The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1904-02-06

San Domingo (Monday, February ID
The insurgents this morning deliberately
fired on the launch of the auxiliary cruis-
er Yankee, killing ]. c. Johnston. the en-
gineer.
The bullet entered his head above the
eye.
United States Minister Powell has d.
rected the captain of the Yankee to take
drastic measures to avenge Johnston's
death. and this insult to the American
flag.
Johnston will be buried on shore this
| afternoon.
San Domingo. Saturday. January 3d.
The German consul here has requested
United States Minister Powell to afford
| protection to Herr Weerman, the German
vice consul, that he might bring his fam
| lily into the city, as the insurgents have
given Mr.. Weerman forty-eight hours to
leave where he is. or suffer the conse-
| quences.
Consequently Mr.. Powell secured
guard of sixty men from the United
States cruiser Columbia, and informed
the government that it was the intention
| of the German consul and himself to
bring Herr Woermans family into the
| city, and asked the government that its
| troops not fire upon this party while it
was on it's mission. He said that IL
fired upon, they would protect themselves.
AS soon as the guard passed outside the
| city, they were covered by the guns of
the Columbia. No attack was made and
the Woerman family and their belongings
were brought back here in safety.
s~>>-~A~4~~->-~-%A-
tlement. They say the military and naval
preparations have been forced on Russia
| by the open and hurried demonstration of
| Japan and add that misinterpretations
! are constantly being paced on Russian
movements in the far east which repre-
sent Russia already engaged in agrees
| sive tactics.
As an illustration they cite a dispatch
publishing the alleged mysterious DEPART
ure of the Russian fleet from Port Ar
| thur. The chief of the naval staff said
| this movement was utterly without war
| like significance. He authorized the
statement that the ships merely left the
! harbor in a cruise a,0und the end of
| Tai-Lien-Wan peninsula to try their en-
| gines so as to be in readiness to meet the
Japanese warshlps in case of an attack.
and added that the vessels which had re-
| turned to Port Arthur would not re-enter
| the harbor because the entrance was so
narrow that they could be bottled up"
Dispatch Was Correct.
! When showed the Associated Press dis
| patches under today's date from the Rus
| sian correspondent at Port Arthur the
same official declared 1t to be correct in
| every particular. He also said Russian
troops had not been dispatched to Che
mulpo, and declared that sending Of Rus
| sian troops to Korea or the dispatching of
! Russian warships to Korean waters was
| impossible under the present circum-
stances both for strategieal and political
| reasons.
..Russia's policy" the official continued,
| ''is strictly defensive She is determined
| to avoid provocation. Moreover strategic
ally. it would be folly to disperse our
forces by sending warships from Port
Arthur or men to Korea.
! The chief of the naval staff then point
ed on map to the Manchurian and Rus
| sian territory between Port Arthur and
V1adovostock as being the Russian long
line of defense.
Papers Are Less Optimistic.
"The Japanese will have a hard job to
beat US there" he said. This is bad
country for fighting. With squadron at
Port Arthur, four powerful cruisers at
vladovostock, and a strong army massed
/ between them-such is the Russian plan
for a defensive campaign, from which
| there is no likelihood of deviation.
The tone of the st. Petersburg news
papers is less optimistic. They seem to
realize the acuteness of the crisis. The
| Novoe vyrema remarks that If a trag
edy comes we must be prepared to meet
| it. 1t is noticeable also that the papers
are more freely discussing the war prepa-
rations, chronicling daily the departure OF
! troops eastward from the various prov
| inces. Practically every regiment is fur
nishing its quota for service there.
The imperial court seems undisturbed.
| Social functions are proceeding as usual.
The second court ball is announced for
February Q.
| A dispatch from vladvostock confirms
| the report that large number Of Japan
ese families have left the NikoIskoye and