160
Tokyo, 15th February.—It is reported that two hundred Japanese fugitives have been detained at Tashihchiao and escorted to Port Arthur, This has caused excitement and indignation in Japan.
Tokyo, 16th February. --After much ill-treat- ment, the Japanese fugitives finally left Port Arthur for Chefoo yesterday. The exodus of Japanese from Siberia is now completed.
Tokyo, 16th February.-It has transpirad that upon the receipt of the Port Arthur news, four Russian warships left Vladivostock for Hokkaido, but it is now understood that they have returned to Vladivostock.
Tokyo 17th February.-In reference to Secretary Hay's overtures, Japan agrees to the neutralisation of China, excluding Manchuria which Russia still occupies, and Japan adheres thereto unless Russia violates China's neutrality (which she is doing by keeping the Mundjour at Shanghai. ED.), on which Japan originally insisted.
Tokyo, 17th February.-The Emperor has announced that the ancient gold and silver treasures of the Palace aro to be utilised for the War Fund,
THE BATTLES AT PORT ARTHUR.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
shelter behind a rock whence they looked ont on what was now a general engagement.
I
Sixteen Japanese men-of-war wera approach ing from the East in a long line, single file. Their fire was returned by the Russian squadron and the forts on the headland, and a terrific dia
hour
of booming continued for three-quarters of an Then the Japanese having sailed right along the front of the fleet and harbour mide off, still in line, towards the South. So far as could be seen they had thems-lves sustained little or no damage. It will be seen that Vice- roy Alexieff does not claim that any Japanese vessel was even seriously injured.
Town and dock had, on the other hand, suffer ed severely, though the actual damage was not so great as might have been expected from a bom bardment. Three shells fell into the East Basin without doing very much harm; another wont through the side of a transport lying just out side the dry dock, but for some reason it did not explode. In the town holes as much as fifteen feet in diameter and six or seven feat
deep had besa ploughed up by the shells, Windows were shattered in all the houses and coal stacked along the streets and wharves had been scattered in all directions. Fortunately for the Russians it did not fire, or the coufla gration might have been enormous.
We are indebted to the N.-C. Daily News for the following account of the torpedo attack The townspeople, foreign and Chinese alike, on Port Arthur and the subsequent bombard-
were stupefied with fear. From the Russo- ment. Our contemporary takes the story from Chinese Bank all the paper money was being Captain Gray, of the Chinese Engineering and taken and burat publicly; the spooie was put Mining Company's steamer Fuping, who also into carts and sent away inland as rapidly as gave an account of the Fuping's own extraordin- possible. At three o'clock in the afternoou the ary experiences. Flying the British flag, with Government took charge of all stores and all her papers in order, and having every per-provisions. Many houses of business were mission to leave, the Fuping was fired upon, closed permanently and their heads had fled. without the slightest warning, at short range The railway station was besieged. Port and with three shells. Five of her Chinese | Arthur was, in fact, absolutely demoralised and passengers were seriously injured and the rest. panic-stricken. The defencelessness of the panic-stricken. Such an attack with shell on a place impressed the authorities. For days pra- neutral commercial vessel, without any preliviously thousands of troops had been leaving as minary blank firing, is absolutely unprecedented. fast as the trains would take them north for the The Fuping arrived in Port Arthur from Yalu. Now as many as possible are being Chinwangtao, with a cargo of Kaiping coal, hurriedly recalled, and the Port is again filling on Friday, the 5th February. By the morning with troops. of the 8th, the whole cargo had been discharged and the vessel was to leave next day. At midnight of the 8th, the captain and crew were startled into wakefulness by the reports of heavy guns firing. In the darkness and confusion of the night little could be sea, but next morning the harbour was full of evidences of Japanese activity during the night.
When the Fuping entered Port Arthur the Russian squadron of 18 large vessels in all (uot counting one second-class cruiser which was under repair inside the West Basin and took no part in the actions) was riding outside the harbour immediately under the forts which rise above the entrance on the north-east side. There they had remained all the time until the 8th. At daylight on the 9th it was seen that two of the largest vessels, the Retuisan and the Tsarevitch, were lying in a sinking condition right across the arrow month of the harbour and completely blocking it. Just beyond and/ on the western side of the entrance were lying the first-class oruiser Pallada, which had been torpedoed and run ashore to save her from sinking, and a large Russian transport which had also run ashore for safety.
It was
|
[February 27, 1904.
meaning of one statement. It was translated to him as meaning that he would promise not to divulge outside what the real condition of affairs in Port Arthur was. This he signed. Next he was asked to sign another paper, which was said to mean that he had only three days' provisions on board. Why he should be asked to make such a statement he could not guess, but he signed the paper. Two hours later he received full permission to leare.
a
Im-
Steaming out of the West Basin with the British ensign flying at the main, the Fuping was abreast of the guardship at the mouth of the harbour (we understand from passenger that this was the oorvətte Razboynik commanded by Prince Levin) when, without the slightest hint or warning, without a single blank charge as a preliminary, the guardship sent a two-inch shell whizzing over the deck. mediately afterwards two other shells followed and struck the Fuping in the bows, fortunately above the waterline, but doing much damage. The shells barst also in the part of the ship most crowded with Chinese passengers and five of thess were very badly wounded. One poor girl had a leg blown off, a man lost an arm, another a portion of his back. Consternation seized all on board the Fuping, which stopped immediately, and returned to the inner harbour. Later on Captain Gray was sent for by the commander of the guardship, but all that was said to him was: “We are very sorry; it was a mistake; you may proceed to sea," At five o'clock the Fuping again got under weigh and this time passed out without any incident. In the ordinary course the voyage would have been made direct to Shanghai, but the indignity to the British flag was not to be endured, and Captain Gray put into Weihaiwei to report the occurrence to Captain Windham, of H.M.S, Amphitrite. The voyage was resumed almost immediately aud the boat arrived at Shanghai on Saturday afternoon, the 13th inst.
ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
On the 14th inst. the American 8.8. Pleiades arrived at Chefoo from Port Arthur during the forenoou. She had reached Port Arthur from Puget Sound, with a cargo of flour, on Sunday, the 7th instant. An officer of the Pleiades,
During Wednesday morning tugs got to work on the Tsarevitch and succeeded in dragging her inside the West basin, where she has ground-interviewed, said she had brought over between”TM al, her name being absolutely submerged at high water. If she were able to float as is alleged from the Russian side, she would ride with her head to the wind, but although thera was a strong northerly gale blowing when the Fuping left, the Tearevitch was immovable. The same was true of the Palladu, which was also successfully towed inside. The Retvisan still lay in the harbour mouth, but was sufficiently pulled aside to allow the remains of the flest to enter the East Basin on Wednesday afternoon. She was lying on the rocks with her bows uuder water.
The number of men-of-war lost or disabled Captain Gray computed at eight Including the one vessel inside the harbour under repairs the Russians had nineteen large warships at Port Arthur before the fighting. When he left Captain Gray counted fourteen only, and that number included the Tsarevitch, Retvisan, and Pallada. Thus five were absolutely unac- counted for.
In regard to the repairing of the damaged ressels, it is worth noting that ther is at present only one dry dock at Port Arthur, and that too small to take a large battleship. Another, 750 feet long, is being constructed out of the solid rock, but it will be some yers at least before this is ready, if it is ever completed, After the bombardment the Fuping became crowded with refagass. About 500 Chinesa besides sixteen foreigners came on board. There were no state-rooms available; every inch of space was occupied with baggage, and the travellers were obligad to sleep as best they could on deck or in any corners. They wars uuab'e to sleep out of their clothes until they arrived at Shanghai.
Captain Gray, with his second officer and chief and second engineers, put off in a small boat on & royage of inspection. They had with them a crew of four Chinese and pulled round to the Tsarevitch and Retvizan. These were seen at once to be damaged beyond possibility of repair in the limited dock accommodation available at Port Arthur at present. They had gone all round these two vessels, and were proceeding to look similarly at the Pallada when the report of a loud explosion raug out. Simultaneously a shell fell right alongside their boat. then about half-past ten o'clock. The remainder of the Russian fleet were still lying under shel- ter of the forts on the other side of the harbour; but immediately following the explosion one At three o'clock on the afternoon of Wednes. of them, whether a battleship or a cruiser it day, Captain Gray prepared to depart. A was impossible to say, disappeared stern first in German steamer, the Chefo, left twenty the water, taking all hands, or so it seemed in- minutes before him and passed out safely. Iu evitable, with it.
The whole incident scarcely the morning at ten o'clock he had ben called took more than a minute or so. One of the to the office of the steamer agan's and told that Chinese in Captain Gray's boat had been badly he would have to sign certain documents in scalped; and he with his three terrified com- Russian before he would be allowed to sail patriots leaped overboard into the water. The His reply was that he would sign anything that four foreigners ran their craft ashore and took' would enable him to leave, and asked the
|
her
outside use ber
500 and 600 Chinese passengers, mostly old men, women, and children connected with the Russian dockyards, etc., and also about ten Europeans. He stated that four large Russian men-of-war had been placed hors de combat by Ja. panese torpedoes on the night of the 8th February, The Tsarevitch sank the harbour, but was still able to guus. Another, of French build, said to be the best of the deat, was sunk or rest- ing Ou her bottom inside the harbour. The water was pouring out of her all the tim: from
pumps, and divers were constantly at work on her. At low water ons could see two feet below her armour belt. The Retvizan and another ironclad were also badly damaged, neither being able to move On and being completely "out of commission." Tuesday, the 9th, the bombardment commenced at 11 am, according to the officer's watch, and con inued until 11.45 a,m, The Japanese were evidently only trying the range and getting it remarkably well, for many of the shots fel in the town and amongst the shipping. The officer interviewed showed some pieces of the copper banding which takes the riding of the guns. These had fallen on his ship, and he said some of the engineers had pieces
the of
iron. of shells which had burst around the ship. The Japanese ships bom- barding ware fron 7 to 8 miles away and were evidently the sixteen ships soon by the str. Foochow the same morning off Cap Island, outside Dalay. The Foochow was proceeding from Dalay to Chefoo with Japanese refugees.
The chief officer of the Foochow said that two
of the Japanese cruisers were so close in to land that their flags could not be distinguished. An officer of the Pleiades said that before they laft Port Arthur there was a report that a Russian man-of-war was laying mines in Daloy harbour, that he had a patent of his own, and that it was so successful that his own ship struck one of the mines and the ship was destroyed, captain and crew of 35) being killed. It was added that now other Russian ships were afraid to enter Dalny, not knowing the position of the mines on account of the deaths of those