WAR IN THE FAR EAST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 31, 11 February 1904, Page 3

WAR IN THE FAR EAST.

THE FIRST SHOT. JAPANESE FLEET BOMBARDING PORT ARTHUR. SEVEN RUSSIAN WARSHIPS DISABLED. (United Press Association—H.v Electric Telegraph—Copyright.>

THE MARCH OF EVENTS. ATTITUDE OF THE VAIfIDUS POWERS. JAPAN GETS FIRST BLOW IN. LONDON, Feb. 9. It is reported that the Russian occupation of lvalgan caused a panic in and the Court is"]»ivparing for Might, with the Imperial Treasury. The Ambassadors and high Chinese officials are trying to calm the Dowager-Empress. A telegram from Brussels asserts that Russia is in negotiation with French, Belgian and Dutch bankers to 'ljorrow forty lmllicn sterling. Admiral AlexielT reports that the battleships Cesarevitch (til,ooo tons displacement) and the lletvizan tons displacement), and the first - class armoured cruiser Palla.de, wihieh were lying in the outer roadsteaid at Port Arthur last night were' injured i-jy torpedoes and minps. Several largo Japanese steamers,are between London ami the Far East. It is stated on the Continent that there is a prospect cf a British, French and German collective Note to keep aloof from the conflict, and it is hoinxl America will join in.

RUSSIA'S NAVAL FORCE IN' THE EAST. JAPAN'S DEMANDS INADMISSIBLE. (Ileceived Feb. 10, 11.0 p.m.) LONDON. Fel.j. JOf Kussia -i.-as 94 warships ill tho Tar East, including 8 11 a til ish i ]is, 11 first-class cruisers, and 50 destroyers and torpedo boats. A Ritssiaiii official comniun Jyue slates Iliac the Government offered to recognise Japan's privileges and commercial position 1 in Korea, with a right to employ force in the event of disturbances, conditionally on Korea's independence and integrity being respected. No port was to be used for strategic purposes, and freedom of navigation in the. Straits i of Korea was to ; bo preserved Japan 'declining the conditions relating to the guaranteeing of Korea's independence, and made an inadmissi'ble deimmd in lvgatd to Manchuria, thougj.i Russia had not refused to recognise China's sovereignty a nil 'the treaty privileges of other Powers while the occupation of Slunchui ia latsk-d. A MERCHANTMAN'S DANGEROUS ANCHORAGE. THE DEADLY TORPEDO. EFFECTIVE 1 ,OX(l-l>ISTANCE MARKSMANSHIP. (Received Feb. 11, 1.5 a.m.) LONDON, Feb. 10. The steamer Colombia has reaelu;l Cbefoo. The cnptu.m reports that while lying in tlve roadstead at Port Arthur on Monday the vessel was surrounded by t'O'Ui'Uvi! warship.;. Shortly before liiitlniglvt a severe shock was felt, apparently tlve result of a torpedo explosion. The Russians immediately used'the yearch-ligfit, and opened (ire seu\v:ui'.ls for a short time. At one o'clock more shocks occurred, aijd the firing recommenced, but tlve Japanese fleet did not return it. At two o'clock two Russian battleships, anid a little later on a cruiser, were beached across tlve entrance of the harbour. None ap'iwam:! to be damaged above tin- water-line. There were more shocks in the early morning. and then all was quiet.

France has assumed at Tokio the protection of Russians in Japan. Eleven Russian vessels coaled at Jibutil, and resumed their voyage to the Far East, it is believed to coal Russian waifthips at s.a. The Berlin newspaper Lokal Anzeiger dtclaies that up to the moment of the rupture the pen pie of Germany wore inspired with aiivope of peace, partly because Government circles desired suc'.v optimism, i English newspapers declare that the | German press was deliberately inspired in consonance with ltussia's wishes.

