RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 59, 14 March 1904, Page 3

RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Naval Encounter. TIIF. SIXISWS OF WAU. ANOTHER REBUFF FOB RUSSIA. (Received March 13, 9.46 a.m.) - LONDON, March 12. The Japanese internal loan was covered lull l' Koreas treaty with Japan annuls all Russian concessions, including those on the Yalu. Russian newspapers state that a hundred young Boers have offered their services as scouts as a mark of their gratitude for the medical comforts Russia sent during the South African war. A BRUSH AT SEA, . RUSSIANS VENTURE OUT FROM p 'PORT ARTHUR. JAPANESE TORPEDO-BOAT SINK FOUNDERING OF A RUSSIAN ' VESSEL. PORT ARTHUR BOMBARDED AGAIN. (Received March 13, 9.40 a.m.) LONDON, March 12. 1 Admiral Makarofli telegraphs : , " Six torpedo-boats left Port Ar- < thur at three o'clock on the moraing of Thursday and encountered the Japanese torpedo-boats and *• cruisers. A hot action ensued. The torpedo-boat .Vlastine discharged a Whitehead torpedo and sank a Japanese torpedo-boat. "On the way back to Port Ar- ' thur the torpedo-boat Stereguscht- , chin damaged her engines and began to founder. Noticing her crili- \ cal position, I hoisted my flag on the Novik and began to rescue the crew, but five of the enemy's cruisers surrounding the Stergnscht- 1 chin and the battleships approaching, I did not succeed. " The Steregnschtchin foundered, "• part of the crew being captured and part wounded. Four Kussian officers were wounded, two soldiers killed and eighteen wounded. - The Japanese bombarded I'ort Arthur at long range at nine o'clock on the morning of the JOlh, until one o'clock. They fired 150 l2in shells, and damaged one of the vessels in the harbour. The electric clifl batteries' shells seriously damaged the .Japanese cruiser Takijsago. Three inhabitants of the town were killed, and six soldiers were wounded. Many of the enemy's shells had a seven miles' range. JAPANESE CONFIDENT OF VICTORY, A BRITISH VESSEL FIRED ON. > TIIE AFFAIR REPORTED TO °HE * BRITISH ADMIRAL. (Received March 13, 9.46 a..in.) BRISBANE, March 12, The steamer Empire has arrived from Kobe, An officer, who was interviewed, said that the Japanese are confident of victory on the sea, but are less contident with regard to land lighting. Refe-rriag to the incident at Port Arthur jwhen the Russians fired at a Bullish ship leaving the port, he said Prince Alexieff had ordered that no merchantmen should leave the port for a few hours. The order wus jafterwards rescinded, and the lost vessel to clear was a British merchant ship. When passing the JUssian guard ship, the lulter hied a shot across her bows, und be.oie she could be brought round two live shells crashed through the hull, seriously injuring live persons und taking the leg off one child. '1 hecaptain was taken aboard the guardship, and after his papers hau been examined he was allowed to pass out, the Russians stating that they had made a mistake. The matjfcer was reported to the British Admiral. . RUSSIAN JEWS FOR THE FRONT LONDON, March 11. The St. Petersburg correspondent 0 f the French newspaper Aurore has announced that an enormous percentage of Jews is being sent to the front, including most of the Jewish doctors in St. Petersburg, through j the reprehensible influences of their ■Christian professional rivals. .VARIOUS ITEMS, LONDON, Murch 11. ■Japan and Korea signed the WijuiScoul railway concession. The Daily Mail states that' Russia is mobilising two army corps in Tur--kestan. A Russian torpedo boat foundered between Port Said ami Crete. The <cr«*w were saved. Admiral Wirenins brought the dain--ag.*<l battleship Oslyaba and seven torpedo bonis to Sunda Hay. The Russians haw ihcnhtl to place the gunboat Alauiljnr's armament in custody of a Chinese cruiser.

RUSSIANS ON THE YAH'. A correspondent of the Strait's Echo gives an intefresting account ol a visit he recently paid* to the settlements oil the Yalu' River, which will soon, 110 doubt, be the scene ol severe engagements. writes : The scenery about Yongampho is .extremely pretty. Overlooking the settlement, and skirting the j'iver j .bank, are hills about HOOft .which fall sheer to the water, while | the south-eastern slopes incline geniJy to the level plain which stretches .away to the coast line to the rear, (Covered with stunted lir, and a few <oak trees, with a carpet of beautiful feathery grass and wild flowers. Before nie lay /"-lie river, bearing away a few points f>f north ; behind me lay seini-cultivaU-il jfrud, dotted with Korean huts, while; white-.robcd natives leisurely worknl away on their small holdings. The Korean apparently always has time -*t his disposal, for many of these ■quaint folk sauntered up tJu; JiiH to inspect the foreigner, and as ilii'.v spoke Chinese I was able to 14ft along with them. Soon the whinrobed group were augmented by the arrival of live Chinese—intelligent men—who "chipped" into the conversation, and fare mc a bail account of the Russians, wh;), tiiey said, seized what they wanted >'roni ithu natives and never paid them,and if the wretched brow-beaten peasantry remonstrated they were generally thrashed within aii inch of their lives. When I had finished my survey operations I moved eastward to the hill immediately overlooking the settlement, from which spot I made a sketch of the whole scene. My most Important discovery wus a small tort In course of construction on top Of (t 9mall bill jutting up from the

shore to the eastern end of this concession, and cleverly masked by trees. When subsequently, walking about the place 1 was halted in the vicinity m the hill by a soldier on duty, otherwise I wandered freel;tiiruugh the place, and conversed with Chinese storekeepers and others. 1 spent one interesting and instructive day at Yongampho, and then weighed anchor, and proceeded up rivei l . Situated at a point (ivu miles above the Russian concession, on the right bank- or JJanchurian side, thi* foundations of what might be another small fort are being piepared on top of a cliff jutting out on the river, and this point us likewise guarded b.v Russian soldiers. A little more than a miie further on is a i.ekin station, where raits and junks must slop, report themselves, and pay the necessary duty. .Here the river hears away to the northeast, and continues in this course lor about five miles, when it divides, leaving a long, low island in midstream. On the branch bearing to the north-east, and abreast 01 the island, is Sha-ho, or. as it iscain-d----on the map, Antung, this taller name being really the designation of the Hsien, or district, in which 'the town is situated. A river ironu«ge L of about one mile is thickly siudj lied with junks, nearly all of which carry away timber, which is piled in j vast quantities on the shore. About j one mile and a-half to the rear of the riw and town is a table-like hill, well wooded with lir and stunted oak trees, and from tins vantage point 1 was able to sketch in the surrounding country, one of the first points to come within my purview being a Russian military encampment, on high ground adjoining the town. It prov<"d to bo the barracks of 300 Russian cavalry, who have been stationed at Sha-ho lor nearly three years, to the terror of the peaceful inhabitants of this place. Fifteen miles up the Korean shore at Yongatnpho is the Russian concession. where sawmills are in course of erection, and a settlement is being established. Seventy Russians, including soldiers, are also at this depot, where rafts from the upper waters arrive. A small fortification is in course of construction. Fifteen miles further up the river is Sha-ho (Antung), healthy Manchunan port and an active business centre. The head navigation is open to junks and accessible to coasting steamers. It is closed, however, b> ice from December to February. A large export trade is done in timber, beancake, \\nd waste silk. The trade potentialities are great, nnd I should strongly recommend the opening of this as a free port. Two hundred Russian cavalry have been stationed in the town for the last tlTrec years. The navigation of \\iju, ten miles higher up, is impossible for steamers.