The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-02-10

which proceeded toward Dany in shore
! of the Japanese.
| At quarter to 3 the Russians returned
| to their anchorage, no firing having ap-
parently taken place. Then again came
| silence. everything having passed Off with
/ less noise than the ordinary naval re-
view.
| The Russians now had outside the har-
bor five effective battleships. five effective
cruisers and about twenty smaller craft.
JAPANESE RETURN.
1t was almost II o'clock this morning
| when sixteen Japanese ships. including
| five battiesiips. appeared along the hori-
zon. They were in fine order.
At quarter after II. say. came the first
flash from 2 Japanese vessel. This landed
a Pinch shell near the torpedo boats and
disabled battleships. The aim was splen-
did.
Owing to the confusion OF the quaran-
tine officials. or Perhaps because the Rus
slams thought the Japanese would dislike
TO fire near the British flag the Colum-
bia had been left lying close TO the Rus
sian fleet and in the line of fire. so that
the Japanese shells aimed at the battle
ships fell thickly around her Several
burst near her stern and strewed her deck
with splinters and water
Captain Anderson then got under way,
although ordered by the Russians not to
leave. and despite the protests of the
Russian guards aboard. who were even
tually conveyed to Chefoo.
CIGARETTES AND SHELLS.
On one occasion, while shells We're
hr,rc ohn nf.,iy,
called: Boy. get me some cigarettes"
Officers Wright and Nicholson and En-
gineer Smith were coolness personified.
The vessel was brought out OF her excess
lively dangerous position by running near
the shore and then making full speed for
Chefoo. The Russian guards were praying
fervently- and the Chinese crew was
frightened, but worked well.
We feared the Russian batteries would
sink us for disobeying orders or send a
torpedo boat in pursuit. The captain had
repeatedly signaIled for permission to pro-
coed, but his signals were not answered.
The bombardment of the forts lasted till
quarter to Il. the Japanese shooting
with good aim.
Two shells burst on the summit of one
fort and numbers on the face of the
'iihS dioHS lit utdch. All OIL tnem were
heavy shells.
OWNS to the length of the range all the
shells burst on contact with the water or
land. Some threw out yellow smoke, but
generally it was dense black smoke, tenn
porarily concealng the ships
RUSSIANS FALL SHORT.
The rate Of fire on both sides was slow
and many Russian shells fell short. The
Sehastopol was hit by IA heavy shell near
the base of her forward funnel Another
three-funneled battleship was struck
amidships Ca her armor plating. third,
also small battleship. was struck abaft
her armored section. near the stern.
We could not ascertain the exact dam
age done. The fleets were about three
miles apart. Apparently no ship on either
side was disabled.
The Russian cruiser Novik fought pluck
lily. keeping by far the closest to the Jap
anese. AL the heavy fire was concentrat-
ed on her. and compelled her to retire on
the battleships. The other Russian cruis-
battleships.
The Russians seemed to fight with little
formation. probably owing to the
cramped space. being never more than a
mile and half from shore. They re-
mained all the time under the guns of the
forts. which fired over them, but not very
frequently.
Whenever the heaviest shore batteries
fired over our heads the air vibrated