Colonel Hay, United States Secretary for State, has asktxi the Mowers to jin-jLe i«n warning (the combatants that China's neutrality! and integrity must be recognised'dining hostilities artd afterwards. St. Petersburg telegrams state that the Japanese fleet attacking! Port Arthur included seventeen armoured vessels. \ FEELING IN ST. PETERSBURG. AN ENTHUSIASTIC POPULACE. ST, PETEHSBUIIG, Feb. 9. The Czar received an enthusiastic ovation at Hie opera. The orchestral was U/.ice called upon to play the National Anthem. 'J he St. Petersburg municipalities presents a loyal atlidress to his Majesty. Immense crowds are cheering before t| X' Winter Palace. wl,.Te the Czar and C/.iU'ina and all the high j digjiitki'ies iaiv aittic-ivdiny a service to pray lor the success of Russian 1 1 arms. Personages present state that the Japanese attacked Port Arthur, and that lighting is proceeding. The Court tell at the >l'tilace tonight has been abandoned. Russia is withdrawing troops from her western frontiers, which iiwfeiatn-s confidence in- her nc:)Jhbours" neutrality. THE FIRST SHOT. (Extraordinary Press Association.) (Received Feb. 10, 1.44 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 11. The Japanese have attacked Port 1 Arthur. I Fi&fitir.y W npw pi'octi i Thy Russian cruiser Pallada was sunk, and two battleships seriously injured. (Tile Pallada was an armoured cruiser </; Mo3o tons displacement, armed wilili six 6-in guns. Her speed was 20 knots an hour.) I BOMBARDMENT OF PORT ARTHUR. A MIDNIGHT ATTACK. (Received Feb. 10, 9.45 p.m.) ' LONDON, Feb. 10. Details of the naval action fouij'iit at Jjjrt Arthur pa Alouilny show that tlx" .1 thvt, with all limits out, uppri,ae.hi',l Corf Arthur lit-twtin 11 p.m. and iiiidnig'l.t. , A Russian despatch boat perceived the approach of the IKvt. which was cO!mnandi.<d by Togo, ami signalled the fact to the ve-ssels within the harbour. I The Japanese cruisers CM lose (■l7(jo tons, 2:2 knots, 2 .Sin and 10 4.Tin guns), Kasaigi (541 (> tons, 22J knots, same armament), Takawago (4160 tons, 23 knots, same armament), and tlie battleship Vashima (12,320 tons, 18$ knots, 4 12in and 10 Oi'ii gun.;) were navigated on a circular course outside the harbour, thus drawing tlw Russian fire. Tiiey then joined the main ileut, all concentrating their forces in the attackon the Russian armoured cruisers. The attacking fleet consisted of two divisions. In the first were included the flagship Mik-a.su, 15,0110 tons, 18.(5 knots, 4 12in ami 14 (iin gwns ; the battleships Fuji, 12,:(20 tons, 18.5 knots, 4 12 in and 10 Gin guns ; A.-.ahi, »hikishima, Hatsuse, and Tabuma, of similar size and power, and the Yashiimi. The se- i cond division consisted of the ar- ' moured cruisers klsumo (which is j Admiral Kamimura's flagship), Yukumo, Asauia, and Iwate, alj ol' upwards of 1)500 tons, anid l(i to 18 guns. FOUR RUSSIAN WARSHIPS DISABLED. (Received Feb. 10, 10.MO p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 10. A Renter message states that Prince AlexiolT telegraphs that a Japanese fleet bombarded Port Arthur on the !)th (Tuesday;, and that the Russian battleship Poltava (10, ( J(i0 tons, l(i gens), with the cruisers Diana and Askold (0000 tons and 6 awd 12 (iin guns reflectively), and Novtk (Ji2oo tons and 0 4.7 guns) were all damaged Ivlow the waterline. THE PORT ARTHUR ENGAGEMENT. FURTHER PARTI CULAP.fi. (Received Feb. 10, 10.18 s.m.) SYDNEY, Fei). JO. Ike Admiral has received the following cai lie from Hongkong :--"An English steamer which arrived from of tlie BLli and iJtlj instant tlie Japanese attacked the 'Russian battleships in Port Arthur. The.v toi-|K-do(d two battleships anil one eruiset' which were run jimioiv. An took place on b> oi' tihe ninth, /our I:ns.<:ian ships l.efng None of the .Japaue-.'* wi'cc tM.iujvd. "The company of the s( •am.'i' which l:rougi'.-t tin; mnvs w i Offset J the meui." An hour's engagement also took plac,- hclwivn a .Japanese escorting ttll'/adrort and tho Russian cruiser Yarvaz (filOO tons, 12 r>jn guns) and Uhe gunvessel Corer*;/. outside of t e harbour -at Chemulpho on tlie afternoon of the 9th. The s ips ntfiued sheltered in the port, and the former was placed hors do combat and thp latter sank*

