WAR IN THE EAST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 88, 18 April 1904, Page 3

WAR IN THE EAST.

THE PETROPAVLOVSK DISASTER. ANOTHER RUSSIAN VERSION. LONDON, April 15. Busal&n details are to the effect that the battleship Petropavlovgk was retiring before a superior force and preparing to re-enter Port Arthur at eight in the morning, while .the Admiral and crew were breakfasting}. The boilers suddenly blew up, and this cajtlast'rophe was followed by an explosion in the magazine. The water rushed iu through huge gpps in the hull of the ship, and she capsized. Those precipitated in the sea, if able to swim, were rescued by the torpedo-boat men. The Grand Duko Cyril and tho captain of tho battleship were standing on the ."bridge. They were thrown against the iron stanchions, the captain being killed and the Grand Duke almost stunned. He was badly hurt on the head and shoulders, and burned aUiout the body. He clanrtx-red to the deck and plunged into the sea, where he clung to wreckage for twenty minutes till being rescued the crew of a torpedo b|oat.

VARIOUS ITEMS. LONDON, April 15._ The Dally Mail states the Petropavlovsk sank in two and a-half minutes. Admiral Togo's fleet on the horizon witnessed the Petropavlovsk disappear. It is reported that the famous Russian painter, Vassilia Verestcliagen, was drowned in the Petropavlovsk. Extreme depression prevails In St. Petersburg. Tho churches are crowded, and society functions suspended. (Further particulars show that the P,etropa|vlovsk was built at the Imperial Dockyard at St Petersburg between 1894 and 1898. Her length .was 367 ft 6in between perpendiculars 69ft beam, and she had a displacement of 10,960 tons at a uiean draught of 26ft. The armour was of nickel steel. The armament included four 12in guns and twelve 6in quick-firing guns, and four torpedo tubes, while her machinery consisted of triple-expansion engines developing 10,600 indicated horsepower, under natural draught. Her ■teaming power was 16.3 knots, and her complement about 700 all told. The Petropavlovsk cost £1,098,000 to build.) KOYAL RETRENCHMENT. ST. PETERSBURG, April 15, The Czar has economised the royal household expenditure to the extent of a million roubles, and the money haa handed to the War Treasury. NAVAL REPAIRS EFFECTED. LONDON, April 15. The Russian protected cruisers Novik, Askold and Diana have been repaired. There are ten destroyers ■till Intact. Considerable confusion still exists owing to the Russians using the words "mine " and " torpedo" as convertible terms. While the Wattleships Sevastopol and Poltava were manoeuvring re cently the latter was rammed by her consort. PORT ARTHUR. LONDON, April 15. The bombardment of Port Arthur was intermittent yesterday, and fr&s to be renewed to-day. PALACE BURNED AT SEOUL. LONDON, April 15. The palace at Seoul was destrov<ed by fire. The Emperor had a narrow escape. The (ire is supposed to have \pen the work of Korean oj>ponents of Japanese influence. (Received April 17, 9.22 a.m.) LONDON, April 16. A message from Seoul attributes ithe fire at the palace to some stores Ttrhich had become over-heated. The palace is in ruins, and all treasures and jewels aro lost. A MISTAKEN REPORT. LONDON, April 15.

