The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-05-31
TWENTY=TWO RUSSIAN SHIPS
 ARE REPORTED LOM IN THE
 BATTLE WIIN ADMIRAL TOGO

darting in again and again to launch their weapons.
 The Almaz, which arrived at her anchorage here Monday evening, bears scars of the battle. Her mizzenmast Is shot away and one of her smoke stacks Is pierced by cannon shot But the Grozny. though engaged for sew eral hours in a running fight at short range with a large Japanese destroyer, shows no signs of the fray. After her | commander, Captain Andrinsky. had | been wounded ard an officer and three | men had been killed, the Grczny suc- | ceeded in sinking her opponent with a luckily placed shot and reached Vladi-
 vostok without further adventure this morning.
 For the past two days Vladivostok | has been buzzing with 'rumor and ex- citement. The fact that battle be- l tween the rival fleets was imminent If l Rojestvensky was not already at hand grips with Togo. was known through ltelegrams from Europe and when It | was learned Monday morning that a Russian cruiser had been sighted off | Askold island headed for the harbor | the city was filled with the widest re- ports of every nature.
 The inhabitants clustered in the | streets. thronged the waterside or l climbed the frowning hills overlook | ing the harbor for a better view Ff-
 nally, towards 6 o'clock in the eve ming. a graceful cruiser with two | snowy-white stacks shot in view at | the entrance to the Golden Horn and rounded to an anchorage beneath the Ibristling guns of the curving promon- | tory. From afar the broken stump or | her mizzenmtist and a shot hole show | ing black upon the white paint of one
 stack indicated that the cruiser had encountered the Japanese. As the an- chor chain rattled in the hawser- r-holes, | the vessel wreathed itself in smoke. It was an admirals salute in honor of
 Rear Admiral von lessen. Scarcely had the boom of the last cnnnoh begun to echo from the surrounding hilis
 when von Jessen's flagship, the cruis- CT Rossia, answered the salute and
 minute later the guns of the fortress took up the cannonade.
 Excitement beyond description seiz-
 ed the thronging spectators. who, with frantic "huzzahs," tossed high their caps Citizens embraced each other and
 danced tubiantly upon the pier while the crews of the ships in the haroor joined in wild cheering.
 In a thrice the boats were dropped from the davits, and in a moment the officers of the cruisers and torpedo boats in the harbor and the military officials from the fortress were swarm ing on board the AiuldA lo ASdih hSWS of the fight. The story was short. According to the officers of the Almaz, the fleet un- der Rolestvensky met the Japanese In the Straits of Korea near Tsu Islands. and the opposing fleets immedfateiy closed it. Being lightly armored. the Almaz had been ordered by Admiral
 Rojestvensky before the battle to free
 itself from the main fleet and headed
 for Vladiyostok soon after the com-
 mencement of the action, but not too
 soon to observe that the losses on both sides in the titanic combat were great
 Early in the battle an officer of the
 Almaz while watching RotestvenskyS
 flagship, the Kniaz Souvaroff, for sig
 nal saw the flagship shudder from stem to stern as if under a blow from a gt-
 gantic hammer and hesitate In hcr
 course. while the waves rose nigh from
 her armored sides. Then she com
 menced to list and sink.
 The officers believe that the debut Of
 the submarine boat as an offectivs agent in naval warfare, or perhaps large mine, caused the disaster to the
 Kniaz Souvaroff The damage, how ever was so extensive that the flagship soon went down. leaving the deck ofii-
 cers and many of the crew struggling
 in the waves.
 One of the Russian torpedo boats, the destroyer Buny or the Bravi ran
 
 in and picked up number of the swimmers, one of whom was recognized through a glass as Admiral Rojestven- sky.
 Under a gruelling attack by the Jap anase warships. aided by torpedo boats. mines and submarine boats, the Bor- dono, Oslabia and Ural were placed out of action and followed the flagship to the bottom.
 The fog which had raised and lower ed internationally during the morning began to settle down again and the distance of the Almaz which had now succeeded in disengaging herself in the combat, from the struggling ships made 1t difficult for her to see clearly, but the officers arc positive that they saw two Japanese battleships disappear beneath the sea before their eyes and oaat two Japanese cruisers appeared on the point of sinking.
 The arrival of the Grozny at Il o'clock today was marked by the same scenes of excitement as those which characterized the advent of the Al mag.