The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-08-16
l Vessels Thought to ba Near
 the Saddle Islands
HAVE PLACE FOR RENDEZVOUS
It Is Believed That Representative of United States Navy at Port Ar thur Did Not Leave With
 Withoft's Squadron.

St. Petersburg, August l5l- q 30 a. m.)- The admiralty has no Information as to whether Lieutenant McAuley of the Unit cd States navy and Lieutenant De Curve vile of French navy, the only two naval attaches at Port Arthur. joined Rear Ad- miral Withofts squadron when it left the port Wednesday, morning last. Had they joined the squadron they would presum- ably have been on the flagship Czare- witch.
 The absence of news as to their pres ence with Admiral Withoft is taken to indicate that they remained on shore and 1t is pointed out that 1t would be per- fectly within the admiraPs province to decline to take the attaches in case he considered the enterprise too hazardous so as not to expose the citizens of neutral nations to danger.
 Leaves Hurrledly for vladlvostok.
 It Is reported that viceroy Alexieff left Mukden hurriedly for vladivostock on re- ceipt of news that the illness of Vice Admiral Bezobrazoff had taken a serious turn and that the admiral was not ex- pected to recover. The exact whereabouts of the Port Arthur battleships Is still a mystery on which hinges Russian naval fortunes in the far east.
 Telegrams reporting them back at Port Arthur have not been confirmed up to this hour. It is apparent that Admiral Togo either cannot or will not say where they have gone. Admiralty officials declare they do not know, but they refuse to be- lieve that out of five battleships not a single one managed to break through to Vladivostock
 Have Fixed Upon Rendezvous.
 Admiral Togos report of his own dam age mentions only a few ships, which is believed to indicate that fha others have not iajoined his fleet. |. ie B.ora than probable that Admiral Withoft before go- Ing out, fixed a rendezvous to which the vessels would proceed if separated and 1t Is more than probable that this rem dezvous was anywhere except at Port Arthur the most likely point being be- tween Shanghai and Kiu Su (the most southerly of the three principal islands of Japan) which is on the circular route to Vladivostock.
 The Czarevitch was evidently heading for this point when she was compelled by the damage she sustained to turn aside and enter Tsing Tau.
 May Cut the Cable.
 In this connection 1t is interesting to note the presence off the Saddle Islands of the four battleships reported in a Shanghai telegram and later said to be four cruisers, presumably the Pallada, Diana and Novik. escorting the crippled flagship Askold. These vessels might take advantage of the fact that the Shanghai Nagasld cable is laid near the Saddle Islands to sever Japan's communication with the continent. Persistent reports that the Russian vessels were coaling from collers In these waters confirm the hypothesis that they had agreed to rem dezvous at this point en route to Vladi- vostock if they failed to keep together and to rush the Korean straits. l telegram from Che Foo saying that three Russian cruisers at Tsing Tau had hauled down their flags was interdicted 1 by the censor because the information reaching the admiralty is to the eeffct that only the Czarevitch is in that port.