The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-04-15
WERE DEFEAT OF THE
 RUSSIANS BY JAPANESE
'PPARENTLT MORE SERIOUS
 THAN AT FIRST REPORTED.

Destroyer Sunk With All Her Crew Aside from the BattIeship-Narrow Escape of the Popteda Which struck Mine-Russta sun Claims That Her latest Disaster Was Due to AccIdent- Evidently Due to Battle.
 Dispatches concerning the Russian taster at Port Arthur indicate that le loss of the battleship Petropav- ksk, with Vice Admiral Makaroff with bre than TOO men, was probably caus- directly by the Japanese fleet. An fcial dispatch from Rear Admiral fiu received at Tokio reports the de- Destroyer by his fleet, and dispatch I'm Chefoo says that the Japanese et had previously strung mines along } front of the entrance of Port Ar lr, one of which sunk the battleship. lis now reported that Admiral Mak- Rff's entire staff was on the battle No when she went down.
 St. Petersburg dispatch gives the lne of the destroyer sunk by the Jap SC. which went down with nearly or board. Forty-five officers and In perished.
 An official dispatch received there Is afternoon says that the Russian 4 Etleship Pobieda also ran into a mine J was able to return to port without s of life
 ficeroy Alexieff has been ordered to Tt Arthur to take command until a kcessor to Vice Admiral Makaroff is pointed.
 St. Petersburg dispatches say that deep grief of the Russian people in hour of calamity is accompanied an unshaken determination to con- pe the war to successful issue. In impressive requiem mass was cell lated in St. Petersburg for Admiral karoff and his men.
 t. Petersburg, April 14.-Rear Ad- al Uriu's statement that Vice Ad- ral Togo's fleet was responsible for sinking of the battleship Petropav- sk at Port Arthur is officially denied e A member of the general staff in m The Associated Press that the ices received do not show that a. yal engagement took place unless cornering and sinking of the torpe- boat destroeyr Bezstrashni can be so cminated.
 he destroyer and four consorts Ee outside scouting during the night. Bezstrashni Jagged behind and be- he lost in the mist. When day broke tried to creep in along the coast was discovered, cut off, overpower- and sunk, only five of her crew es- ing. The fate of the other members he crew is unknown, although it is eyed that some of them may have captured.
 hat the Petropavlovsk was blown up t mine placed at the entrance to the bor to prevent the blocking of the M nnel is the opinion entertained by general staff. It is true that the sel sank in full view of Vice Ad- al Tcgo's fleet, which was seen on horizon, but her loss was not caus- Athrough the agency of that fleet. Ire is disposition, however, to raise bntroversy as to whether the explo-
 occurred inside or outside the bat hip, similar to the controversy ch followed the destruction of the ted States battleship Maine in Ha- la harbor. The fact that many of wounded, including Grand Duke il. were badly burned, seemed to port the theory of an internal ex- ion.
 he first dispatch. received from Rear niral Grigorovitch, commandant at Arthur, distinctly stated that the
 struck a mine. but Rear Admiral bce Ouktomskys telegram to-day ITS only to an explosion.
 rand Duke Boris, who witnessed the ster from Golden Hill. in tele- m to his father, Grand Duke Vladi-
 described how the ship lifted, at
 same time being enveloped in les and smoke and then turned tur- md sank in two and half minutes.
 awful horror of the catastrophe mentally be reconstructed from the f description contained in this tele- m.
 he appearance of smoke or steam fire was explained to The Associat- Press by a member of the general who said:
 The ship may have touched a mine yard under her white head torpedo sazine, resulting in a second explo- or if she touched a mine amid IS her boilers may have exploded. Ter hypothesis would account for appearance of fire, and smoke or m. I consider it certain that the ropavlovsk. as well as the Pobieda, elk mines laid to protect the en- ce to the channel. It is difficult to zine how the mines drifted as they heavily weighted. The entrance he channel is narrow, but it was wn to the commanders by the bear It is possible the ships may have carried by strong tide into the e fields"
 her the attention of this member of
 general staff was called to the Rnese claim that mines had been
 by their torpedo boats, he remark aconically: T do not believe it.''