The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-06-02
French Ambassador Has
Come to St Petersburg
STORIES OF BIG BATTLE
Russian Fleet Mas IiOpslessly
Doomed From the Moment
First Guns We're Fired.

As'NHANAfH. HNNlN ~ .NN NIH IiNNiN
e. from st. Petersburg Say that NJ.
Bompnrd. the French Ambassador 10
Russia. h. returning hastily Go 81 Re.
tcrsburg FROM Paris. where he mas
bcon on leave Of absence. at the request
OF Russia % arrange for peace ncgliia-
lions. France having aerced u japan's
terms are too on.',..is a. undertake TO
ask the concert of al the powers 10
compel both powers to mediate
NJ Bompard. IL Is said. IL bringing
direct message from Foreign Minister
Dclcasse urging Russia To- make peace.
4 ~. Petersburg dispatch this morn.
Ing says that there are various rumors
aflout in the city that the emperor Is
dead. having either committed suicide
or has been assnssiuatod.
Baron Ferzen. captain Of the lzum-
rud. has reported to the ear as fol
lows.
Il was cut on from the squadron at
the close OF the fight aud. finding Il inn
possible 70 reiolu H. resolved 20 make
Tor Vladimir bay. where arrived on
the night OF May -. At 1870 o'clock
next morning. 10 pitch darkness. the
lzumrud ran full on a reef at the en-
trance 20 the bay. Having only ten
tons OF coal aud seeing that Il would
be impossible 10 again float my vessel.
! ordered the crew ashore and blew up
the Izumrud 10 prevent her falling into
the hands OF the enemy. Ten OF my
sailors were wounded IN the battle. but
the officers and the rest Of the crew are
all safe"
Special dispatches from Tokyo say
that number Of wounded japanese
have arrived az the hospital at Maid
zuru navy yard. An officer OF the
japanese navy describes the battle OF
the sea OF Japan as follows:
AT dawn on Saturday our squadron
left its rendezvous and advanced
through the Tsushma channel. At
half-past . o'clock in the afternoon
we sighted the Russian feet Gradual
~ closing in, we found the Kniaz
Suvaron leading the line with the
Borodino. the Alexander Ill, the 0rel,
the Oslynba and the Navarin follow
ing In the order Damed The Nicolai /.
brought up the rear. Parallel to this
line we observed five cruisers. After
them came the special ships and tor
pedo boat destroyers. We counted thir-
ty-two Russian ships in all.
Our fleet, with the battleship Mika-
sa leading. proceeded toward the Rus
slams In vertical line formation. The
Suvaroff opened fire first and then sud
denly turned, reversing her course.
Almost simultaneously the Mikasa
opened fire with her big guns. and
thus the curtain rose on the great sea
battle The hostile fleets gradually
closed in toward each other, eXchang-
ing vigorous fire. The armored
cruiser Azama approached within 5000
fully observed its action.
After short but fierce fight the
Admiral Oushakoff's deck was observ-
ed to be ablaze and the ship left the
line. BY half-past 4 in the after
noon the Russian line was disordered
iAN Dlt NluNktiltu. iht pVlbdlliO
and Kamchatka had been disabled
and soon sank. The Borodino con-
tinued to fire bravely until the ship
was submerged.
"rhe japanese fleet continued to
maintain enveloping positions from
shutdown until dawn. Sunday morning
opened misty, but the weather soon
cleared and the search for the rem
nants of the Russian fleet was begun.
Five Russian. ships were discovered
In the vicinity of Liancourt island.
They were Immediately surrounded.
One. supposed to be the Izumrud, es-
capped at full speed.
The remaining four offered no re-
sistance and hoisted the japanese flag
over the Russian colors, apparently of
fering to surrender. Captain Yashiro.
commanding the Azama, started in |
small boat to ascertain the real inten-
tons of the Russians. when Admiral |
Nebogatoff lowered a boat and came
on board the Azama, where he formal |
ly surrendered. The prisoners were |
distributed among the Japanese ships.
and prize crews were selected to take |
possession of the captured vessels.