Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Herald, 1904-06-24, Page 6Togo Attacks ussian Destroy- ers, but they Retreat. Fuld etas of tht& Kafir! of 800 Russi ns. Rep rt Thi, t the Baltic He t s Sae Tokio cable: Admiral Togo re- ports that a squadron from his fleet bombarded the Russians on June 6, be- twen Kaiping and the Suingyue River. It reconnoitred the coast and returned to the rendezvous on June 12. It reported that the enemy's infantry and cavalry, numbering 3,000, station- ed near Kaiping, with the object of preventing a Japanese landing, fled after the bombardment. .After recording the stoppage of a train, previously reported, Admiral Togo continues: "On the morning of June 8 we shelled two companies of infantry and a squadron of cavalry at Kaiping, inflicting great loss. The cap- tain of a steamship leaving Yin -Sow on June 7 says that owing to the bom- bardments 3,000 Russians, with 20 guns, evacuated Yin -Sow sad retreated northward. Two Russians, captured by one of our torpedo boats on June 10, say that a Russian force of 5,000 men, under Gen. Samsonoff, arrived. at Wafangkau on May 31. They also state that three or four trains reach Nanchailing daily. Our combined squadron has strengthened the block- ade, and is now covering the rear of the forces ashore. Our fourth destroyer flotilla shelled the enemy effectually around Kimchengtze for two hours on June 10. The second flotilla, recon - of Cardiff, and 3,000 tons of Japanese coal. ALL ARRANGEMENTS 'MADE. Tokio in Comunication With Every Col- umn in the - -eld. London cable: The restoration of telegraphic comunieation between Corea and Japan is regarded as indicating that al the Japanese naval and military ar- raT gements -have been made, and that there is now nothing to be feared from disclosures. It is stated that Tokio is now in direct communication with every column in the field, and that each column is also linked by means of the field telegraph, so that every Russian movement can be reported t•y one general to the others. Nothing, is wever, is allowed to be known, re- garding the situation at Port Arthur. JAPS BUSY FORTIFYING. Constantly Skirmishing With the Rus- sian. Cavalry. Ohwtiiig the Russians attacked a Japan- ese force southeast of the Siungyo Moun- tains,. on June 11, 3,000 of them pur- suing the apparently fleeing Japan- eee to Yaotung Pass. There it be- came evident that. the Japanese re- ts eat was a feint. The men who bad been retreating reformed, and, assist- ed. by hidden. reinforeemnts, attacked their pursuers, killing or wounding 560 of them. The Russians retreated in disorder along the Tashichao road. Some of these refugees reached New Chwang ozi June 12, with 285 transport carts. They seemed to be terribly dejected. and fatigued, as if they had made a "long, . forced march. Numbers of the men had cuts on their faces, in- dicating sabre wounds. Several of their horses were wounded. A strong detachment was sent in the evening to cover the retreat of the remainder. These reached. Tashichoa, where General Kcndratoviteh inspected them. They entrained yesterday for Liao Yang. It is stated that the Japanese marched to Suinghai fro Pulandien with the object of clearina the district, prepara- tory of advancing to the neighborhood of New Chwang. It is reported out here that the Rus- sions were caught at Suingyo the saute as they were at the Yalu, though et. a smaller scale. The incident is re- garded as keing bound to seriously Shake the Russian forces at Wafang- lau, probably leading to their final v-ithdrawal, and tate disaster, taken with other indications of Japanese activity in the neighborhood, is regarded as likely to clear the way for a Japanese landing at New Chwang, which is supposed to Le imminent. Telegrams from I ew Chwang do not. mention the Russian, retreat therefrom mentioned by Admiral Togo. The Russian report of a Japanese re- erse south of Hai Cheng is not confirm- ed from any source. NO RUSSIAN REPORT. Liao Yang cable: The Japanese are reported to be fortifying Leaden (which canna be located on available maps), and along the railway from Pulandien to Tandzafan. Japanese scouts are constantly skirmishing with Russian cavalry south of Vafangdien. Demonstrations by cruisers off Kaiping and Senuchen have ceased. A strong advance guard is occupying Siuyen, noitring at Talienwan, found four Rus- which is being fortified. Javanese Sian destroyers off Sensho Poinb on scouts have been seen at hal Cheng and June 10, and engaged them, but thep on the Kaiping road. retreated forthwith. The aline drag- ging progresses. We have destroyed thirty mines on the high seas, besides some floating near the harbors, sev- erlil of them northward of Iron Island. The weather was extremely foggy dur- ing the past week. happily there were o accidents." HAS BALTIC FLEET SAILED? Party Warships Pass Bornholm Island in the Baltic. London cable: A despatch to the Daily Mail from Hamburg says that a private telegram received there states that a Russian squadron, com- posed of forty large and small warships, has passed Bornholm Island, in the Baltic, steaming westwar". This is possibly the Baltic fleet, it cannot be ascertained whether it a trial respondent and two