St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1904-04-20


The events of the past week are sad
reminder of Gen. Sherman's famous cpl
gram that war is hell.'' Early in the
week occurred one of greatest disasters in
modern times when the great battleship
Petropavlovsk was sunk in the Port
Arthur harbor carrying down to a
watery grave the brave commander OF
the feet, Vice Admiral Makarof and
over 600 of the crew. Verestcha gin,
Russia's greatest artist and the world 8
most famous painter of war pictures,
was guest of the Admiral and persisted
with the rest. Grand Duke Cyril es-
capped by swimming, but was ba dly
burned by the explosion. 1t may never
be known how the 1900 ton ship
was destroyed, but it is probable it was
either caused by a mine or by subma-
rine boat. Some naval experts are in
clined to think the latter caused the acct
dent and it is known that MIR. Holland has
been trying for two years to sell the
japanese navy one of his submarine
boats to be used when war was declared
The battleship was in command of Capt.
Jakovlef who was instantly killed
while only SO of the crew were saved.
The great Russian empire had not got
over mourning for the disaster before
other calamities were announced.
The Russian torpedo boat destroyer
Bezstrashni, while trying to Renter Port
Arthur on Wednesday, was cut Oh
and sunk by Japanese destroyers. Five
of the crew escaped. The battleship
Pobieda nearly met the fate of the Pet
ropavlovsk. She struck mine while
man euvring, but was able to return to
the harbor.
Admiral Skrydloff, commander of the
Black Sea hset, has been selected to take
command of the squadron at Port
Arthur.
These disasters leave to the Russians
only two unipjured battleships, the Pc
resviet, a duplicate of the Pobieda, and
the Sebastopol, duplicate of the Petro-
pavlovsk. There can scarcely be more
than two or three cruisers left intact,
and a diminished number of mosquito
craft, in which last class the Japanese
have all along been decidedly superior.
At the beginning they had seven battle
ships to Japan's six. The Retvisan and
the Czarsvitch were long ago disabled,
and the repairs that have been made up
on them have not restored them to full
efficiency. The Poltava was said to
have been injured, but may have been
fully restored. Now the Petropavlovsk
is a total loss There remain, then, at
most only four, and perhaps not more
than three, Russian battleships in COM
plete fighting trim. On the other hand, all
six OF the japanese vessels are as sound
as ever, and each one of them is stronger
than any one of the Russian ships.
The Wall Street Journal states that
Japan's war budget up to the close OF
1904 will be $275, 700, 900.
1t is believed in army circles that Rus
STA does not propose to undertake an ag-
gressive campaign, at least not during
the present year, as the possession OF
Korea. unless they had control of the
high seas, would be of no advantage to
them. What they would prefer to do
would be to draw the Japanese inland in
the same manner that Napoleon was
drawn forward, and then. when through
the gradual exhaustion of supplies re-
turn became necessary, infiict upon the
army of islanders defeat as democrat
izing as that which resulted from the re-
treat of Napoleon's Grand Army from
Moscow.