The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-02-10
RUSSIAN FLEET
Continued From First Page.

some cigarettes" Officers Wright and
Nicholson and Engineer Smith were
GOODNESS personified. The vessel was
brought out of her excessively danger
out position by running near the shore
and then making full speed for Che
Foo. The Russian guards were pray
ing fervently and the Chinese crew
was frightened, but worked we'll We
feared the Russian batteries would
sink us for disobeying orders or send
a torpedo boat in pursuit. The cap
tain had repeatedly signaled for per-
mission to proceed, but his signals
were not answered.
GOOD AIM OF THE JAPANESE.
The bombardment of the forts lasted
till quarter to IL, the japanese shoot
ing with good aim. Two shells burst
the summit Of one fort and struck the
face of the cliffs and along the beach.
All of them were heavy shells. Owing
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, temporarily concealing the
ships. The rate of fire on both sides
was slow, and many Russian shells fell
short. The Sebastopol was hit by a
heavy shell near the base of her for
ward funnel. Another three funneled
battleship was struck amidships on
her armor plate, a third, also a battle
ship, was struck abaft her armored
section, near the stern. We could not
ascertain the extent of damage done.
The fleets were about three miles
apart. Apparently no ship on either
side was disabled. The Russian
cruiser Novik fought pluckily, keeping
by far the closest to the japanese. All
the heavy fire was concentrated on her
and compelled her to retire on the bat
tleships. The other Russian cruisers
fought as first outside the line Of bat
tleships.
FIGHT WITH LITTLE FORMATION.
The Russians seemed to fight with
little formation, probably owing to the
cramped space, being never more than
a mile and a half from shore. They re-
manned 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 strongly and
there was a great cracking around us.
Before the action we saw the battle
ships throwing beds and other lumber
through the gun ports, and Chinese
were busily engaged in picking up
these articles, including ping pong ia
bles, until the shells began to fall.
The Russian battleships constantly
wheeled around in the same position,
while the japanese kept a splendid for
nation, retiring slowly in line to the
southwark. AT a quarter to II, after a
half hours action, the Columbia es-
capped with a small hole in her deck,
caused by a splinter from a shell, and
some marks on her afterdeck house
The Columbia's captain is English,
the mate Irish and the engineer Scotch.
Two large and two small British
steamers, engaged in the coasting
trade; also an American flour ship, the
Pleides, are blocked inside Port Arthur
by the position of the disabled battle
ships. The Russians are endeavoring
by pumps and collision masts to stop
the holes of the battleships in order to
be able to take them inside the harbor
at high water
When fifteen miles south of Port
Arthur I heard heavy firing toward
the north. This was at half past 1 p.
m. 1t did not continue long. 1 saw no
signs of the japanese fleet on my way
to Che Foo
GERMANY BEFRIENDs RUSSIA.
Special Cable to The Globe and New
York Herald.
Berlin, Tuesday-News of the torpe-
doing of the Russian ships was an
nounced in the special editions of the
newspapers and caused a great sensa-
ton. A telegram to the Tageblatt from
its London correspondent states that
he learns from the very best source
that Germany will give Russia proofs
of friendship during the war in order
to pave the way to return to the
former close relations between the two
empires. A foreign diplomatist pointed