Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 September 1905 — TOGO'S FLAGSHIP IS SUNK BY FATE [ARTICLE]

TOGO'S FLAGSHIP IS SUNK BY FATE

Vessel That Led in the Defeat of Rojestvensky Is at ths Bottom of the Sea. FIRE BREAKS OUT AT MIDNIGHT Explosion Follows and 256 Men'Are Bent to Eternity; 343 Others Are Wounded. Wuth« Pride of the Jap Nary and a Great Fighting Ship—Finns Arm* Ing-BuMla Captures 5,000 Rifles. Victoria, B. C., Sopt. 14.—Advices from Toklo state that incendiary postcards are being received at the Toklo foreign office threatening that Baron Komura will be assassinated on hia return from the United States. Oodzyndani, Manchuria. Sept. 12. It is announced that Generals Ovanovski and Fukushima, representing respectively General Linevitch and Field Marshal Oyama, will meet Sept. 13 to establish a lino of demarcation between the two armies. Each general will have a small escort. London, Sept. 13.—The Tokio correspondent of The Times says that the casualties resulting from the loss of the battleship Mikasa are five killed, 251 missing and 343 wounded. [The missing are probably drowned, so that the deaths reach 256.1 Tokio, Sept. 13.—The disaster to the battleship Mikasa lias cast a gloom everywhere. The Mikasa was Togo’s flagship, and was endeared to the hearts of the people. The ship was at anchor in Sasebo harbor when fire started at the base of the mainmast, at midnight. It spread with great rapidity, exploding the after magazine an hour after the fire had been discovered. The Miknsa sank in shallow water, and it is believed can be repaired. Rescuing parties were sent from tlie various warships in the harbor and there were heavy casualties among them. Results in a IjOss of 550 Men. Various conjectures are current as to the cause of the Are. Some attribute it to an overcharge of electricity. Great relief was felt throughout Japan when it was learned that ! Admiral Togo was not on hoard the ship at tlie time of the fire. The Mi- , knsa was th*> flagship of Vice Admir- i al Togo during the battle of tlie Sea ! of Japan. The loss of life by tlie sinking of tlie Mikasa totals 599 otti- ; ears and men, including detachments from other warships which went to the rescue of tlie vessel, and were caught by tlie explosion. Blew a Hole In Her Side. The explosion blew a hele in the port side of the vessel lielow tlie water line. Tlie Mikasa was a first-class battleship of 15,200 tons displacement. It was built in England and was launched in 1902. The battleship was 400 feet long, had a speed of over 18 knots and carried a crew of 935 officers and men. It was heavily armored slid carried four 12-inch guns, fourteen 6-inch guns, twenty 12-pounders and a number of smaller rapid-fire J guns. It had four submerged torpedo tubes. Mystery of the Mikasa. London, Sept, 14.—A feeling is growing among tlie members of tlie Japanese colony and tlie diplomatic corps here that the battleship Mikasa. which carried members of her brave crew to tlie bottom, was destroyed by a fanatical sailor. He must have had help, too. There is very little wood about a battleship; tlie facilities for flooding tlie magazines are perfect, and how the fire could have got such a headway In spite of tlie efforts of a thoroughly dlsepllned crew is a mystery. BLOODY RIOT AT YOKOHAMA Mob Numbers 5,500 and Seems to Have Been Organized. Tokio. Sept. 14.—Advices from Yokohama say that a riot occurred there shortly after 12 o’clock Tuesday night. Tlie mob was divided Into two bodies numbering about 5.500, mostly coolies, boatmen and outcasts. Eight police boxes were demolished and burned. The mob directed its attack against three objects: The police stations, the residences of the custom officials and the large commercial houses. Four hundred troops were sent from Tokio on a special train a little before dawn, and soldiers are now guarding the consulates, the warehouses containing explosives and the oil tanks. The governor of the prefecture and the mayor of Yokohama have issued proclamations instructing the people to place confidence in the nbllity of tlie authorities to restore order. Six hundred Russinn prisoners of war from Karafuto who were staying at the different hotels have been placed under a special guard. During the riot tbe police used drawn swords, while the niob was armed with pistols and awordstlcka. Tbe casualties among

