Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-02-12

stroyers being spread out in front over ] distance of five miles. Admiral Togo l decided on night attack and opened [ fire at II o'clock.
 While the cannonadfng was hottest Japanese torpedo boats crept along 1 close inshore at the foot of the cliff and succeeded in the darkness in get 1 ting between the Russian ships and the land. Here they lay unnoticed un- 1 til the Russians began to give waysbe- | fore the Japanese fire and sought to re- enter the harbor
 The Japanese torpedo boats then 1 opened fire at comparatively close range and sank two battleships and one cruiser close to the entrance of 1 the harbor. The effect of this was the retreat of the remainder of the squad l ron into the harbor
 All was safe on board the Japanese ships at the end of the engagement. At the Japanese legation no great importance was attached to the report 1 that the Russian Baltic squadron is going to the far east It was explain 1 ed that even were the report true the fleet would not reach the scene of op- erations for six weeks. .' 4 Chefu dispatch says that three out of the four torpedo boats that attacked the Russian squadron were sunk, with great loss of life. The fourth boat made its escape.
 The existence of, state of war with Russia has been formally announced by an imperial proclamation at To- kyo. t
 Following is the text of the imperial rescript:
 ''We, by the grace of heaven, en- peror of Japan, seated on the throne occupied by the same dynasty since time immemorial, hereby make proc lamation to all our loyal and brave subjects as follows: ss-
 we hereby declalre war against Russia, and we command our army and navy to carry on hostilities against her in obedience to their duty with all their strength, and we also command all our competent authori- ties to make every effort in pursuance of their duties to attain the national aim with all the means within the linn its of the law of nations.
 "We do not in the least admit Rus sia had from the first any serious or genuine desire for peace. She reject ed the proposals of our government The safety of Korea was in danger, and the interests of our empire were menaced. The guarantees for the fu- ture which we failed to secure by peaceful negotiations can now only be obtained by an appeal to ar1ns.
 ''It is our earnest wish that by the loyalty and valor of our faithful sub jects peace may soon be permanently restored and the glory of our empire preserved" nE
 St. Petersburg advices say Secretary Hays note to the powers has attract ed much attention in diplomatic cir cles there. Any movement having for its purpose the limiting of the scene of hostilities is received with sympa- thy, but in certain quarters the prac- ticability of the action suggested is questioned. A prominent diplomat ex- pressed surprise that the preservation of Korea wag not included in the note.
 Newspapers here do not fully un- derstand the purport of the note and regard it as an attempt at mediation, the bare suggestion of which, while the country Is smarting under the sting of defeat, creates irritation.
 The vedomosd points out that the United States should have initiated joint action a fortnight ago to restrain Japan and that it is now too late. Fur thermore, Russia, after her experience at Berlin, has had enough of interna- tional congresses.
 The prompt declaration of the neu- trality of the United States, although expected as matter of course, has made a good impression here.
 The bitterness against Great Britain, already great during the negotiations between Russia and Japan, is assum- ing almost alarming proportions. The supposition that Great Britain evac- uated Weihaiwei to give Japan base whence to attack has called out the deepest indignation, which has been still further infamed by the publica- ton in Great Britain of blue book on Tibet, containing statements of Lord Lansdowne's offensive to Russia. Even in less stirring times this would have caused public sensation.
 a Dealing with Secretary Hays note, Baron Hayashi said:
 '"The neutrality of China was first suggested by my government, and we received assurances that Chinese neu- trality would be observed. Japan will certainly agree most heartily to Secre- tary Hays proposition, which appears chiefly to. be due to the suspicion that Russia might find pretext for militia ry action against China. If, however, the United States and other powers contemplate the neutrality of Manchu- ria the case becomes very complicated. So long as there are Russian troops in Manchuria Japan cannot regard 1t as neutral territory. I scarcely think the United States, Great Britain or any other power would be willing to drive the Russians out of Manchuria, how ever much they might insist that Man. churia is part of neutral China. So, while we are anxious to assist in as- suring the neutrality of China proper,