The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-10
JAPAN INFLIGTS
 CRUSHING BLOW
(continued from First Page.)

peninsula on Sunday, immediately that the news of the diplomatic rupture be- came known. This information was conveyed to the Japanese admiral by a destroyer dispatch from Tushima Sat urday evening.
 "The Japanese scouting cruisers had given accurate information of the pre- carious situation of the Russian fleet outside Port Arthur. The squadron steamed slowly in battle formation 'Sunday, midday, and came within sight of Port Arthur under cover of darkness. It cruised slowly outside withou show ing lights. The Russians were lying in the roadstead apparently feeling secure From attack. Nearly ali the Japanese torpedo boats were sent on their dan gerous and daring task. They rushed full steam on the enemy, who were completely surprised. A great rattle of small arms greeted the invaders, who, however. escaped unhurt, and the Ret vizan. the Czarevitch and the Pallada were almost immediately torpedoes. The Japanese dashed along the entire line Of the Russians. exposed now to a terrible fire from machine guns and small arms from both the ships and the shore. There was the utmost conster- nation among the Russians, which prob ably accounts for the Japanese torpedo boats escaping practically unscathed and rejoining the admiral outside. The admirals fleet during the attack kept out of the range of the Russian search lights.
 Line Of battle was then formed and the Japanese fleet moved in within a range Of two and a half miles and opened fire on the Russians.
 1 Two large and two small British steamers engaged in the coasting trade and an American our ship, the Pleiades, are blocked inside Port Arthur harbor by the disabled battleships. says the correspondent of the Daily Telegraph at Che Foo. in a dispatch dated Tuesday evening. The Russians are endeavoring by pumps and collision mats, he con- tinues, to stop the holes in their battle ships in order to take them inside at high water.
 Berlin, Feb. 9.-Japan's initial success in the first attack with torpedo boats on the Russian fleet off Port Arthur produced deep impression, both on the people and military and naval critics here. The comment at the marine de- partment was that even the temporary disablement of three warships placed the Russians at a great disadvantage in future operations. It was added that l the toroedoing of the enemys vessels 1 lying under powerful land batteries must have been carried out daringly and skiIfully.
 l The socialist leaders and newspapers take an extreme anti-Russian position in their comments on the war, affirming l that every socialist in the world and every liberal must hope that autocracy will be defeated.
 The seni-official North German Ga zette warns it's readers not to attach { too much importance to Japans first success.
 The Cologne Volkszeitung, the princi- < pal organ Of the center party. says 4 Japan has shown herself more civilized and more honorable than Russia. l The Taegliche Rundschau, a paper much read by court, military and naval people, asserts in strong terms that Japan disregarded international law in attacking without a declaration of war | Washington. Feb. 9.-The state de- partment to-day received cablegram from Ambassador Mccormick at St Petersburg confirming the press re- ports to the effect that three warships of the Russian feet had been damaged in an attack in the roads of the har. hor at Port Arthur by Japanese torpedo boats The extent of the damage to ths vessels, it is said, is unknown. This was the first official information re. ceived confirming this engagement.
 Ambassador Mccormick suggests tc 1 the department that a. complete tele graphic report of events in the far eas l received in Washington will be of ma, Iterial assistance to him in Interpreting the situation in St. Petersburg.
 Paris, Feb. 10.-The correspondent at Ch, Foo of the Paris edition of the New Yorl Herald descr' bes in dispatch the tranqui appearance of Port Arthur on Monday nigh whena Russian official said he expected tn, Japanese fleet in three or four days. Tn,
 
 impressively chanted their evening hymn At eight o'clock the lighthouse was lighted and the guiding lights were burning. Onl, one Russian warship was using her search light and this in q leisurely fashion. Thre, torpedo boats were patrolling on the out skirts of the fleet. All the others were in side the basin. A deep silence settles down, but this was disturbed at half-pas eleven o'clock by three muffied explosions which made the steamer Columbia ivibrat Iviolehtly. Instantly firing began and tn searchlights were used. but without mucl correspondent goes on, thinking they wer only naneuvers, until midnight, when tn
 firing almost ceased. It stopped at thre
 o'clock in the morning.
 The correspondent then describes the al
 rival and bleaching of the Russian vessels which were at first supposed to have beel ill collision. But at twenty minutes o
 three Russian naval officers boarded tn
 Columbia in great excitement, saying til viceroy had ordered the Columbia not t . attempt to leave. This was apparentl,
 done with the idea of preventing the shil l extent nof the Russian damage
 ! Daylight revealed two Japanese cruiser
 on the horizon. After daybreak q strang apathy seemed to possess the Russians None of the Russian ships showed dispos ition to chase the enemy or fire a singl twenty minutes past eight, when the Rus sians stared in pursuit, goi Ing in shore to wards Port Dalny. They returned at
 quarter past nine without having fired. The Russians now have outside the har
 Dor five effective battleships and five ef fective cruisers, besides smaller vessels an ] seventeen torpedo boats
 | It was almost eleven o'clock when tn
 Japs' squadron of sixteen, including fiv , battleships, appeared in fine order. At