officers who es- trin or has actuallly denar c . for the caped from Port Arthur arrived here Far East. last night. They say that for four Gen. Kurola remains at Feng Wang Cheng, where fortifications have been strengthened. The Japanese have re- tired from Saimatze, which has also been abandoned by most of the inhab- itants, owing to the complete exhaus- tion of supplies. Japanese forces are also,reported to be occupying Ai- Yangarnin. The Japanese army in :Manchuria is said to be exceedingly short of sup- plies, for which it is wholly dependent on water transportation to the mouth of the Yalu and Takushan. All is quiet at New Chwang. PASSED JAPS' LINES. Three Men Reach Liao Yang from Port Arthur. Liao Yang cable: A Russian dor- 40$ NEWS FROM PORT ARTHUR. Chinese Spy on the Conditions Existing There. New Chwang cable:: A Chinanip.n who was smuggled by the Japanese into Port Arthur, to act as a spy, and escaped from there seven days ago, was arrested at New Chwang last night. He told a correspondent that the Russians were working a large • force of men day and night repairing the warships. They expect that the work will be completed in a fortnight. Four cruisers tinder Golden Hill (at the entrance of Port Arthur) have their s trained landward, to assist in re - land attack. The channel is but Admiral Togo's 1 strength the nd 0 St. Petersburg Has Not Yet the Disaster. St. Petersburg cable: No informa- tion reached the general staff to-dayre- garding the reported ambushing of Russians at Pulandien, as the result of which they were alleged to have lost SCO mn. The only thing of the least significance in this connection was' the short despatch received from Major -Gen. Karkevitch, which was sent on June 12, the day the battle was alleged to have recurred. Gen. Karkevitch does not men- tion the Pulandien fight, of which the authorities presume he would have heard had it occurred at the same time. His despatch only covers events up to the preceding day. KARKEVITCH REPORTS. All is Quiet on the Western Coast of Liao Tung. St. Petersburg cable: The general staff has received the following de- spatch from Major -Gen. Karkevitch, dated June 12: "There was. no change on June 9, June 10 and June 11 in the position of the troops in the neighborhood of Vafan- goW Station (Liao Tung peninsula). Small outpost skirmishes occur dam. The attemnts of the Japanese to drive back our postssouth of Wafangtien Heard of dams they were crawling through the Japanese lines, they having picketed all roads at intervals of fifty yards. The fugitives travelled mostly at night and kept to the hills. They were greatly exhausted. They caught a hos- pital train leaving Vafandian, which also brought a number of men wounded in skirmishes along the railway. Most of the wounded are recovering rapidly. Many of them have been awarded the St. George's Cross. The refugees say . that Port Arthur is well provisioned, the merchants hav- ing managed to get in large quanti- ties of supplies before the railway was cut. For Military Purposes. London cable: The Tokio cor- spondent of the Standard says that the extension of the Core= Railway to New Chwang is . considered neces- sary for military purposes. The Niehi' Nichi, in discussing this question, thinks that such a link of the railway system will conduce to the promotion of the peaceful interests of foreign powers nd that. therefore, there is no eause r any third party to object to its con - action. RUSSIA'S CASUALTIES, umber r,g8o, and Wounded 2,416, Prisoners era. erspirg cable: The follow - 1 statement of Russian losses has been issued: officers and 020 men killed, officers and 080 men killed., a 220 hien 'wounded. d 2,080 Wren wounded. tors -20 officers and 000 50 AT II L S+S PE The Steamer General Slocum Took Fire in the River, New York, With Tragic Results, Passengers, Including Many Children, Jumped Overboard. and Were Washed Away and browned. Easy: Greatest Loss of Life Was Caused by the Collapsing of the Heavy Upper Deck of the Steamer. New York despatch: Five hundred persons, mostly children, perished to -day by the burning of the excursion steamer General Slocum near Hell Gate, in the East River. The Slocum, having on board the annual Sunday school excu1r- sion of St. Mark's German Lutheran Church, of this city, was on her way up the river to a resort on Long Island Sound. Wlten just off about 125th street per- sons on shore saw smoke and flames spring from the upper part of the crowd- ed steamer. A panic ensued on the boat almost immediatly. The crowds on the forward deck, panic stricken, began to spring overboard and to crowd the after part of the ship. The screams of the terrified passengers could be heard on shore, and hundreds of small boats immediately put off to the rescue. Owing to the rocks on either side of the chan- nel at this point it was impossible to beach the vessel. The captain stuck to his post at the wheel and headed straight through Hell Gate for North Brother Island, where she went ashore in the shallow water. Several hundred feet of open water lay between the burning steamer and shore, and many persons perished either in the water or onthe burning vessel when she was beached. It was estimated that the steamer car- ried more than 2,000 persons. The General Slocum is the largest ex- cursion steamer in these waters. She has plied for years to Rockaway Beach, and could carry about 4,000 passengers. People Jumped Overboard. A telephone report to the police head- quarters is that the whole upper por- tion of the boat is on fire, and that the hurricane deck bas caved in. At least 100 people have jumped overboard. The steamer was surrounded with tugs and was towed to North Brother Island, where site was beached. An eye -wit- ness who saw much of what happened to the boat said: "The steamer's whistle was blowing for assistance as she came up the river. 