Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-06-27
QUESTION THE REPORT
RUSSIANS THINK JAPS SUFFERED
LOSS AT PORT ARTHUR.
st. Petersburg Doubts Admiral Togo's
Statement of Losses-Details of
the Engagement.

A cablezram from. st Petersburg last
night says:
Under date of June 26 Viceroy AleXieff
telegraphed the emperor as follows
'Our Port Arthur squadron, commanded
by Rear Admiral Without, consisting of
Six bitte sh!pe. five cruisers and ten tor
pedo boats. pat to sea al o'clock on the
morning of June %.
According to reports received from the
signal stations on the Liao-te-shan pro-
mOntory, the ships went out without acct
dent
When our vessels reached open water
the enemy's fleet. consisting of nine large
ships, of which three were battle ships,
and twenty-five torpedo boats, was sighted
On the horizon.
"Our squadron attacked the enemy.
up to the present l have received no
news of the result Of the fighting"
Allowed Printed Statement.
Up to tonight the Japanese report of
the loss of three Russian ships at Port
Arthur has not been published here, though
the authorities have allowed to be printed
a statement that the squadron had made a
sortie and also the news of the loss of
japanese torpedo boat destroyers. Some
of the papers have even commented with
satisfaction on the prospect of d fight in
the open sea, where the merits of the two
fleets would be fairly tested.
An official explanation of the suppress
sion of the japanese report is that the
admiralty Is unwilling to unnecessarily
alarm the public by the publication of such
statements entirely on the authority of
the enemy, and in the absence of definite
advices from the commander at Port Ar
thur. 1t is also suggested as possible that
there has been a fight, and that the Jap
anese have minimized their own losses and
Hagnified those of the Russians with
view to affecting the new loan which it is
understood Japan is negotiating.
Tokyo Details of Fight.
cablegram from London last night says:
The Central News has received the follow
ing dispatch from its Tokyo correspondent,
dated June 20, evening:
"A detailed account Of the naval battle
at Port Arthur has just been published
here
THE Russian battle ships Peresviet. Pol
tava and Sevastopol. and the cruisers
emerge from the harbor at dawn on June
-. led by steamers used for clearing the
mines. At II am. the battle ships Care
witch, Retvizan and Pobieda joined the
others.
"All the ships then advanced, endeavor-
Ing to dispose of the mines laid by the
Japanese, but they were hndered by two
japanese torpedo boat destroyers which
Dor.
AT pm. the japanese boats exchanged
shots with seven Russian dcstroyers, which
We're covering the clearing operations. One
OF the RUSSIAN cruisers set on fire and
retired inside the harbor
Decoyed Out to Sea.
Subsequently, the japanese decoyed the
Russians out to sea and awaited an op-
portunity to begin a general action but
between and pm. the Russian ships
made for the harbOr The Japanese torpe-
do boat destroyers and torpedo boats chas-
ed the Russians, and at $50 delivered the
nrst attack. In consequence of which the
enemy was thrown into disorder.
During the night eight separate attacks
We're delivered, lasting until dawn of Fri
day.
In one of these assaults the Chirataka
twice torpedoed a battle ship of the pere-
sviet type and sank her the battle ship
OF the SovaStopOl type and a cruiser of the
Diana type were disabled and lowed away
The Russian vessels re-entered the har-
Dor during Friday"