Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 September 1905 — TOGO’S SHIP SINKS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TOGO’S SHIP SINKS.

MIKASA IS LOST WITH NEARLY 300 MEN. i 2 Teasel Which Lett Fleet to Victory Over Rojestvensky Destroyed by Fire While with Fleet—Members of Other Crews Perish in Attempting Rescue. Admiral Togo's flagship, the Mikasa, wfiich was destroyed by fire and the explosion of her magazine at an early hour Monday morning, was lying at anchor in the harbor of Sasebo at the time of the disaster. Hundreds of lives, including about 300 members of her crew and men from other ships who went to the rescue’ were lost. It la hoped the vessel can be repaired. The little toivn, which has risen to prominence since the outbreak of the recent Avar, had passed a quiet Sunday. In the harbor Avere several warships that had taken part in the annihilation of the formidable navy of Russia. The quiet of the night was violently disturbed a little after midnight by a terrific explosion, accompanied by a severe shock. A crowd assembled on the coast, only to discover that a terrible disaster had overtaken the beloved Mikasa, the flagship of Admiral Togo, who led his men to victory in.the life-and-death ■truggle in Avhicb the nation had just been engaged. The absence of the admiral from the ship at the time of the explosion and the hope that the vessel can be repaired are the only redeeming features of the calamity. There is a deep feeling of sympathy throughout the nation for the Victims of the disaster. The Are started from an unknoAvn cause at midnight on Sunday. Before the officers could be rescued the fire reached the aft magazine, which exploded, blowing a hole in the port side causing the ship to sink. Naval men are at a loss to understand how the flames could reach the magazine so soon, despite the steel bulkheads and compartments and the efforts of the crew to quench the blaze. The Mikasa was a first-class battleship of 15,200 tons displacement. She

was built in England and was launched in 1902. The battleship was 400 feet long, had a speed of OA-er eighteen knots and carried a crew of 935 officers and men. She was heavily armored and carried four twelve-inch guns, fourteen six-inch guns, twenty twelve-pounders, and a number of smaller rapid-fire guns. She had four submerged torpedo tubes. The Mikasa won a lasting name in annals of naval warfare on May 27. At noon on that day Admiral Rojestvensky, with a fleet of thirty-six ships, including eight battleships, three coast defense ships, three armored cruisers, five protected cruisers, four hospital and repair ships, and thirteen destroyers, was met by Admiral Togo in the Mikasa. The clash came when the Russians were passing Asushima island, at the narrowest part of the straits, midAvay between Japan and Korea. There Togo gavebattle. The Russian fleet was formed in two fines, the cruisers and small ships on the west, the battleships on the ejst. Togo’s fleet swung around from habiud the island of Tsushima and attacked the Russians from the west. The Russian formation was fatal. BetAveen Rojestvensky’s light battleships and Togo were all of his smaller ships, and his heavy gun fire was blanketed at the beginning of the battle. As the afternoon wore along Togo crowded the Russian fleet nearer and nearer the Japanese coast. The battleships Borodino and Kniaz Souvaroff were sunk early in tha fight. After sunset the Japanese torpedo boats attacked. The Russian fleet was practically wiped out before Sunday morning. One battleship and three cruisers surrendered on Sunday. Togo sunk or captured twenty-five Russian warships. Only tha little cruiser Almaz and a few destroyers escaped to Vladivostok. Vice Admiral Rojestvensky, seriously wounded, was taken prisoner, ns was Rear Admiral Nebogatoff. Rear Admiral Voelkersam and Rear Admiral Enquits were killed. More than 5,000 Russian sailors were killed or drowned, and more than 8,000 were taken prisoners. Togo’s battleships and cruisers escaped practically unscathed, and he lost only three destroyers in the battle. About 200 of his men were killed and wounded. The Mikasa bore scarcely a shell mark.

The Chicago and Alton has purchased 300 stock cars, forty feet in length, from an eastern firm and is now disposing of all small sized cars. With the larger cars it is believed that the tonnage limit can be reduced and the requisite speed maintained to keep within tha twenty•ight hour shipment law. Directors of the Western Pacific railroad have awarded contracts for tha building of practically tha entire line froip Oakland, Cal., to Balt Lake City,

THE MIKASA, TOGO’S FAMOUS FLAGSHIP.