The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-06-05
CHINESE MADE BETTER
 SHOWING THAN RUSSIANS
From the Detroit News.

From the Detroit News
 was the Japs who fought the first battle with modern ships, and it is the Japs who have fought the latest. By a curious coincidence their position in both cases was very much the same defeat meant the loss of the command of the sea, and loss of command of the sea, ruin. In each case they were fighting a more powerful fleet, but in each case dash, skill and bravery came or tri- umphant. As a matter of act, the Rus sians didn't make nearly as good a show ing against the fleets of Japan as the Chinese did in the war that broke out August 9, 1894. To be sure, the Japanese navy has improved since that time, but so has naval construction generally. Rus sia is considered one of the war powers of the globe, while poor old China is looked upon merely as a negligible quan- tity.
 The horro in which the British steamer Kow-Shing. transporting Chinese troops to Corea. was sunk was the first hostile encounter in which any modern Japa- nese ship of war ever appeared. On July 25, 1894, the Naniwa. said to have been
 in command of Admiral Togo at that time met the Kow-Shing and ordered her surrender, which order was not obeyed, as no declaration of war had yet been made. The Naniwa fired a torpedo at the helpless transport, which missed, and then sank her with broadside fire. The Japanese continued firing at the mass of struggling humanity in the water and an armed cutter sent out to sink those who had taken to the transports boats. Of 1900 aboard only 300 escaped.
 Armed fleets of the two eastern powers first met on Monday morning, September r. 1894. Twelve Chinese naval vessels under Admiral Ting, with auxiliary craft, were guarding transports from which troops were being disembarked at the mouth of the now famous Yalu river. This fleet was attacked by eleven Japa- nese war vessels under -.umiral Ito. Only eight of the Japanese vessels had any sort of armor protection and only one of these had side armor, while ten of the Chinese vessels had protection, six Of which had side armor. Five, in fact, or the Chinese ships were battleships, but, of course. old-fashioned battleships, whose superiority over ordinary unarmored craft was much less than that of the battle ships of the present In tonnage, too, the Chinese had the advantage. but in the important matters of speed and of guns the superiority rested with the Japanese. On paper the efficiency of the Chinese was the greater. but not in greater degree than the paper efficiency of the Rojestvensky fleet over the Togo fleet.
 The Yalu naval battle began at range of 5700 yards, and then. as now, the most conspicuous features of the Japanese tac- tics were rapidity of maneuvering and great accuracy of fire. The Chinese. on the other hand were slow and were almost as poor marksmen as the Russians have since proved themselves to be. What is regarded as a characteristic bit of Chi nese insubordination took place during the afternoons fighting when the cruiser chih-Yuen in disobedience of orders. left her place in the line and disregarding all signals to returned. rammed a Japanese ship, which presently sank. the Chin Yuen being also so severely damaged that she in turn sank. In all, four Chi