The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-06-01


The scene which the correspondent
witnessed was superbly terrible. The
guns OF nearly fifty warships were be-
ing fired, and now and again crash
was heard as the reports conceded.
For time the belligerents gave shot
for shot. All thru the conflict both
fleets were on the move, but the Rus
slams were compelled to deviate from
their original course. 5f.
Defeated in a Few Hours.
With a hostile squadron each side and
another ahead, RojestYensky practically
was defeated within few hours. There
was no possible direction for him to
turn. He had fallen into a trap which
had been awaiting him ever since he
left Madagascar. Hesitation was dis.
played in the tactics, of his fleet, and
this proved the forerunnert of utter con-
fusion. Ee
The Japanese knew instantly that the
Russians We're beaten, and the concen-
tratiQn Of fire now became absolutely
internal Every gun was trained. me
Russians were caught in a cul de sac.
At 2:l0 pm. the fsbombafdment
reached its zenith.ss Between O'Clock
and 5 O'Clock in therafternoon 9 Rus,
sian cruiser of the Admiral Nakhlmotf
class and the converted cruiser hats
H. IL
upper works had been shattered into
splinters of wood, iron and steel.
Russians in wild Panic.
Then the Russian fleet broke into
utter disorder and the vessels no longer
preserved their formation. They went
along IN zigzag course, some pointed
east and Others west At that moment
it became evident that Rojestvensky
N al Of al
The Japanese, with that judgment
which in supreme moments. amounts 10
quarters. The Russian ships under a
fire which rendered them all the more
terribly helpless by the shortened
range at. which the Japanese were
shooting, no longer existed as fleet.
The detached squadrons co-ordinated
in no direction and were utterly demon,
allied Gradually they pressed toward
their enemy s coast of Nagata prov
ince. -
Night and Torpedoes. =.
The fighting continued until sunset.
The wind had gone down and it was a
glorious night The Korean sea-. usu-
ally SO rough was now smooth, trans
parent and blue under the darkness of
night. The ships stood out something
more than specters. something less than
citadels .-. e. ..-.8 y. "'
When the darkness set, in the Rus.
north, but the Japanesersin horizontal
lines lay across the enemy's bows, an
effective barrier linked with guns.
At 8 pm. the japanese destroyers
and torpedo boats went forward like q
great cloud Of locusts, The sea was
swept by pale tracks of innumerable
searchlights. The work of the day was
| over, the work Of the night had begun
The large Japanese warships, which
| had found the range Of the Russian
ships so well by light Of day, covered
! the torpedo. attack - = 49,
Beneath. the shells from the: grea,
guns the little vessels darted forth: tt
sting and sink the enemy. There werl
scores and scores Of them. Rojestven
sky, never could have dreamed tina
Japan had such a fotilla. - ~ s..e, =
y. stung as by Scorpions. FL = :
| Under the fire, of @theF Russian ships
the d., t MnGEs tts up1'
moment a shot woHla; tstrike the water
but not before the. boat had darte,
toward the sides of theaheavy warships
| The night s. work resulted in tth
sinking of the 4battleslIips 7' Empero
Alexander - II.,'s Oslabia and Navarin
and; three cruisers. Ia. .A.s,..-st 10 >.
No. rest: was allowed the enemy
When Sunday dawned the Japanes
fleet came to still closer range, pressin
the Russians on to the northwest coas
of. Nagata. All day long the battl
ragged with unabated ferceness, but tn
/ Russians had no strategical positio
from which they 5could,,offer an ;effectiv
resistance. f.t;t, % 'te~~ @,-$
cat this point the description of tn
battle was abruptly terminated. Tn
dispatch was filed during the battle
but it's earlier transmission delayed b
the censor.) $50 e.
Il Jap Warships Damaged.
+ Unofficial reports state that the .Ja1
aneses warships that suffered most du1
: ing the battle were y: the battleshi
, EAsahi and the armored cruiser Iwat,
The Asahi was hit oftener and suffere
the heaviest losses, but did not leav
1.-THE fighting line at any. stage Of tn
Ebattle. The Iwate.s was hit by a. she
: below its water line Saturday afternoo
{ and was compelled. to retire temperate
for repairs. 1t returned to the bait
Sunday morning. - II -s.< az :.
Concerning the immediate sinking
several Of the. Russian ironclads, tt
newspaper Asahi states positively thu
submarine boats were used With terrib
: effect. ~ Z
The Japanese press, acknowledge
Frances kind offices in forwarding nj
/ no II,