The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1904-05-25
TWO SHIPS LOST.

Cruisers Kasuga and Yoshino Collide
and the Latter Sinks.
BATTLEsHIP STRIKES 4 MINE.
! A Great Disaster to the Japs.
Both of the Vessels Lost
Were Very Fine
a dispatch from Toxic, Japan, says
Vice Admiral Togo has reported as
| follows:
"a report from Rear Admiral Dewa
says that the cruisers Kasuga and
Yoshino collided during fog off Port
Arthur, on May Is. The Yoshinc
sank, only 80 of her crew being saved.
''On the same day the battieship
Hatsuse struck Russian mine and
sank"
Giving details of the disaster, Vice
Admiral Togo says:
AT II minutes past in the after
noon Of May Is, in deep fog off Port
Arthur. the Kasuga rammed the 70
shino, sinking the latter in a few
minutes. Ninety OF her crew were
saved.
"Tne same morning the Hatsuse,
while cruising off Port Arthur cover.
ing the landing of the soldiers, struck
a mine ten knots southeast OF the
harbor entrance. She signalled for
help and instantly struck another
mine. She sank in half an hour.
Three hundred of her crew were saved
by torpedo boats"
The Yoshjno was cruiser OF 4,l80
tons displacement, and Is, 00o indicat-
ed horsepower. She was built in
England, was launched in 1892, was
$50 feet long, rad IS l-2 feat beam
and .1er draft was Il feet. The
armament OF the YoShino consisted
of four 6.inch guns, eight 4.7-inch
guns aud twenty three FOUNDERS.
She had FIVE topedo tubes, be. armor-
ed deck was 1-2 inches thick aud her
gun positions were protected by
shields 4 i.2 inches in thickness. The
cruisers speed was estimated to be %
knots, her coal capacity was !, 900 tons
and her crew numbered 800 men.
The Hatsuse was battleship Of
5000 tons displacement and Of the
latest model. She was only completed
in 1900, was built in England, was
400 feet long, had IS 12 feet beam,
drew q feet OF water, had l6, 300 in
dicated horse power, and was fitted
with water tube boilers. She was
completely armored with steel. Her
armament consisted OF four Pinch
guns, fourteen 6-inch guns, twenty
l2-pounders, eight 3pounders and
four IL Founders. She had four
torpedo tubes; her estimated speed
was 1911 knots. Her crew number
74l men.
ST. PETERS BURG REJOICES.
a dispatch from St. Petersburg
says In naval circles the japanese
catastrophe is matter for rejoicing,
though regrets are expressed that
brave men have lost their lives. But
this feeling Of sympathy is swallow
ed up in the greater Thanksgiving for
the blow inflicted on the sea power OF
the enemy. 1t is pointed out that
the Hatsuse was one Of Japan's finest
battleship, and that the loss of TWO
and possibly four warships at intervals
of few days cannot fail to deeply
affect Japan and to influence the
course Of the campaign. The general
staff Thursday night is Withouthout
driect news Of the sinking Of the Shik-
ishma and the Full, but there is an
impression that it may be true. The
at any rate, have infused
fresh life and enthusiasm in official
circles, where it is believed that the
tide has turned. No surprise is ex.
pressed by the admiralty at the Japa-
nese vessels striking Russian mines,
the admiralty expecting such a mis-
hap to Vice Admiral Togo particular
ly since the naval commanders at Port
Arthur have faithfully duplicated his
plan which resulted in the sinking Of
the Petropavlovsk. Wherever off Port
Arthur the japanese squadron appear
ed during the day, that same night
Russian torpedo boats stole out and
carefully planted contact mines which,
floating below the surface, would not
be touched by the destroyerS, but the
ships Of havier draught cruising in
the mine ields would be sure to strike
them. The 1avorite point selected by
the Japanese for bombardments OF
Port Arthur is Lao Ii Shan promon-
tory and the water there has been
thickly sowr. with Russian mines.
Other points besides Liao Ii Shan
have also been mined and it las been
dangerous for the japanese ships to
cruise In those waters.
Says All Were Black.
God never made white man. In
the beginning all men were black, but
in their wanderings on the earth
many of them became bleached. In
their unnatural pallor, these tleached