Later on the 'batteries in the forts fired on the Japanese fleet at a distance of three miles. The Japanese returned the lire, and some shells hit the Itussian- ships and forts, which were slightly damaged. The Russian fire fell short.

Later ort the Russian cruisers put to sea, and the .Japanese then disappeared, apparently unhurt, in the tliiection of bnlny. The Colombia's ofiieers state that the attacking forco mnnbert'd t7 ships, though only lfi were ai'terj wards :e..n ofl' Pwhon. consisting ol six battleships, four first-class cruisers, and six others. KUHSIANS SEIZE A ( AISLE. MARTI A L LAW. JAPANESE TROOPS LANDING JN KOREA. (Received Feb. 11, 1.18 a.m.) LONDON, Feb. 10. Kusi.via has takvn over the Vladi-vostok-Nagasaki Ci'/ies, compelling Japanese messages to travel via S'hangVuvi aud India or Htmgkon-g, MajvXa, and San Francisco. Tlw coast district of Kwantung, and Vladivostok and Port Arthur, have been placed inxJer martial law. An otlicial telegrajn from Tokio | states that four battulions of Japanese infantry have been landed near , Seoul. A Oh'ffoo telegram adds tljiit >.the JapaiK'f-;? interccpU'.l the iiussian cruiser Varvag an;;! the torjicdo gunboat Coreetz at C/ietnujiiio. RUSSIAN PATRIOTIC FEELING. FORMAL DECLARATION OF WAR. 1 ST. PETFiRSmiRG, F«-b. 10. The Moscow City Coirncil lias vot- ! ed a million roubles (.Cir>o,ooo> for the establishment of a hospital. | There are anient, p-atriotic demonstrations in hoi li Moscow and St. Petvir.'l.'urg. An Imperial manifesto formally declares war to-day. ETERNAL .VIGILANCE THE price t " Safety. its absence fatal at port ak'hu-r. (Received 1-Vb. 11, 1.2: i a.m.) NEW YUUK, Feb. 10. Tlu.' New York Herald's correspondent telegrams that tlie Russians were not expecting an attack for several days, and were keeping a poor look-out. They only occasionally used the searchlights. Three torpedo boats were patrolling the outskirts of the floet., which uas lying in the open roadstead. All the other torpedo vessels were inside the basin. At l.alf an hour after midnig'ht three mullled explosions were heard alannii.g tl.e fleet, and causing a brilliant display of the searchlights. A hot hut brief lire tIK-n connmnevd. A little later the Hetvisan aul Cesarevitih, two of the most powerful i battleships, and the first-class erui- ! ser Pallada, which were inleiwhd to t destroy Japanese commerce, tried to j enter the harbour. The ; was torpedoed forward, amd the Cesj arevitch aft. j ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 10. A-dmira-I J'riixe Alexit.-IT has teiegi aphi. vl that three ol the Russian warships bail holes knocked in them, but the degree of seriousness had not been ascertained. WARSHIPS LYING IN A HARUOK ENTRANCE. RUSSIANS' CKIUOUS INDISPOSITION. POJiT AJiTHFR'S EFFECTME fli-:et. (Received Feb. 1.1, t f HB a.m.) ... NEW YORK, Feb. 10. The Herald's correspondent states that both the Russian battleships grounded across the entrance of the harbour, in a helpless condition. They wvre verv close together, but not blocking the eutr f iinc/.' except to ships of heavy draught. 'I he crtuiser took a list to port, and was torpedoed while agroimid oirtside the entrance to the harbour. At daybreak three Japanese cruiseis came boldly within long distance range, taking observations for two | A strange apathy possessed the Russians, anil no vessel chased the Japanese or even fired a shot until the cruise;s prepand to leave, when the fleet vainly pursue/I (hem, soon returning to the roruislciu?. There are now at Port Arthur live | olTectiw battleships, five effective .cruisers, and .seven(<-.-n torpedo boat destroyers. AH Afaput Korea. JAPANESE AM) Hi'SSi \N TKIiKSTS. Stritlly spoahinp; (says a writer in Harper's Weekly ) Korea is a Chinese colony, planted anions aborigines, lint the planting of the colony is so remote that it goes bacK beforo the fguiadatioa ot Home

