The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-05-08

Toxic. Nay T.-vice Adniral Togo's Of
hcial recital Of the latest engagement on
Port Arthur which was received here To-
day. shows that the japanese have blocked
the entrance to the narbor-
Or Tuesday morning. after the blockad-
ing fotilla had been scattered by a gale
and the commander Of the fiotiIla had
sienaIed in vain that the attempt be aban-
doned pending the moderation Of the
storm. the crews Of the separate ships. in
70 wise daunted by the weather. which
Isolated them from their companions. pro-
ceeded to the work IN their own desper-
ate Initiative.
They forced their way in the face Of the
Russian FIRE. which was more deadly than
ever before as a result of the improved
Russian defenses. over the field CT mines
Many Of these exploded. yet five out OF
the japanese biockading ships were JAM
med into the inner channel and now pre-
vent egress from the harbor TO all craft
excepting small boats.
ATTACK EXCEEDED ALL
OTHERS IN DESPERATION.
This attack exceeded all its predecessors
in desperation and the courage displayed
W ZIG Nol1lAAcCi OItWs = c4SdA u liz
shown in any event in the war history Of
the world.
Although Vice Admiral Togo again
avoided damage 20 a single one Of his
vessels. the attack proved TO be expensive
In lives.
The blockading notilla consisted Of eight
stone-laden merchantmen They were es-
corted by the gunboats Akasf. Com
mander Fugimoto. and Choikai. Com
mande Iwamura: the second torpedo-boat
destroyer hotiIla. under the command of
Commander Shida: the third torpedo-boat
destroyer fotlla. Commander Tsuchiya;
the fourth hotiils, Commander Nsiga. the
fifth f%iotilla- Commander Mano: the ninth
torpedo-boat iotiils, Commander Yash-
ina: the tenth torpedo-boat hotilla. Com
mander otaki- and h fourteenth torpedo
boaf fotilia, Commander Sakurai
SIGNALS TO RETURN NOT
RECEIVED BY STEAMERS.
The elockading vessels and their escort
left the main squadron for Port Arthur
on Monday evening. They encountered a
southeasteriy gale and by II O'Clock at
night the seas were mountainous and IL
found impossible TO keep the came
together. Commander Hayashi. who was
In command OF the expedition observed
the impossibility Of keeping the notfla
intact, and signaIled it to abandon the at
tack
These signals were repeated until
o'clock IN the morning. but they failed to
reach the vessels of the expedition, which
were swept apart by the tempestuous seas
and proceeded separately TO the mouth Of
the harbor. Upon arriving there. the Nj
kawa Aaru. one CT the merchantmen. saw
that the enemy was firing upon the four
tenth torpedo-boat fotillz-
The men on board the Mikawa Maru
thought the other steamers had reached
the harbor mouth and they steamed bold
ly in She was followed closely by another
Of h merchantmen. believed to be the
Naru-
The Russians had fires burning at the
mouth OF the harbor and they Used also
many powerful ~searchlishts on the invsd-
Ing japanese vessels They poured an tn
cessant IRE into the channel.
BRAVE COMMANDERS RAN IN
UNDER MURDEROUS FIRE.
Lieutenant Sosa. Who was in command
of the HIkawa Maru. unhesitatinxiy forced
ship into the channel. rammed his
way through the bSoms and reached the
center Of the inner entrance. Here he
anchored his vessel and blew her up. |
sank immediately. Another can sup |
POSED to be the Sakura Maru, then came |
10 snchor near q projecting rock At the
OF the harbor and sank
Following the Sakura Maru came the
rotomi Mari. Tchido Maru and ofaru
Aaru. the Sagami Maru and Aikoku Aaru |
nd the AsaRavo Maru- These six steam
~ advanced to the mouth Of the harbor.
The Russian fire now became highly ef-
while a number Of sunken mines 4
% explode
These explosions caused heavy casual
les among the japanese ON board the
vessels The Toni Maru col
lded viii . bomh This TUNED hex oeaR ]