1 saw several persons jump into the water before she was headed for the northwest shore of Brother Is- land, Her position. made it impossible for those on board of her to reach land except by swimming. I saw perhaps fifty have been checked by the forward ora hundred persons, mostly women movement of our Cossacks. and children, jump overboard. Most of "All is quiet on the western coast the throng was on the hurricane deck of Liao Tun;. The enemy's ships ap- when we plainly saw a potion of it col - pear from time to time, but do not lapse. Many must have been killed in - approach near the coast. stantly. "The Japanese have not advanced from Siuyen. According, to intelligence A TERRIBLE SCENE. received they are entrenching there." LSE RETREAT. panese Victory in Man- huria. Lys: There is no 1 from either side of victory in the north- ao Tung Peninsula. snatches from New FORCED WAY OUT. 'shrilling Story of; the Fight at Taku- shan. Liao Yang cable: Two wounded Cossacks, earn wearing the cross of St. George, have arrived. here. They tell a thrilling story of the fi:rht near Takushan. Thirty-nine Cossacks were sent to reconnoitre the enemy's posi- tion, and when about •five miles from Takushan they were suddenly sur- rounded by Japanese . The Cossacks charged with lance, and were inet with a volley from the Japanese, which re- sulted in the dropping of 20 horses, the killing of two Cossacks and the wound- ing of six. Dismounted Cossacks scrambled behind their comrades' sad- dles. With nearly every horse in the command carrying two mon, the Cos- sacks charged -three tithes, and though covered with wounds, they cut their way out and rejoined the sotnia. A soldier who• was wounded at Sai- matze . says that information regarding the Russian position there was given to the Japanese by the Chinese, five of whom were captured during the fight. U. S. Model Tents. St. Petersburg cable: The War Of- f ce f-fee has adopted recommendations made b,' Lieut. Botkin, embodying the use of the United States army model tents, 'J'hese are eonvertable into ponchos for the protection of the troops during the rriny season. Orders have been tele- 'aphed to Manchuria to equip as pon- cJ.os the 'ordinary tents in use now, so as tc protect the men from rain during the e'ay, without impeding their movements, and afford them shelter at night. RUSSIANS ON TIIE LIAO TUNG. Russian Cavalry's Object to Hamper the Movements of Japanese Columns. St. Petersburg cable: The novoe ti remya's military expert authoritative- ly denies the report that Gen. Stake). - berg is to march south. He declares that the only Russian farces on the, Liao ':wing Peninsula above Port Arthur eeri- est of cavalry and railroad guards, and odds that it is scarcely possible to inter- fere with the siege operations before Port Arthur. The chief mission ,of the Russian cavalry detachments, he says, is to hamper the movenints of the Japan- sk a columns from the south to the z.orth. The Novae Vreniya devotes a lona edi- Passengers, Many of Them Children, Jumped Overboard Rather Than Burn. The pastor of St. Mark's Church, Rev. Geo. C. Epliass, was on board with all of his family, and is was reported was lost. The boat caught fire in Hell Gate, and the flames had complete control be- fore any move could be made to check them. Frightful scenes of panic fol- lowed. It was impossible to run the boat ashore, because of the Hell Gate rocks on either side, and the captain kept her headed for North Brother Is land. Nothing could be done in the way of launching boats, and as the flames advanced the passengers began to jumq overboard. They went into the river bs. hundreds. The disaster was witnessed by thousands of people from both shores of the river, and as rapidly as possible hundreds of small boats and launches set off to render assistance. With the boat burning under his feet, the captain stuck to his post in the pilot house, and the engineer remained at his post below deck until the boat was beached at the lower end of North Brother Island oft Port Morrison. Even then the passes• germ were not in a safe position, for the, were some distance from shore, Hun- dreds of small boats which were scat• tered about picked up those who jumped overboard as rapidly as possible. It is estimated that between 400 and 500 per- sons sprang into the water. An eye -witness said that the greatest loss of life was due to the collapsing of the heavy upper deck. It fell with a clash soon after the fire started, crush- ing hundreds of persons, who had gather- ed on the lower deck. It was then that the