oven before tlio traditional date of Iho Trojan war. Nevertheless, the Chinese colouring remains clear and detinitu to-day, though it is true .that the picture has once or twice been renovated by later Chinese conquests. Korea inherit* d from China an alphabet. or. tfAther, the ideo'sysiuMii stiiJl in use ; the religion ( f ancestor-worship, and -the arts and sciences, as known to the ancient. Chinese. Ancestor-worship, whic/i ti.xes the memory in the past, is the most conservative of all lorcos, and inevitably tends to crystallisation, to moral shrinkage, to narrowness, bigotry, mid' obscurant ism. All these causes worked in Korea. Then Korea is in a sense more Chinese than China, because lite Manchu confines!, wliiefi stirred China up so foivi.tdy, i?i the) se)vunieqntili| century, an t gave it its present dynasty and ruling race, never touched Korea. The Manchus made Ihe Chinese alter their dress and wear pigtails, in the Tartar fashion, The Koreans preserve the old Chinese fashions nn- j c^nged. TIIIO MUSEUM OK (TUNA. Thus the Hermit Kingdom is. in a way, the museum of China. It is al- : so the refuge of all Chinese abuses. Tut years a^, r o its government, an absolute monarch? supported by a piivih-gcd ai'bjlocraicy, was the backward, dlrfdinate, and obscurantjst in the world. '1 ho "1 >wer orers" were much as I'ho Turks treat the tfuco.lor.-ians. The one I'uiijc.fiion -of war, extortion, through the farming out of taxaUe area*, with the descending cascade of bvibery which that implies, and Hie endless misery thereirom inevita'idy (lowing. Tlve "religion" of Korea was something like what we are growing familiar within tiiis countryr-a methodic; d spiritualism lined by fees. The magkiaiiis, astrologers, necromancers. palmists, miud-cuivrs, <lid a business almost as good as that testilied to by our Sunday papers, and superstition was rampant. Korea was in eiery way benighted, miserable, weak and corrupt. In ISO 7 Japan overthrow the Shogunate, liberated the Mikado from ages of practical bonda'gv, ended the feudal system, and set her feet firmly on the path-of constitutionalism "and progress. The process of law was made uniform, taxation was based on representation, and the "career open to talent" was preached with conviction and zeal. This was the birth of "the new Japan."' And, just the fathers of this country, Jij'td with t/.ioir ivmv evangels, looked with pits on the degenerate Old World, and hoped Lo see die benighted monarchies of Europe enter into the path of democracy, so, no sooner was nor ow.n house set in order than Jap'an to consider the pitiable plight of !uir neighbour on the Asian mainland. Something must be done, it was felt., to spread li&'ht in darkest Korea. JAPAN'S FIRST ADVANCE. Japan began to strengthen her position in Korea, just as the Towers have recently done in I'okitv-'by adding to her embassy guards. She gradually gathered the nucleus of a small army at Seoul, and at the same time her miniister to the Korean Court encouragul the Radical, or pro-Japanese party, which oppos!ed the court ami all tlv abuses of the court. As a result of some of these abuses insurrections broke out in Southern Korea nine years ago. The Kopuiti soldiers sent to quell I them reused no orders, i.'s they strongly sympathised with the I insurgents. Then Korea appealed lor assAsU-.lntce to China, on tiio ground of a shadowy suzerainty. Japan at once rosoirUd this, as a vicLoi'v I'orHhe pr.o-Chim ixs or uktronie Tory, pa'rt.v. i.ir.il, as the Chinese troops were suit in spite iff the protest, .Japan replied '.