The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-14
NEWS 4 SEVERE SHOCK.
Awful Disaster Causes Profound sor- row ThrnuRhout Russia. H

row Througnouc husS1a.
 St. Petersburg. April 13.-The awful
 disaster to the battleship Petropavioysk at Port Arthur with the loss of almost
 her entire crew of over 500 men and the death of Vice Admiral MakaroK has been terrific blow. It would have fallen less heavily If the ship and the com l mander in chief of the fleet had been lost in battle, but to be the result of
 another accident following on the heels
 of a succession of tragedies of which the Port Arthur fleet has been the vic-
 tim. has created something like conster- | nation.
 "Reverses we can endure" said a prom
 inent Russian, but to have the Petro-
 pavlovsk meet the fate of the Yenesi and
 the Boyarin is ineartbreaking.'
 It has just been become known that the battleship Poltava several weeks ago | had a hole rammed in her by the bat
 tieship Sevastapol while the latter was | manouvering in the harbOr of Port Ar l thur.
 The day has been of intense excitement in St. Petersburg. The first inkling of l the catastrophe leaked out on the receipt
 of a telegram by Grand Duke Kladimir | from his son, Grand Duke Boris, an- nouncing the loss of the Petropavlovsk and the wounding of Grand Duke Cyril,
 who was first officer. The Grand Duchess
 Vladimir was almost frantic on the re-
 ceipt of the telegram, being convinced | that the message was only a precursor
 of worse news, as 1t was signed by Grand Duke Boris. instead of by the
 aide to Grand Duke Cyril. Lieutenant
 von Kube.
 Grief of the Czar.
 Lieut.. von Kube had gone down with the ship. The youngest son of the Grand Duke Vladimir, Grand Duke Andrew, a
 dashing young guardsman. behind the
 fastest trotters. hurried to the winter pal- ace, the admiralty and elsewhere, seek ing confirmation of the news which came l two hours later in a message to the Em- peror from Rear Admiral Grigorovitch, | the commandant at Port Arthur A relig- | ious service was immediately held at
 Grand Duke Vladimir's palace. in which | thanks were returned to the Almighty | for the sparing of the life of Grand Duke | Cyril, put the Emperor was so overWheim- | ed with grief at the death of Vice-Ad- l miral Makaroff that neither he nor the Empress attended the services. Instead,
 the Emperor sent a member of his per
 sonal staff to break the sad news to Vice
 Admiral Makaroff's widow. who Is living in St. Petersburg Meantime, the city
 was filled with the widest rumors. but 1 the official dispatches were so meagre and private dispatches so conflicting re- garding what had occurred that the pub l lie was kept in suspense for six hours. | Then, although the report was incomplete, dispatches were posted on the Nevski | Prospect and other war bulletin boards. The grief of the crowd whose worst fears were thus officially confirmed. was | touching. The Ministry of Marine was soon surrounded by thousands of persons eagerly asking for more details. In the crowd of inquiries were the stricken rel | atlves of those who were on board the Petroplavosk. What occurred prior to the blowing up of the flagship was only vaguely known, l except that Vice-Admiral Makaroff with l his flag flying on the doomed vessel. sail l
 ed out to engage the enemy until his re- l Inducements appeared. Planned Ambuscade. Ii is thought possible that Vice-Admiral |
 Toga planned an ambuscade by sending | in a small sq ladron in the hope of draw | | ing the Russian commander out in the | open and then cutting off his escape. | The Associated Press learns that the lo- l
 cation of six of the mine planted by the | | Yenesel were unknown, the charts having | | been lost when that vessel went down. | | Probably 1t was some of these mines that |
 the Petropavlovsk struck.
 | Vice-Admiral Makaroff's death is really |
 greater loss than would have been that |
 of several battleships. It is now an open secret that Vice Ad- 1