The San Francisco call., 1904-06-20
Continued From Page /. Column 4.

on February 20 for Sasebo, Japan, and
arrived there on May 2L)
NAGASAKI, June 1s.-Three boat
loads of survivors of the Japanese
transport Idzumi, which was sunk by
the raiding Russian squadron off
Oshima on the morning of June 15
have arrived at Hakata. Twenty-Five
| other survivors have landed at
Maizuru.
The survivors declare that the
! IdZumi was surrounded at o'clock
! the morning of the 18th by Russian
! ships, and that the people on board
of her were transferred to the Rus
sian armored cruiser Gromoboi, after
which the transport was Shelled and
sunk. The persons removed from the
japanese ship, numbering los all told.
were confined below on board the
! Gromoboi. During the afternoon of
! the next day, while off Okino Island,
! twenty-five non-combatants were
| transhipped to the Japanese vessel
Unko. The Gromoboi then proceeded
/ to the north.
! The japanese steamer Mako was
fired upon by the Russians on June
10, but escaped TO Tsu Island.
SQUADRON DISAPPEARS.
TOXIC, June 19.-The remarka-
BILE raid OF the Russian Vladivo-
stok squadron evidently is over. The
| squadron disappeared yesterday of
| Cape Henashi, steering to the north,
and has not been reported since. 1t
is assumed to be returning to
! Vladivostok.
Whether or not a portion of Vice
Admiral Kamimura's squadron is
awaiting the Russians off Vladivostok
| is carefully guarded secret. Assum-
! ing that Vice Admiral Kamimura dis
/ of hiS
vostok when he learned that the Rus
sian squadron was off Xxi Island, these
ships would have had ample time to
arrive there ahead of the Russians
and be ready to give battle. The
weather has been foggy, and this con-
dition has been against the Japanese.
1t is reported that the ra1d1ng RuS-
slams captured a British steamship
| laden with coal, bound southwark from
! the Island of Yezo, and sent her to
! Vladivostok with prize crew, but the
report is not confirmed by the japanese
| Navy Department.
The trasports Sado, Hitashi and Id
zumi were the only ones overhauled by
| the Russians Japan had thirteen
| transports in and near the strait of
Korea on the morning the Sado and
| the Hitashi were caught, and she was
| fortunate that only the three ships
mentioned were overtaken by the enc
my.
! HITASHI REFUSES TO STOP.
| 1t is Impossible TO obtain complete
! facts concerning the sinking of the
Hitashi. She evidently failed to stop
| when signaled to do so by a Russian
vessel. The claim is made that Cap
attn Campbell. the English master of
the Hitashi, refused to stop and plan
ned to ram the Russian, but this is de-
MED. 1t is said that the Japanese Off
GERS on board the Hitashi declined to
surrender and required Captain Camp
bell to keep his ship going. The asser-
! tion that the Russians fired upon the
! lifeboats in which men were escaping
from the Japanese transport has not
been fully substantiated
The raid of the Vladivostok squadron
has brought an unwarranted amount
of criticism upon Vice Admiral Kami-
mura from the japanese. and his fail
ure to catch the Russians in the fog
off Gensan, Korea, when the Japanese
trasport Kinshiu was sunk on April
26, with a loss of about 200 men, has
been recalled. Some officials even de-
clare that if Vice Admiral Kamimura
fails to catch the Russian vessels be-
fore they reach Nladivostok he should
either resign from the Navy or commit
suicide. The popular demand for his
replacement is growing, but the public
is without information as to the nature
of his orders or the plans of the naval
campaign and fails to make allowance
for the limitations of conditions.
KA1IIMURA OUT OF LUCK.
Vice Admiral Kamimura's squadron
was lying off Tsu Island when the
raiding Russians reached Okino Island.
Kamimura Immediately started in pur-
suit of the enemy. but rains obscured
the sea, and an electrical storm inter
fered with his system of wireless tele-
graply. Vice Admiral Kamimura is a
splendid officer. and the only possible
indictment against him is one of lack
of good luck.
The Japanese generally magnify the
Importance OF this Russian raid, which
has no material effect upon the war.
1t was a desperate venture, and it is
believed here TO have succeeded only
through blind luck.
The Yawata and the Ansei, two sail
ing ships. were sunk by the Russians
on Thursday between Ko Island and
Okushiri Island, off the west coast of
Yezo and north of the Tsugaru Strait.
Thirty-seven survivors reached Esashi
on Thursday afternoon. This makes a
total of five Japanese ships sunk or
dastroVed hv the Russian raiders