RUSSIAN FLEET SMASHED
Baltic Squadron Practically
Annihilated by the
Japanese.
Fleets Clash in Korean Straits
and Czar's Hopes of Victory
Are Dashed.
® oestvensky's ] Ships Go Down Be
fore the Victorious Gunners
of Admiral Togo.
Muscovite Admiral's Effort to
Deceive the Japanese Fails
Completely.
jSDrcom of Russia for Success in the
War Seeras Ended by This
Disaster.
A-dm'iral Togo has won a victory of
colossal magnitude. It is certain that
Admiral Rojestvensky's fleet has been
; practically annihilated during a big sea
battle in the straits of Korea on Sat-
nrday and Sunday. Twelve warships
have been sunk or captured and two
transports and two torpedo boat de-
.Gtroyers have been sunk.
One report which is given much
credence is that Admiral Kamimura ,
Rvorklng practically independently of
'Togo , but under the commander's gen-
cral orders , has taken an important
sbare In the combat.
The story is that after the first battle
: nany of the good Russian ships broke
\past Togo's line and made for the
LINE OF BATTLE OP THE RUSSIAN FLEET IN KOREN STRAITS.
ficlently formidable force in shape to
continue the pounding of the flying
Russian forces.
Frightful Lous of Life.
What the losses sustained by the per
sonnel total cannot be ascertained. It
is believed , however , that the Rus
sians have lost at least 2,000 killed ,
wounded and drowned. One of their
cruisers , the Admiral Nakimhoff , it is
believed , was blown up and the GOO
souls aboard were either killed or
drowned.
The daring of the Japanese is shown
by the fact that one of the Russian
ships , the Sissoi Veliky , it is believed ,
was boarded and captured , though it
afterwards sunk.
Altogether , the battle must have been
one of the most thrilling of any age.
There does not appear to have been
lying between Japan and the Tsushi
ma Islands , and there he waited.
Lauds Knockout Blow.
When the opportune moment came
Togo struck , struck hard and success
fully. The exact force which Togo
had and the disposition he made of it
are not yet definitely known. It Is
believed he had four battleships , eight
armored cruisers , thirty torpedo boat
destroyers , and about 100 torpedo
boats , submarines , besides some pro
tected cruisers.
About noon Saturday , far eastern
time , which is twelve hours ahead oi
American time , Togo gave the order /
to attack. The maneuver he observed f
was described as that of a melee. His
torpedo craft are thought to have dash
ed like a cloud of hornets at the Rus
sian battle line. It was here that Ro
jestvensky is believed to have suffer-
- " - ' j y . : # : : - % . ' V . . . . - ; :
RUSSIAN BALTIC SQUADRON SHOWING THE BATTLESHIP BORODINO.
Here , when the Slavs thought
tthey saw escape in sight , it is said ,
Elamimura was in waiting , and a sec
ond battle was fought This proved
ithe doom of the Russians.
The Japanese sunk the Russian bat
tleships Borodino and Sissoi Veliky ,
.and perhaps the battleship Orel , and
badly damaged the battleship Kniaz
"Souvaroff , flagship of Vice Admiral
Hojestvensky. In addition to these
the Jap fleet has sunk the Rus-
armored cruisers Dmitri Donskoi ,
Admiral Nakimhoff and Vladimir Mo-
ADH1BAL TOGO.
ttomakb , and a number of torpedo boat
.destroyers.
The damage Togo has sustained is
I not known. The Japanese have not
permitted any information concerning
their losses to leak out , nor have they
communicated it to any of the diplo
matic representatives of foreign powers
in Tokio.
All they admit is that they have suf-
: : f red heavily , but they still have a uf-
any hesitancy on the part of the Jap
anese. They rushed at their foe with
the same fanatical bravery their troops
have shown in Manchuria , and the
Russians , while they fought bravely ,
from all accounts do not appear to
have been able to get home in the same
effective manner as their enemy.
Such terrific losses as Rojestvensky
has suffered are not calculated to put
heart into his men.
If he has lost the greatest part of
that without inflicting a corresponding
loss upon his enemy , then'it is admit-
etd that the command of the sea is
lost to Russia , and Japan can continue
to transport men and supplies to Man
churia without fear of interference by
Russian men-of-war.
Story of the Battle. ,
When Vice Admiral Rojestvensky
was at Saddle Islands , where he went
through his last coaling operation , he
directed the final maneuvers in the
plan of campaign which he had adopt
ed before ho left St. Petersburg.
He sent five of his colliers and sup
ply ships to Shanghai , there to await
the result of the battle which he had
determined to precipitate , and then or
dered the remainder of his colliers and
supply ships to pass out between the
Liuchul Islands and Formosa , well to
the eastward of Japan , and to make
Vladivostok through La Perouse or
Tsugaru Straits.
With the remainder of his fleet well
filled with coal , his guns loaded , and
his men on duty beside their weapons ,
he began the dangerous task of forc
ing the straits of Korea , which he had
been informed Admiral Togo was hold
ing.
Admiral Togo appears to have been
quietly spinning his web for the Rus
sian fleet. With a foresight that can
not be too highly praised he gathered
his fleet at the one point which was
the destination of his enemy. lie did
not waste any of his armored strength
in scouting or in attempting to cut off
auxiliaries of the Russian force when
these auxiliaries had no fighting value.
He had under his command at the
scene of action the entire navy of Ja
pan. He distributed his ships across
that portion of the straits of Korea
ed the loss of his battleships and
cruisers.
The Borodino , one of the finest of his
first-class battleships , and the Sissoi
Veliky , a second class battleship of
9,000 tons , were the first victims. The
Borodino was under the command of
VICE ADMIRAL ROJESVEXSKY.
Captain Serebrynikoff , an officer who
commanded the armored cruiser Rurik ,
which was sunk by the squadron of
Admiral Kamimura last August in the
sea of Japan.
The Veliky is supposed to have had
aboard either Rear Admiral Foelker-
sham or Rear Admiral Nebogatoff , so
that this must have been a serious
blow to the second Russian division
and probably disorganized It
An official telegram from Tokio to
Washington states that Admiral Togo
reports to his government that the total
losses sustained by the Russian fleet
Saturday and Sunday wore : Two bat
tleships , one coast defense armor-clad ,
five cruisers , two special service ships
and three destroyers all sunk. In
addition , there were captured two bat
tleships , two coast defense armor-clads , ,
one apeclai service ship , one destroyer
and over 2,000 prisoners. Admiral
Togo adds that the Japanese
was undamaged.
YANKEE YACHT WINS.
Atlantic Distances All Rivals and Taka
Kaiser's $ r > , OOO Cup ,
The Atlantic is the victor in the greai
international yacht race across the At >
lantic ocean from Sandy Hook to tin
Lizard. Wilson Marshall's fleet three
masted auxiliary schooner won the Kais
er's cup in one of the most phenomena !
runs across the Atlantic that has evei
been made by a sailing vessel of that
type. The Atlantic covered 3,003 nau
tical miles in exactly 11 days , 16 hours
and 22 minutes. The yacht made ar
average of ten and a half knots an hour
greater speed than is made by the aver
age ocean steamship.
When the Atlantic crossed the line ,
winner of the ocean yacht race , the vic
tory was that of the best boat ianned
by the best seamen in the race. W
have had a true yacht race at last. This
was no match between "skimming
dishes" or racing machines designed foi
sprinting a few miles of a summer after
noon , but it was a contest of deep sea
cruisers over a long course in which the
contestantswere subjected to all th (
varying conditions of wind and wave. It
was a trial of skill in seamanship in
stead of a mere jockeying match. Th
triumph of the Atlantic is a sweeping
one.
one.The
The wind favored the Atlantic , but not
more than it favored the other schooner-
rigged vessels in the race. On this score ,
indeed , there was no advantage , since
the backers of the square-riggers wanted
following winds and they had them.
If the Atlantic distanced all competi
tors it was because she was better built
and better handled than any of them.
Her victory was due to no chance , as
the breaking of the transatlantic yacht
ing record shows. It was another case
of Eclipse first , the rest nowhere. Tho
victory is so complete as to leave no
room for quibbling or questioning.
It is not so many years since a steam
vessel which made the trip across the
Atlantic in from ten to twelve days was
considered speedy. Even now "nine-day
boats" are common in the transatlantic
service and voyages which consume a
considerably longer time are not rare.
The fact that a twelve-day record has
been made by a small sailing vessel of
20G tons with a water-line length of 135
feet is conclusive evidence of progress in
the boat builder's art and amply justi
fies the Atlantic's claim to high honors.
The Kaiser's $5,000 cnp will now come
to America , where it is to be hoped it
will keep company with tho America's
cup for an indefinite length of time. As
proof of American superiority in sea
manship it means much more than the
other trophy. The race in which it was
won is likely to give a stimulus to a
form of yachting which is real sport
and not merely a test of carefully design
ed racing machines competing under rules
which make victory or defeat dependent
upon hairsplitting distinctions about tech
nical niceties.
WHOLESALE PRICES GO UP.
Report of the Bnreau of Labor Shows
Advance Since 1897.
The publication of the report of the
bureau of labor shows in a general way
that the wholesale prices of all commod
ities were higher in _ 1904 than in any
year since 1S90 , except 1903 , when the
average of all commodities was slightly
higher than it was last year. Food pro
ducts generally were slightly higher in
price last year than in 1903 , but not as
high as in 1S90 and 1891 , the years im
mediately preceding the period of hard
times which began with the second Cleve
land administration.
Taking as a whole the tables prepared
by the bureau show in a striking way
that wholesale prices fell sharply after
1S92 and rose gradually after 1S97 , when
the Dingley tariff law was enacted , and j
advanced in percentages during the years
following 1S99.
The high water mark in wholesale !
prices for commodities as a whole was |
reached in 1903. The average was a
fraction smaller last year , when the av
erage price was 13 per cent higher than
the average from 1S90 to 1S99.
With the exception of 1902 the high
est wholesale price for farm products
was in 190-1 , when it was 20.2 per cent
above the average for the period from.
1890 to 1899. The wholesale price on
food products was higher last year than
in any year since 1891 , the average be
ing placed at 7.2 per cent higher than
the average of the period from 1890 to
1899.
Cloth and clothing were 9.S per cent
higher last year than for the nine-year
average already referred to , and higher
than in any year since 1891. Fuel and
lighting were lower in price last year by
nearly 17 per cent than the year of 1903 ,
but still much higher than in any other
year since 1890 with the single exception
of 1903.
Wholesale prices of drugs and chem
icals were lower than any year since
1S98 , but still were 10 per cent higher
than the nine-year average. There was
a slight fall in the wholesale price o
house furnishings last year , but the av
erage was 11.7 per cent above the aver
age for the period from 1890 to 1899.
A Minnesota Hero.
George Bohn , aged 14 , of St. Paul ,
Minn. , rowed a 17-mile race with death
on the Minnesota river recently to save
the life of a companion , Matthew C.
Taylor. Bohn and Taylor were on a
fishing trip. While erecting a tent Tay- j
lor cut himself with a hunting knife.
Alone with his companion , who was
bleeding to death from a severed artery
in the leg , Bohn bound a willow twig
about the limb , partly stopping the flow
of blood , placed his unconscious compan
ion in a boat , and rowed three hours on
a dark night down the river to Fort
Snelling. Arriving early in the morning ,
almost exhausted , young Bohn tied his
boat to the bank and staggered up the
bluff to the post hospital , where he se
cured two physicians to attend Taylor.
The latter was taken to the fort hos
pital , where the artery was tied up.
Yellow Fever Is Feared.
Yellow fever is the foe with which
the American authorities in the Panama
canal zone will have to contend , accord
ing to John Barrett , the American min
ister to Panama , who is now in this
country. The great problem to be solv
ed , says Mr. Barrett , is the sanitation
and preservation of health. . He consid
ers as alarming the report of five cases
of yellow fpver at Colon "alarming , "
he says , "because up to the time these
cases were reported no yellow fever had
appeared there and it was hoped that the
siMiatiou was in haac ? "
BODIES STREW SflOflE
NEARLY 7,000 RUSSIANS PER
ISHED IN SEA BATTLE
!
Rough Estimates of the Terrible L.OBSCB
Suffered by the Czar'a Fleet Battle
"Wan Supremely Terrible and the Bij
Victory Has Staggered Japan.
Hough estimates made of the Rus
sian losses in the battle fought In the
Sea of Japan , exclusive of nearly 4,000
j prisoners , vary from 7,000 to 9,000. It
is thought that the majority perished.
Calculating the complements of the
sunken and captured ships at upward
; of 10,000 , this would leave 7,000 men
, unaccounted for. It is possible that
j the ships which escaped rescued some
: of the members of the crews of the
I less fortunate ships. Many bodies
have been washed ashore on the isl
ands and on the shores of the neigh
boring coasts near the scene of the
battle.
Rear Admiral Voelkersam , who was
commander of the battleship squadron
! of the Russian fleet , was killed the
I first day of the battle in the conning
| tower of his flagship , the battleship
Osliabia , one of the vessels sunk by
the Japanese.
Rear Admiral Voelkesam was ap
pointed commander of the battleship
i squadron of the Russian fleet in July
I last and left Cronstadt Aug. 25 with
i the other vessels commanded by Ad
miral Rojestvensky. It was Voelker-
; sam's squadron , according to report ,
j which fired on the British trawlers in
the North Sea , mistaking them for
Japanese torpedo boats.
Admiral Togo's supplementary re
port makes the Russian defeat a stag-
j gering disaster , unequaled in naval his-
\ i tory. Practically every fighting ship
! ' of a once splendid feet was either sunk
BATTLE SUPREMELY TERRIBLE ,
London Correspondent' * * Graphic Ac
count of Sea Fight.
The Tokio correspondent of the Lon
don Daily Telegraph scuds nn interesting
description of the naval battle from n
correspondent with the Japanese fleet ,
who describes the scene as supremely
terrible , the guns of nearly Gfty warships
firing.
Togo's vessels , this correspondent anj-s ,
maneuvered with perfect precision. For
n time both belligerents gave shot for
shot , but with a hostile squadron on each
side and another ahead of him , Rojest
vensky was practically defeated within
a few hours and was caught in the trap
which had been waiting for him since he
SCENE OF SECOND BATTLE.
left Madagascar. He displayed hesita
tion in his tactics and this resulted in
the utter confusion of the Russian fleet.
An infernal concentration of fire reach
ed its zenith at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.
As the Russians advanced in the direc-
j tiuii of Vladivostok a Japanese squadron
[ wns lying between them and their desti
nation and the doomed Russians were
battered on all sides. Between 3 and 5
o'clock in the afternoon a cruiser of the
"I beg to report , Your Majesty , that the Baltic fleet has arrived at i
Vladivostok. " Chicago Tribune.
or captured , representing a loss of ton
nage exceeding 150.UOO tons. The re
maining units of the fleet , consisting
largely of auxiliaries and transports ,
have been dispersed , some going to
Vladivostok , others to the China coast.
Admiral Rojestvensky , wounded , occu
pies a cot in a Japanese hospital , a
prisoner of war. The serious wound
of Admiral Rojestvensky , who was
taken to Sasebo on a Japanese battle
ship , is a bruise on the forehead and a
slight fracture of th < skull. The na
ture of his internal injuries is not
known.
Tokio was astounded and elated at
the extent of Togo's triumph. Before
the combat a partial victory with oper-
'
I
!
VOLKERSAM. IIOJESTVE SKY.
I [
tions around Vladivostok during the j I
summer was generally expected. No j j
one in Japan dreamed of the enemy's j
annihilation at the first meeting. Later
reports indicate that the fighting was
of the most desperate nature. On Sat-
, unlny and Sunday there were persis
tent torpedo attacks following heavy
gun fighting.
Admiral Rojostvonsky appears to
have been hopelessly outclassed in gun
nery. It is reported that it was neces
sary for Admiral Rojestvensky to
change hi f flneslup five timos during
the battle. He finally took refuge on
the torpedo-boat destroyer , where he
was captured.
The Federal Cartridge Company was
incorporated at Trenton. N. J. . with an
authorized capital of $2.000,000. The
Hydrothern Electrical Company was
also incorporated there with a capital of
$1.000.000 ,
| Admiral Nakhimoff class and the repair
ship Kamchatka foundered after their
upper works had been shattered.
Russians broke in utter disorder , lost
their formation and went zigzag. Th <
Japanese closed in and pressed them to
ward the Nagoto coast.
The fight lasted until 7 o'clock in th <
evening. The correspondent continues :
"Togo risked nothing and lost nothing.
Darkness brought a glorious night with
smooth and transparent seas. The Rus
sians were edging northward with tho
powerful Japanese fleet in a horizontal
line across their bows , forming an effec
tive barrier. Then , under searchlights
and cover of the big guns of the war-
i ships , the Japanese torpedo flotilla began
i like locusts to sting and sink the enemy ,
i the Russians continuing to return tho
gunfire. At 2 o'clock in the morning
the fighting was fierce and intense and
no rest was allowed the Russians.
"With dawn of Sunday the Japanese
fleet came into still closer range. All
day long the battle continued and by.
evening was raging off northern Nagoto.
The Russians were powerless to offer any
effective resistance. "
The Veto Power in Ohio.
For more than 100 years the Governor
of Ohio had no veto power , the present
Governor , Myron T. Herrick , being the
first invested with the power in that
long ppriod. The story about the way
in which the veto power wa.s taken away
is an interesting one. Before Ohio be
came a State the Governor's salary was
paid in foes. The returns were not suffi
cient to satisfy Gov. Sinclair , and he
risked the Territorial Legislature to put
him on salary. Accordingly two bills
\\-re drawn tip. One of them provided
a handsome salary for the Governor , the
other abolished the fee system. The
Governor passed thsalary bill , but ve-
toed the one abolishing fees. It could
| not bo passed ovt'his veto , and he con
tinued to draw both salary and fees. The
nfxt Legislature gut even with a ven
geance by taking the veto power away
Iroin the Governor entirely. Since then
no Governor of the State , not even Mc-
Kinley. has had any real power in
own hands.
Up a Vilhiire 3,400 Years Old.
After being buried for 3.400 years a
villa-re has again boon brought to light
by excavators near Breslau. Prussia , ac
cording to a recent telegram. The work
men unearthed 400 graves and ] ; ,0 cave
dwellings of the bronze age. Part of
thorn are of the early bronze period.
1.500 R. C. Another part of the grave
fields is of the later bronze age. The
excavation includes a village of a dozen
huts containing a collection of spinning
and weaving instruments.
Patronize those who advertise.