«/ bringing a cons<den I'die nuuiLvr of troops to ClK'mulpho. the (tort of Seoul. The Japanese wore soon in practical occupation of the capital, and held the Ivoivan King: m a sort of bondage, constantly bringing: pressure on him to n;ji constitutional reionm; and various measures of modernity. The Chinese resisted, and the quarrel, soon leading to war between China and Japan, thus came to a head. The Japanese were completely victorious, t'jou'gh the ("niiiese fought courageously and with much persistence in adversity, and the Japanese armies were presently in occupation of Korea, Southern Manchuria, and Wei-haj-wei, on the Shantung Peninsula, directly sout t 'i of Port Arthur. Japan proposed terms of peace which would have given her the whole of Manchuria, three hundred and six'tv thous-aiKd mile« in area, the it land of Formosa with the Pescadores group, and a large money indemnity. China was for compromising by the cession of Southorn Manchuria and Formosa, and the payment of a smaller indemnity, when the Powers intervened. Kussia, Oerniany and France acted toLfliher, while Rngil),ind advised Japan to accept ihe decision of the Powers. This was that Japan should receive a casih payment in lieu of Manchuria ; that she should have Formosa, and that the independence and full sovereignty of Korea iMouhl be J».\* all parties. JAPAN LOSING (i ROUND. After the treaty of Shimanoseki, Llie Japanese, although exerting l themselves as strenuously as before, l/'tfan to lose guound at Seoul. The the strongest antagonist of the Japanese, -was murdered, and the K*<g lied for safety to ii .e Russian Embassy, where he remained for over a year. The forces of conservatism began gradually to get the upper hand, and i-t was soon evident tlmt Korea was not to become a modern country within a few months by the fiat of Japan. Nevertheless, the Japamse hold a position of in. Korua. iiioy have nourishing settlements ,at Seoul, Chemulpho ai.d Fusan, and thence a cable to Nagasaki. They have concessions to mine gold, anthracite, coal, iron, and ot'.ier minerals. 'I hey have whaling rig'hts in three pH>viiHV,s. All tile JisYiorie- 6 ! aie in their hands, 'l/ney conduct & postal (lepartmenl, carry on twoiu.y schools, and support twenty missionaries of the P.uddhist* faith, 'they have carried out large it.reshoie j'eclaniations at t'-Viemul-pho, Mok-plio, Kumsan-pho, and Masanpho. r rhey own most of the 1 >ankK, have built a mint, and keep the account of the Korean treasury. Twelve hundred steamer cargoes of Korean goods gio aiinually to Japan, which sends moil- tlmn hjali' th\' total impoi'i.s to CVAMiiul-pho. They «re thus gra-duaily the uhole country, and the contest with Itussia arises from the lattor's apprehension that her own interests in Korea may tivei'eby be |vrejudici;l. Put she is likely to give Japan pt/actically u free lvand in Korea. In return for .Japan's acquiescene in the Russian occupation of Manchuria.