the police were three severely wounded and thlrty-aeven slightly injured. The mob set fire to the police boxes by soaking hats In oil, firing them and throwing them at the object of attack. Quiet haa apparently been restored. Troops are now guarding the foreign consulates, churchesi convents and hotels, and cavalry Is patrolling the streets. One hundred and nineteen arrests have been made. It la understood that tbe riot was incited by agitators from Tokio. Inflammatory placards were posted In the slums Tuesday and were torn down by police. The mob used many short iron bars, and had kerosene ready, showing that there was some organization. It had threatened to burn all the police boxes, which threat was forestalled by the precautions of the troops. No antiforeign sentiment exists, and there is a growing feeling in. business circles that the rioting is senseless and mischievous and must be strongly suppressed. HOLY WAR AND BLOODSHED “ • That Is the Substance of the Dispatches from Caucasia. St. Petersburg, Sept. 13.— A holy war has been proclaimed by the Mohammedans in the Caucasian districts of Zangezur and Jebrail, where Tartars are massacring the Armenians without distinction of sex or age. The country is swarming with bands of Tartars. At the village of Minkend 3,000 Armenians were slaughtered. Dispatches say that mutilated children were thrown to the dogs and the few survivors were forced to embrace Islamism In order to save their lives. A dispatch from Tiflis says: “Many Social Democrats were killed or wounded in a conflict with Cossacks at the town hall and many were trampled to death in a subsequent panic. Two thousand Social Democrats had forced an entrance into the town hall which was closed owing to the celebration of a religious holiday, the beheading of John the Baptist. Revolutionary speeches were made and the chief of police ordered the meeting to disperse. “According to the official account the crowd rather roughly handled the commissary of police, whereupon the third company of the Poltava regiment was summoned. The commander of the company ordered the demonstrators to disperse, promising not to arrest them if they obeyed. Shots were then fired on the Cossacks not only from the town hall, but from the court yard and the street. A force of rioters assembled in a neighboring house broke through a wall leading to the hall, which was closed owing to the the Cossacks and police, wounding a Cossack and a policeman. Th.> Cossacks thereupon fired oh the rioters. Official figures give tlie casualties as twenty-three killed and fifty wounded.” FINLAND LOOKS LIKE CI VIL WAR Russian Authorities Seize 5,000 Rifles in Possession ol" the People. Helsingfors, Finland, Sept. 13. The customs authorities have seized 5,000 rifles in the possession of people in tlie neighborhood of Jakobstad, on the Gulf of Bothnia, which were believed to be from the unnamed steamer sunk by her crew Sunday, as stated in these dispatches yesterday. The steamer was discovered liy tlie customs officers twenty miles outside Jakobstad, and on the captain declaring that she was loaded with rifles and ammunition was ordered into port to be discharged, when suddenly several explosions were heard, the steamer grounded in shoal water, and the crew escajted in life boats. What has become of the crew is not definitely known, lint Finnish revenue cutters have been ordereu to watch the coast line of tlie Gulf of Bothnia for them. Further details of Sunday's affair show that when tlie customs officers boarded the steamer they were received by twenty of tlie crew armed with revolvers. The chief customs officer was permitted to visit tlie cabin, where after negotiations lasting an hour lie was told that lie and his fellow officers had the alternative of leaving the ship or being blown up with her. Komura Has Typhoid Fever. New York, Sept. 14.—Three physicians who are attending Baron Komura, the chief of (lie Japanese peace envoys, decided that the baron lias typhoid fever.. His intended return to Japan, via Seattle, tomorrow, has been postponed, and nurses were hastily summoned to his apartments in the Wnldorf-Astorin hotel. The baron’s temperature was 102 degrees and he was said to ho very 111, though only in tlie first stages of tlie fever. The decision ns to ills illness was readied after a consultatlo nos Doctors Francis P. Pelntteld, George Brewer and W. B. Pritchard. Griscom Cables from Tokio. Oyster Bay, N. Y., Sept. 12.—A definite resume of tlie conditions in Tokio is given in a cablegram from Minister Griscom to the secretary of stute. later transmitted to President Roosevelt. Minister Griscom indicates that there Is no general anti-forelgn or anti-Chris-tian sentiment In Tokio, but points out that the recent rioting was due to sporadic antagonism to the Russian church and to some native Christians. Casualties of Last Week's Disorder. Tokio. Sept. 14.—According to the raetroiiolitun police estimate of casualties during the recent rioting 388 constables, sixteen firemen and two sollders were wounded. Among the mob and by-stnnders nine were killed and 487 were wounded. Mikado Tells Cabinet to Stay. Tokio, Sept. 12.—The cabinet ministers went before'the emperor and asked if they should remain in office or resign. The emperor advised them to retain their posts.