Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1905-04-19
NAVAL Battle MAY
HAVE been FOUGHT.
RUSSIAN HOSPITAL SHIP Ar
R1vEs AT SAIGON WITH
WOUNDED MEN ABOARD. X
JAPANESE OFFICIALS
SCOUT FIGHT RuMOR
Belief at st. Petersburg That Men
Are Only Sick Seamen-German
Theory rs to Plans of Rojestvensky
Russian Troops Reach Kirin.


Manila, April Il. - Rear Admiral
Train, in command of the American
fleet in Asiatic waters, received tele-
gram at three o'clock Friday afternoon
from Saigon, the capital and principal
port of French Cochin China, reporting
the arrival there of the Russian hos
pital ship Orel, at eight o'clock on the
morning of April Is. The Orel had
many wounded men on board.
Whether or not the wounded Russian
sailors on the Orel received their injuries
in fight with section of Admiral To-
COS fleet is not known. A serious ex-
plosion or other accident may have &C.
CURED on board one of Rojestvensky's
warships. A dispatch was received
Thursday from Saigon announcing the
arrival Of the hospital ship, but no men,
| ton was made of wounded men on
board.
Says There Was No Fight.
Toxic, April Is. 49, The naval depart
ment pronounces the reports of naval
engagement recently off Saigon to be
| unfounded.
May Be Only Sick Sailors.
st. Petersburg, April 49, - The ad-
miralty's advices from Saigon do not
mention any wounded men being on
board the Russian hospital ship Orel
which arrived there Thursday. She
! probably has sick sailors on board. It
is understood that the Orel will leave
Saigon at once and rejoin Admiral Ro-
jestvensky's squadron, which, it is said,
may be standing off somewhere up the
coast awaiting the hospital ship.
The admiralty has not received any
dispatches recently from Vice-Ad-
miral Rojestvensky. The officials
say that all talk of the emer-
gence of any of the informed
Russian war vessels to join Rojestven-
sky's squadron is pure nonsense. Much
satisfaction and admiration are ex~
pressed in naval circles at the bold, d.
rect manner in which Rojestvensky is
carrying out the objects of his voyage
Believe Fight Has Taken Place.
London, April Is. - Has naval bat
tie between the Russian and Japanese
fleets been fought or is one still in prog
ress? That the ships of Togo and Ro-
jestvensky have met is borne out by I.
dispatch from Saigon, the capital and
principal port OF French Cochin China.
announcing the arrival there of the Rus
sian hospital ship Orel, with large
number of wounded on board, on the
morning of April -. Early in the week
dispatch from Batavia announced thar
a fight had taken place, but no con-
firmatory news had been received. Ro-.
jestvensky, when last reported, was
sailing north and was east of Saigon,
within easy sailing distance of that port,
the only friendly one until Vladivostok
can be reached. From many different
sources have come reports of mysteri-
GUS vessels, believed to be japanese.
seen in the China sea.
Battle Thought Minor Affair.
Putting all these facts together naval
experts incline to the belief that fight,
though not decisive one, has taken
place. 1t was pointed out in Toxic
dispatch, apparently emanating from
the admiralty office, that Togo planned
to open the battle by sending out his
fast cruisers to make the first attack, re-
serving his heavy battleships for the
final blow. These cruisers are supposed
to be under the command of Admiral
Uriu and in vague dispatch were said
to have met the enemy two days ago. /
The decisive battle, however, is ex~
pected to be fought off Formosa and the
recent engagement is believed by many
to be merely a harassing movement
from the Japanese cruisers detachment.
intended to weaken the enemy as much
as possible before the final movement.
That Japan is evidently counting on
Formosa as the place of final trial is
seen in the announcement declaring
Mako harbor, on the Pescadores islands,
In a state of siege, beginning Friday.
The Pescadores are in the straits west
of FOrmosa and through which the Rus
sian feet will probably have to pass.
Making an Ideal Base.
London, April 15.--A British naval
officer who knows the China sea well,
says that Making harbor, in Pescadore
islands, between Formosa and the Chi
nese mainland, which the Japanese have
chosen as one of their naval bases for
operations against the Russian SQUAD
ron commanded by Admiral Roiest-
vensky, is an ideal base for torpedo
operations. The harbor is located In
the southwest part of the largest of
the Pescadores, and has safe anchor
age which runs back three miles, SO
that it, is quite sheltered even from
typhoons. He thinks that the fact that
the Japanese have now revealed this
position indicates that they are satisfied
that there is no longer any possibility
Of ROjestvensky hearing of it before
he arrives in the Straits of Formosa,
the southern entrance Of which he must
now be nearing.
Believe Fleet OF Cuyos islands.
Berlin, April 15.-Admiral Rojest-
vensky's squadron is believed by the
intelligence division of the German
navy department to be lying off the
Cuyos islands, so miles south of Min
doro, Philippine islands, recoaling and
preparing for the last stage Of it's long
Forgets Baby on Train.
Sterling, 1ll.-The six-week-old babe
of Mrs. E. r. Merryman was carried 200
miles from home before the anxious