The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-03-25
PORT ARTHUR FLEET
 BOTTLED BY JAPANESE
DARING MAYEUTER SAID TO
 HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL.

Seven Merchant steamers Sunk in ths
 the Last Bombardment-Admir
 Togoss Reason for Not Attacking
 RussIans When They steamed Out of
 Harbor-Tried 10 Draw Him Under
 Fire of Forts.
 London, March 25.-The Daily Tele- graph publishes a dispatch from it's To- kio correspondent, under yesterdays date, which says:
 "On the night of March p the Jap anese fleet renewed the attempt to bot t tie up Port Arthur. Sixteen warships escorted seven merchant steamers to the mouth of the harbor, and under cover of the bombardment the steamers ran in and were sunk in desired posi- tions. Three thousand Japanese officers and bluejackets volunteered for this duty. An official report is expected this evening"
 Tolxio, March 24.-vice-Admiral To- gos report of the fifth attack on Port K Arthur on March 22 reached Tokio to- ] night and is as follows:
 ssThe combined fleet acted according to the plan arranged. Two fiotillas of destroyers were outside Port Arthur, as instructed, from the night of the Fist until the morning of the 22d. Although | during this time our destroyers were under the fire of the enemy, they sus- tained no damage. The main fleet ar rived off Port Arthur at o'clock on the morning of the 22d.
 sI dispatched a part of the fleet in the direction of Pigeon Bay and ordered the battleships Fuji and Yashima to make an indirect bombardment against the inner side of the port. During the bombardment the enemy's ships grad ually came out of the harbor, and at the time when the indirect lombard ment stopped, which was about Z o'clock, the number of Russian ships were five battleships, four cruisers and several destroyers. We believed the enemy was trying to make movement of their fleet to draw us near the forts The enemy's ships shelled us indirectly and many of their shots fell near the battleship Fuji but our ships sustained no damage. About o'clock our vessels withdrew off the port"
 London, March 25.-The Daily Tele graphs circumstantial report from it's Tokio correspondent that the Japanese succeeded in bottling up Port Arthur on the night of March 22 is not confirmed from any other quarter. The special dispatches to the other morning papers M announce no new developments in the M situation, but throw a few side lights on x the operations.
 The Standards Tien Tsin correspon- x dent says that Viceroy Alexieff renewed X his demand for the withdrawal of all N Chinese officials and soldiers from Man ! churia on the ground that otherwise it would be impossible to conduct the war properly.
 The Daily Mails correspondents give from Japanese sources some details of the condition Of Port Arthur, which were gathered during a recent visit of a Chinese junk there. It is asserted that boom had been placed across the entrance to the roadstead, which was alive with mines so defective and so carelessly laid as to endanger equally both Russian and Japanese vessels.
 The damaged Russian warship, these reports say, were repaired with such haste that it is dangerous for them to leave their anchorage. Eight battle ships and cruisers and ten torpedo boat destroyers are now uninjured and often leave the harbor, but never go far from the forts. Japanese naval officers praise the quality of the Russian torpedo boat destroyers which, they confess have done excellent work but they declare that the Russian shells are badly fused and sail to explode except when they strike direct upon armor, and that their charges of gun cotton are insufficient to cause serious damage.
 The Daily Mails Shan -Kai-K -Kwan cor respondent says that the Japanese are secretly engaging Chinese to act as ir- regular corps.