Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1904-09-06

beyond the narrowest part. The MI
kawa went by her and was blown up
by her own crew, most of whom es-
capped. She went down lengthwise al
most in the center Of the channel. The
Asagao was disabled by the guns Of
the Russian Notifications and drifted
aground before reaching the entrance.
The Sakura struck an electric submar-
Inc mine before reaching the narrow
place and every soul on board-Com-
mander Shiraishi and nineteen men
was lost.
While the Yedo. was backing and fill
ing in order to find the exact position
where she was to be sunk, as indicated
on the chart, she was hit by a shell
from a fort on Golden Hill, which kill
ed her commander, Lieut.. Takayagi.
Sub Lieut.. Nogata, a boy Of twenty
years old, took command, and under a
torrent of shot and shell from forti-
fications on both sides Of the channel
he proceeded to carry out his orders
as coolly as If he were mansuvering
in a peaceful harbor. He held in his
hand the chart which had fallen from
the grasp Of his superior officer, whose
mangled body lay at his feet, and gave
orders to the helmsman and the en-
gineer. When he had found his place
he ordered the anchor to be dropped,
scuttled his ship. took to his boats and
managed to reach torpedo boat which
was lying, for the purpose Of rescue, In
the darkness outside. He brought
away all Of his men but two. one Of
them being his commander, and twelve
Of the eighteen were uninjured. 1t
was a miraculous escape.
The Odaru and Sagami were sunk In
the same way at the same time along
side Of the Yedo, but every man on
board both Of them was lost. Some
of them are supposed to have reached
the land, and from rumors brought
out by Chinese coolies from Port Ar
thur it is believed that they fought
their captors until they were them
selves killed. There have been several
accounts from Russian authorities and
from refugees. but they differ in i'm
portant particulars.
The Aikoku, like the Sakura, struck
a submarine mine before reaching the
channel and went down. Eight Of her
men were drowned, but her command
er, Lieut.. Inutsuka. and sixteen Of the
twenty-four men in his crew were res
cued by a torpedo boat.
In his official report, from which I
have obtained the greater part Of this
information. the commander Of the flo
tilla says that storm sprang up sud-
denly about the time the boats were
starting-a southeasterly squall with
and rain and mist-and he signalled
all Of the vessels to withdraw and wait
for more favorable conditions; but the
weather was 80 thick that the signals
were not seen, and, following their
original instructions, the commanders
Of the eight hulks made dash for the
harbor. The search lights usually op-
Grated from the Notifications soon
disclosed their presence to the Rus
slams, and during the last thirty min
utes of their voyage they were under
raking fire from the forts on both
sides and were constantly colliding
with mines in the water. 1t was a
miracle that any Of them reached It's
destination. But the Japanese on
board went on about their business as
coolly as If they were at practice and
no enemy were near. Even the stolid
and unsympathetic Russians were
thrilled with admiration at their COOL
ness and daring.
man in the expedition was expressed
in q speech which Lieut.. Yuasa Of the
Sagaml made to his men before start
ing:
Let every man set aside all thought
Of making a name for himself" he
said, land let US all work together for
the attainment Of our object. 1t is a
mistaken idea Of bravery to court
death unnecessarily. Death and fame
are not our objects In this attempt.
Our only object Is success, and we die
in vain II we do not carry out our or
ders. You all know what those orders
am killed Lieut.. Yamamoto Will take
command; If he Is killed you Will take
your orders from the chief warrant
officer, and II he dies from the next in
rank, and so on until the last man.
Keep cool. Do not be excited. Do
not hurry. And remember that the
last man may have to carry out our
orders alone"
No one knows what happened upon
the Sagami, except that the instruc-
tions given to Lieut.. Yuasa were car
ried out literally to the last. His hulk
lies in the bottom Of the channel, ex-
actly where he was Instructed to place
1t, but every man on board was lost.
The report Of his simple little speech
to his men was brought from the Sa-
gami by an aide-de-c camp Of the COM
mander of the fotilla, who was so
deeply impressed by it that he wrote
down the words Immediately after
hearing them.
All of the men who participated In the
three expeditions. the dead as we'll as
the living, have been promoted anu
decorated by order Of the Emperor. 1t
Is an amiable custom Of the Japanese
to bestow decorations and other hon.
ors upon the dead. The Government
has also granted life pensions varying
from 300 to 500 yen ($150 to $3.50
year upon the wounded and the fam
lilies Of the dead. The official report
Of the admiral commanding was as
follows: