RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXX, Issue 98, 20 December 1904, Page 3

RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR

The Japanese Consul has received a cable stating that the bombardment of Port Arthur on the 13th was principally aimed at the arsenal and torpedo depot on the Tiger's Tail, as well as at the ships' boats iv the vicinity. The torpedo depot wan ablaze for an hour. Three ships were destroyed, one being, sunk. The buildings were greatly damaged by indirect fire. The bombardment of the battleship Sevastopol, which has been staying out, side the harbor, has been suspended owing to bad weather preventing obser--1 rations. Admiral Togo reports : "The ! torpedo boat flotillas attacked the Sevas r topol twice on the night of the 12th, and thrice the next night. The result jof the attack is uncertain. Each time they attacked they met the enemy's fierce fire. One torpedo boat was disabled and towed back, while three others received one shot each. Our total caßU\?sre only three men wounded." /The Sevastopol is lying under the Mon-tao-shan forts. Several torpedoes have been exploded near her. Thelfavoc played by the hand grenades w^s a hundredfold worse than that caused by dum-dum bullets. The corpses at Metre Hill were denuded of all clothing, and so scorched as to be unrecognisable. Many bodies were cut in two at the waist. The dead lay in heaps four feet high. Many Japanese naval officers have gone south to arrange to watch the Baltic fleet. The Mikasa, the Nishin, and the Kasuga coaled at South Shantung. Admiral Rozhdesventsky is at Angra Pequina (West Africa), coaling from colliers. Japan is forming a base and fortifying the Pescadores (a small group of islands in the China Sea between Formosa and the mainland), thus forestalling the Russian intention to occupy them. The Teinpß's St. Petersburg correspondent says that it is stated in official circles that the news from the Far East is unsatisfactory. It is understood that General Kuropatkjn has telegraphed that unless the number of daily trains on the Trans-Siberian Railway is con- | siderably increased it is impossible to adequately provision the array, and he can no longer be responsible for the array. It is impossible to comply with the request, but his enemies, who are more numerous, and claim to be better informed since Yieeroy Alexieff's return, assert that General Kuropatkin's sole object is' to divest himself of responsibility, desiring to throw the blame of any coming event on the Minister of I War and the Imperial Administration. General IStoessel states that the water-tight compartments were opened months ago, and the warships halt submerged. They sustained the Japanese plugging fire without injury to the engines, though the upper works were destroyed. The guns are ashore. The list seen on the vessels is the result of the ships being sunk in shallow water, and swaying according to the current. If Port Arthur is captured the vessels can easily be destroyed. The Japanese are advancing against the Tai-yang-kau and Itsze-shan forts along Pigeon Bay, sapping through the frozen ground. The naval . guns on Metre Hill cover the infantry's advance. Three cargoes of American provisions and ammunition, one including 1000 tons of flour, reached Port Arthur during December. French despatches from Mukcjen state that the Russian cavalry repulsed a Japanese turning movement on the left bank of the Koen-hout Field-marshal Oyama concentrated 15,000 men and 16 guns at Tsian-chau and Sei-yam-a-tse, threatening General Rennenkampr. The Japanese appear to have renioVed the bulk of their (forces from Yen- tai.