un-
| der the terrible rain of shot.
The battle was revelation as
| to the destructibility of the rapid
! fire gun and the dread which
its presence carried to a foe. The re-
suit has been an accelerated movement
on the part of all naval powers to arm
their battleships with a goodly allow
ance of this class of death dealing in
! strumentS. Strangely enough how
| ever, our own navy department has,
| of these improved inventions in gun
| supplied with them, only two, and
| the Kearsarge and the Kentucky will be
| possessed of an adequate complement.
The Peruvian-Chilian Fight.
| The most eventful naval battle prior
| to that in the Yellow sea between the
| Japanese and Chinese fleets, in Septem-
| Der 1894, was the encounter between
| the Peruvian ram HuaScar command
| ed by Admiral Grau, and three ships
| of the Chilean forces. This battle oc-
| CURED off the coast of Bolivia, Oct. s,
1879. In that case, too, the engage