The Washington times., 1905-06-11

IN destroying one vessel each One, the
Admiral Evans. was lost, going down
with the wreck Of the japanese battle
ship hunashirf after torpedoirg 1t. The
kunashiri had been the Russian Retvi-
san, which after being sunk at Port
Arthur by the japanese was raised, re-
built and made into one of Japan's best
vessels of the older type
1t seemed little better than cold
blooded murder thus to DESTROY a feet
worth s10o,00o,000, with death list
OF over 1000. The Japanese vessels
had no chance whatever to escape or
to defend themselves. The attack was
made at night. and the night was dark
The cold, fnhuman calculation with
which the work was done was, and its
complete effectiveness, combined TO
produce such a terrible impression on
the minds Of those who commanded
and manned the submarines, that sew
eral of them lost their minds soon
afterward. A number committed sui
eide, and nearly all resigned from the
naval service and were given honors
anc emoluments by their government.
Each submarine vessel attached
huge Whitehead torpedoes to the hulls
Of the ship whose destruction was as
signed 10 it. These were not exploded
| Immediately, but were connected with
the submarines by electric cables, and
when Eli the submarines had reported
to the flagship that communication
had been made, the word was given to
discharge the torpedoes simultan-
eously.
Nature in her widest commissions
may sometimes have produced horrors
comparable to that which followed;
certainly the mind and purpose Of man
had never before accomplished it's
parallel All the survivors of the
sunken Japanese ships afterward de-
scribed their impressions In one of
two ways. Some declared that they
believed a volcanic outburst had oc-
Cured in the sea Immediately Under
meath their feet. The others. stunned.
dazed, and driven almost to insanity
in that supreme instant Of horror by
the sight, apparently, Of the whole
face Of the sea covered with explo-
sions and great flashes Of light. had no
other impression than that the world
had come to its end The Whiteheads
served not only to sink the vessels
under which they were exploded, but
in most cases to blow up their rnaga-
zines Thus the explosions all occur
ring In the same instant, produced
score Of tremendous convulsict.s which
can only De described as huge geysers
rising out of the ocean. accompanied
by a succession OF terrific detonat lions
as the different magazines exploded.
On some of the sinking vessels there
were half dozen explosions, some of
them as late as two minutes after the
hulks had disappeared under the
waves: and each OF these submarine
bursts threw up a great seethiag boil
ing column Of water, carrying with it
every conceivable sort OF wreckage
Such Of the Japanese vessels as es-
caped-2nd they escaped only because
no attempt was made 70 destroy all a
once-were the scenes of panic at once
Only the wonderful discipline and NOR
ale of the service saved 1t from utter
Generalization. When daylight came
without further horrors a conference
was held on board the Mukden. the jap
anese flagship. 1t was decided that the
Americans possessed some new engine
of destruction which made war against
them madness. The American feet was
known 20 be more than 100 miles away.
Yet, here were seventeen great vessels.
lying in seeming security before the en-
| trance to the harbor, on a dark night,
scattered throughout an area of MANY
miIes-ali destroyed as by a single ex-
plosion. in the same instant What
could merely human precaution avail
against such ficndish devices as these?
A flag Of truce was sent to Admiral
Worthiagton, who informed the Jan
anese that unless the remainder of the
feet was forthwith turned over to him
he would repeat the attack within n
| week The Japanese absolutely re-
jected these terms, though admitting
that they recognized the uselessncs of
further resistance. But they demanded