April 18, 1904.]
[FROM THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT.]
* TOKYO 14th April. A telegram received by the Government at Tokyo from Rear-Admiral Uryu, the Commander of a detached squadron, states that it is reported by one of our torpedo flotillas that one of our squadrons made close approach to Port Arthur ou the 13th inst., and opened fire on the Russian ficet. During the battle the Japanese warships sank a Russian battleship of the Petropar- lovsk class, and also a torpedoboat destroyer. The whole of our offensive squadron is safe. An Official report from Admiral Togo has not yet been recived.
Tokyo, 17th April. Admiral Togo reports that our combined fleet commenced the eighth attack on Port Arthur on the 11th inst., as previously planned. The Fourth and Fifth torpedo bout-destroyer flotillas, the 14th torpedo flotilla, aud the Koryo Maru reached the mouth of Port Arthur at midnight on the 12th inst., and effected the laying of mines at several points outside the Port, defying th enemy's search-lights.
At dawn on the 13th iust. the Second torpedo-destroyer flotilla descried a Russian destroyer trying to enter Port Arthur Harbour and, after an attack lasting teu minutes, sank her.
Another Russian destroyer was discovered coming from the direction of Laotishan and our ships attacked her; she managed to flee. however, into the harbour.
On our side during these engagements we suffered no casualties with the exception that two seamen on the destroyer Ikadauchi were slightly wounded."
We had no time to rescue the crew from the sinking Russian vessel, as the enemy's cruiser Bayan approached the vicinity at that time.
The Third fleet arrived off Port Arthur at eight o'clock that morning when the Rus- sian
cruiser Bayan came out of Port Arthur harbour and attacked
The Russian cruisers Novik, Askold, and Diana, and the battleships Petropavlovsk, Pobieda, and Poltava immediately came out and commenced an offensive attack.
Our Third fleet, tardily answering the Russian guns, and gradually retiring, enticed the enemy 15 miles south-east of Port Arthur, when our First fleet, receiving information from the Third by means of wireless telegraphy, suddenly appeared before the enemy and opened fire.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
ed three mines laid by the enemy, and des. troyed them.
The new cruisers Kasuga and Nikahin were despatched to the west of Laoti shan and made an indirect bombard. first action of these ships. ment for two hours,this being the
The new forts at Laotishan were finally silenced.
Our forces retired at 1.30 p.m.
*[By courtesy of the Japanese Consul.
OPERATIONS NEAR THE YALU.
despatch dated Tokyo, 6th April:-The Russian The N.C. Daily News pablishes the following troops who were in the Wiju direction have recrossed the Yalu. It is believed that the Russians
on the Kiuliencheng-Antunglsien line are not the enemy's main force, and naturally any engagement that may take place in that direction may not be decisive, but it will encourage the subsequent grand operations.
The Russians are constructing entrenchments rivers, among other places, but they are all at different points on the Yalu and Tumeu apparently incomplete, and should one point be broken by the Japanese, the enemy will have very serious difficulty in effecting rutual reinforcement. The general thawing of the ice on the Yalu and the muddy state of the roads believed that this will not affect the Japanese cannot but impede prompt operations, but it is plaus.
NEWCHWANG.
295
The Japanese fighting line is reaching different points on the left bauk of the Yalu. mines at Euusau, are being protected by the The American mines at Unsan, and the English
Japanese.
Coreas arriving from Vladivostock state that the population between Vladivostock and Possiet are deeing into the interior in fear of a Japanese attack. The Russian garrisons are also retreating. There is only a small force of Cossacks at Hanchun, and there are small bodies of scouts along the Tamen.
Tokyo, 8th Ap.il.
The official returns of the Japanese casualties at Port Arthur in the various engagements outright, nine who have died of their wounds. aggregate 114. including furteen killed
and forty who have recovered.
Tokyo, 8th April. The thawing of the ice is expected ab Vladivostock about the 24th instant.
FROM CHINESE SOURCES..
The Sinwenpao I arn3 from a letter from Fengtien that all the materials of the Russian
Afforestation Co, on the Corean frontier have alleged, being that there are Russian cavalry been removed to Hyahotze, the reason, it is stationed outside of the Co.'s concession; but it is believed this is a contemplation on the part of
Russia to abandon Corea.
MARQUIS ITO IN COREA.
[FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.]
