The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-19

Graphic Details by an
Eyewitness OF
Battle.


of the naval battle of Port Arthur as
seen by a New York Herald CORES
pendent, who happened to be quaran-
tined on a British steamer at Port
Arthur when the Japanese made their
night attack, were given in yesterdays
Advertiser. The full account follows:
CHEFOo, Tuesday. 1880 p. m. (east-
ern time) Feb 81 was lying on Mon
day night in the quarantined Indo-
China steamship Columbia between
the entrance to Port Arthur and the
Russian fleet and close to the latter.
One of the Russian warships was
using searchlights In leisurely
fashion only three torpedo boats were
patrolling the outskirts of the fleet All
of the other torpedo boats were inside
the basin. Everything was tranquil
and a Russian official told us he ex-
pected the Japanese fleet in three or
four days The lighthouse was al
ready lighted and guiding lights were
burning About O'Clock the Russian
sailors chanted their evening prayers.
The hymn rolled out impressively
along the water.
The weather was perfect. It was
not cold and the sky was clear. There
was a slight southerly breeze and
hazy horizon. Deep silence settled
down.
EXPLOSIONS UNDER WATER.
1 was going to bed at 1880 o'clock |
when I heard three distinct but muf- |
fed explosions one after another. APP
parently they came from under the
water, for the Columbia vibrated vio-
Vii NIT ha p
Founders and 3-pounders began. I
Searchlights We're placed but without
much method. I watched the OPERA
lions, thinking they were only maneu-
vers, till midnight, when the firing
had almost ceased entirely ceasing at
3 in the morning.
AT about 1 o'clock two battleships,
the Retvizan and the Cesarevitch and
one large cruiser passed us, conningI
toward the harbor entrance. The bat
tleships soon lay across the narrows
at the entrance, where both are now
aground and helpless. They are very
close together and are not blocking the
entrance except for ships of heavy
draught. The Retvizan had been tor
pedoed forward the Cesarevitch aft.
The cruiser listed to port is agrounc |
outside of the entrance of the harbor.
She also was torpedoed
EXCITEMENT OF RUSSIANS.
at 2:40 some Russian naval officers
came to the Columbia in a state of |
great excitement, saying the Viceroy
had ordered us not TO attempt to leave, |
their object apparently being to pre-
vent us giving information to the Jap
anese concerning the extent of the
damage.
IN to i1ic fiN110 51erIaf I1a
atoms We're only maneuvers or scare,
but now we began to suspect some
thing serious, especially when at day
We saw the strange, pathetic appear
ance of the two torpedoed battleshipS.
We suspected q collision, but soon
learned that these battleships and
cruisers We're certainly torpedoed. 1t
seems strange, for though flashlights
were whirling wildly and the lighthouse
light was now extinct, no firing took
place after o'clock. The moon was
shining, but no enemy was visible.
VICTORS ESCAPE UNFRAMED.
The sun arose, very red, disclosing
the presence on the horizon of three
two-funneI cruisers, on whose masts
we afterward distinguished the flag of
the rising sun of Japan. They came
boldly within long distance range and
both remained watching for two hours
after daybreak.
A strange apathy seemed to possess
the Russians. Crews of white-faced,
gaping men crowded the forward decks
of the damaged vessels
1 saw, through a glass, the cook of
the Retvizan calmly throwing out Stops
and men in the other vessels carefully
washing the anchor chain while weigh !
ing anchor. For a long time after the