greatest panic ensued. There was a living stream of persons going over the rail into the water. As far as eye - w itnesses could determine the fire orig- irated on the forward part of the boat, l'ersons who saw the accident from the shore say that almost instantly persons who occupied places on the forward deck began to jump overboard. Policemen in the Bronx and Harlem saw the blazing be at steiuning up the river, and imme- diately began to turn in alarms for am- bulances and fire boats. All the boats at North Brother Island were sent to the assistance of the people in the water, and as fast as they were brought ashore were cared for in the pa- vilions then. The patients in, the hospi- tals on the islands became almost insane from fright, and at the terrible scenes they had witnessed. A large part of the crowd on the doomed steamer were children, and there was little hope for diem after they had gone overboard. The current in the East River at this point is very strong, and scores of little ones were sucked in by the whirlpools at Hell Gate. One man who went out in a row- boat said that he saw at Ieast 50 child- . ren perish in these whirlpools before he could trach them. Persons on tugboats say that several hundred bodies have been washed ashore or were towed or car- ried in boats to the shore of North Bro- ther Island. Almost every other woman who was taken away was calling for her child. New York, June 15.—Captain Wiliam 'Van Schack, who commanded the Slo- etan, has been arrested. At 1.45 26 unidentified bodies had been listed. All were women and children. No identification was possible, as the first bodies were recovered, as they were picked up at so many • ifferent places. t� rial ao arguing that wireless cammuni- cslion with neutral territory does not constitute a breach of neutrality, the enemy having practically the same rem- edy, as in the case of cable communica- tion, namely, as previously cabled, in one case of cutting the cable and in the other of stationing a vessel rigged with wire- less appartus between this and stations, thus interfering with communications The calling out of the army reserves in Basan, Kieft and Moscow, military dis- tricts, was announced to -day. This step is for the purpose of filling up the skele- ton reserve corps, and to replace the re- pklar troops already gone or going to the front. It also foreshadows the des- patch of four Volga corps, which was predicted in these despatches a month ago. The latter would give Gen. Kouro- patkin 200,000 more men. SAW SEARCHLIGHTS And Flashes kion Guns of a Large Fleet Near Port Arthur. Che Foe cable: The captain of a steamer wheal passed through the Gulf of Ye Chi Li last Monday night reports seeing the searchlights of a large fleet, also flashes from their guns, 28 miles southwest of Port Arthur. This ob- servation was made, the captain states, between 10.30 o'clock Monday night and 3 o'clock Tuesday morning. He was un- able to discern the lights of any oppos- ing vessels. Chinese cruisers and land forces are watching closely to prevent the expor- tation of contraband goods for either of the belligerents. Complaints have been made that the Japanese are drawing a supply of fresh .provisions from here, A, letter received here from Liao 'Yang says that the Russians are not down - east over recent reverses. The Russian report that the Japanese had suffered a severe reverse north of Kinehott has not been confirmed. A New General Appointed. St, Petersburg cable says: The • appointment of Lieut. -Gen. Leonidas Dembowski as commander of the Fifth East Siberian army corps is evidence that larger reinforcements are to be placed at Gen. Kouropatkin's disposal. The' four corps originally formed of Siberian troops are mobilized in Man- churia, and other drafts have been sent out to the Far East. The organization of the new corps independent of the Rus- sian corps, now ordered out from Euro- pean Russia, shows that Kouropatkin now has almost two hundred thousand troops, irrespective of frontier and rail- road guards, and that probably he has a i effective army of 100,000 men at Liao Yang. Gen. Dembowski is a distinguish- ed strategist. He participated in the Russo-Turkish war, and was commander of the Grenadier Corps after the war. Later be became head of the Paulin In- fantry School, and held that position till two years ago. Since then he has been on the personal staff of the War Minister. BOWIE FINDS A BED. Taken into Hotel Cecil After Others Refused to Receive Him. Londo:t,, June 20.--Job.n Alexander Dawie, Elijah III., slid into London as quietly a•s possible at 9.30 o'clock yes- terday morning. Dowie drove through London in a cab for several hours with- out being able to secure the hospitality of a hotel, as the managers were un- willing to risk' hostile demonstrations by mobs. He finally secured apart - at the Hotel Cecil. The prophet will open a two days' mission zn the Zion Tabernacle on Bus- t n uston Road to -morrow. Zionists are pouring in from the provinces, and many are bringing their stock to be cured. The strictest precautions are ( . being taken for the exelusien of strang- ers and members of the press. The police are taking meastres to preserve, the peace.