Chemulpo, 17th March. The scene at Chemulpo to-day, when Marquis Ito arrived, consisted chiefly of sunshine and dust. surprises and laughter. The sunshine began early and held its own throughout the day. Corea is one of the brightest, sunniest dry and burned fiercely, like Egypt, nor chang lands in the world; not to excess-not baked
in hideous dust-storms from the great deserts, ing every half hour like Japan, not smothered
like North China, nor steaming with unwhole- some humid heat like the Philippines, but just as ideally genial a climate as I have ever known, in many years of wanderings.
tiring guns. 4.7 inch, and some machine guns; her business was to be the chasing of the Russian Volunteer Fleet steamers, but there are now none to chase, at least none east of Suez, so the
The U. S. ganboat Helena arrived here yes. terd y from Newchang, says the N.C. Daily News of the 7th inst. She left Newchwang ou the morning of the 3rd ins ant, after a stay there of fire months, and those ou board say that they have had a very good time during Newchwang when the Helena laft, and there their sojourn there. Everything was quiet in
were seventeen vessels in pori.. Espiegle was to come out of dock on the follow
H.M.S. ing day and would probably also take her de. parture, it being thought best by the command. ers of the two men-of-war to leave and let the Russians and Japanese fight, out their struggle for supremacy.
All women and children had Marquis Ito came in the Hongkong Maru, a been advised to leave, and the railway officials large mail steamer belonging to the Toyo Kisen were ready to depart at very shot notice. Kaisha. running between Hongkong and San The only other mau-of-war in harbour was the Francisca. She had been converted into a Russian gnuhoat Siroutch (950) tous' displace.cruiser, painted gray and armed with four quick- ment and 1,125 indicated horse-power), which was expected to come out of dock on the 4 b instaut and was to be used as a floating battery. Io the opinion of our infor maut it was ver? improbable that Newchwang could withstand any serions attack. Mines were to be laid in the harbour and a new fort was in coarse of erection on the east bank of the river about two miles above Newchwang and opposite the railway terminus. With this exception there is only the old fort, with no larger guns than 5-inch, and there has been little or no target-practice, the guns having been fired once only in the 1st few months. A couple of Japanese gunboats cu'd easily demolish both forts. There were about 10,000 troops in ewchwang and the vicinity, and it was reported that there were 10,000 Russian troops south of Mukden, but the latter number is thought to be greatly exaggerated. The railway as far as Tasbihchiao junction was practically under the absolute control of the Rus ians, who had officials aboard every train and at every station. It was expected that the port would be attacked by the Japanese in mediately the ics broke up, and the Russian what has been mentioned above, was pro-Moukden, who was in Newchwang, was of the General in command of the forces south of bably slight also.
same opinion, News from Peking, however, Was to the effect that the Japanese were not for some time yet. at all likely to make an attack upon Newchwang
While the enemy was endeavouring to regain Port Arthur a battleship of the Petropavlovsk type struck the mines we had laid on the previous evening, and sank at 10.32 a.m.
Although another ship was observed to have lost her freedom of movement, the confusion of the enemy's ships prevented us from identifying her.
The enemy finally managed to regain Port
Arthur.
Our Third fleet suffered no damage, and damage sustained by the enemy, excepting
Our First fleet did not arrive within firing distance.
Our fleets retired at 1 p.m. and prepared for another attack.
Our ships again made an approach to Port Arthur on the 14th inst.
The Second, Fourth, and Fifth destroyer flotillas, and the Ninth torpedo flotilla also joined our larger ships at 3 a.in., and the Third fleet at 7 a.m.
None of the enemy's ships were outside
Port Arthur at that time.
Our First fleet arrived at 9 a.m., discover-
NORTHERN TELEGRAMS.
The following telegrams are from the N.-C. Daily News recently to hand:
Tokyo, 7th April. It is rumoured that the Russians have planted and on the coast off Takushan. submarine mines in the estuary of the Yalu,
|
It has transpired that the Russians have destroyed the bridges over the rivers in North Corea A battery of eight Russian guos at Chongju has beeu taken back to Antunghsien,
Hongkong Maru has now no special use for her 19 knots speed, and will probably soon resume Meantime her guns have nothing more to do her peaceful and money-making pursuits.
than fire salutes. As Marquis Ito comes in the special capacity of Imperial Envoy representing the Emperor of Japan personally, that is to say, not as a mere Minister, a royal salute was accorded him by the foreign warships in Che- mulpo. and was returned by the Hongkong Maru. No Corean salute was fired, 18 the Corean navy, consisting of one refurbished merchant steamer, has no guns.
All Chemulpo turned out to see the great man from Japan come ashore, and about half of the Japanese and foreign diplomatic and other officials in Seoul had come down to meet him, in their important clothes, and some silk hats, Frock coats and silk hats look very incongruous among the varied and picturesque costumes of the Far East, and probably the Corean coolis, in his voluminous bundle of dirty-white cotton Consular and diplomatic dignitaries wrappings and preposterous hat, thought our looked perfectly outlandish.
There was a company of about 200 Japanese soldiers drawn up at the jetty as a guard of honour. They looked quite at home and stolidly businesslike. Their uniform, black with | yellow facings, looks neat and attractive to the eye, but something less attractive to the enemy's marksmen would be better for field service. The Japanese troops have a sort of khaki uni- form for summer, but in winter they wear only these vivid colours.
There was also a small squad of Japanese cavalrymen of the Imperial Guard, dismounted, in their bright red uniform. Like the infantry, these men looked very placid and matter-of-