It is now apparent that the British eloop-of-war Espit'glf, which reported that she hail seen the Bayan engaged by five Japanese vessels, mistook the Beztrasclini for the Bayan. The Russians admit that the enemies' torpedo-boats surrounded and sank the Beztraschiii, and that fifty men perished. NAVAL FIGHTING HOPELESS. (Received April 17, 9.10 a.m.) LONDON, April 16. The Daily Telegraph's St. Petersburg correspondent says tliut the Russian authorities now coneider a further naval struggle to lie hopeless, and that all efforts must ' tie concentrated on the army. THE PERSISTENT INVESTMENT.. LONDON. April 10. It is stated at Kobe (Japan) that prior to the sinking of the Petropavlovsk the Japanese laid thirty mines at the entrance to Port Arthur haribour. iSTRAIGHT TALK TO WAR CORRESPONDENTS. LONDON, April 16. XdkvteeS rcceitved at Washiiigion tttate (that the Russian Government ;has :a»tified newspaper correspondents those using wireless telegraphy »in be treated as spies, and shot. BRITAIN'S SYMPATHY. ST. PETERSBURG. April 10. The Novoe Vremya declares that Russia fully believes and appreciates Ahe scerenity of the British newspapers in their utterances expressive of sympathy and condolence in connection with the Petropavlovsk disaster. THE FEARFUL SMALLPOX LONDON, April 16. An outbreak of smallpox is reported from a camp ?'■ Liao-yann, in which hurtdred fresh cases are being notified daily. ANOTHER CORRECTION. (Received April 17, 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, April 10. It was the Straschni, a torpedo boat destroyer, and not the Bw.tras•chni, that was sunk by the Japanese, <u reported by the British warship Espiegle. MORE ABOUT THE PETROrAVLOVSK. LONDON, April 10. ■ An ethei'grani message, despatched to the Times from off Korea, slates that it was officially reported that a torpedo attack resulted in the sinking of the Petropavlovsk ami a torpedo boat destroyer. The battleship was near Clm-ion-arni at the time of the disaster. The death of Verestchagen is confirmed. THE STRA,SCUM'S ENDING. (Received April 18, 0.40 a.m.) LONDON, April 17. The Straschni, with four other destroyers, was scouting, and the Straschni dropped her escorts in a fog. She endeavoured ut daybreak to creep along the shore to Port Arthur, and was intercepted and sunk.

REPORT FROM ADMIRAL TOGO. LONDON, April 17. Admiral Togo reports that his fleet attacked Ton Arthur on tho 11th, and mines were sunk at midnight. At eight o'clock next morning the Sqjuudron withdrew to a distance of fifteen miles. Tho Petropaviovsk, in coming out of the harbour, struck a mine. Thy Japanese official t<cc<iunt states that fourteen Japanese warships lay behind Liao-tie-slian hill, Bouth of Port Arthur, and bomlvarded the fortress and town alternately. On Friday 185 projectiles were thrown during a tliree hours' bombardment. According to the Russian version supplied tho port slqjiadron, including the battleship Pobieda, replied from anchorage, and the shore batteries aiso kept up a lire against the Japanese.

RUSSIA'S DIFFICULTIES. According to the special corrosiondent ol the Temps in St. Petersburg, Russia was so little prepared tor war at the opening othostilities that it will require two months more before she has sufficient troops on the spot to secure victory. For tlie moment there are, according to this authority, only from (10,000 to 70,000 men ready to take tlve field, the 1 remainder being wanted to guard the railway and other points. Tlie New York Herald's correspondent in St. Petersburg, writing towards the end oi February, says "Already people are realising with terror the possibility that later on telegraph communication with tht» Far East may be entirely cut off. Lnlest the Russian forces make some grand sweeping and victorious movement. very soon it is freely accepted that the Japanese will surely cut olt botn telegraphic an'd lailway communication. As the vhst'iivss of the um'.irtaking which this war means dawns fully upon the minds of the more intelligent people here they perceive how almost impossible it will be to guard effectively such long stietches oi wire and railways as need' protection, and at the same time they realise how terrible might toe the effects of any.-serious bjock in the railway at such times an'd in the prevailing cold."

HOW THE WAR' IS VIEWED IN INDIA. Extraordinary interest has been shown in the war by intelligent classes among the native communities of India (writes the Times oi India). It has created far more excitement than our own South African campaign, probably because that conflict was generally regarded iin native circles as an isolated epi- ! sodo in a country of which they hud little knowledge. The out)b,reak of hostilities between Japan and Rusyik, o*n the other hamd, is of tluj utmos-t possfMe interest to them, because it is between two races of whom they have considerable knowledge, gnd because it is being fought out in Asia. It is difficult for an external observer to trace the course of native opinion, but it is clear that intense sympathy with Japan is universal in India. The educated natives of India have, for the most part, long watched the progress of Japan with feelings of admiration ; and we would say that their enthusiasm at her success in the opening stages o{ the war is to spine exU'nl due to their gratification that a brave Asiatic race Iras achieved such remarkable triumphs. Among the more fervently loyal of tiltnative communities their satisfaction is accentuated by the fact that. Japan is tho accepted ally of Great Britain. The third factor which leads them to acclaim Japan is- a feeling the existence of which was almost unsuspected by most Englishmen in«lndia until a few days ago. We refer to the strong aversion with which Russia seems to be regarded by most educated natives. It has never been realised until now how deep is the dislike a-lt for Russia and for Russian policy in intelligent native circles. Min/rlSl with this feeling is a certain astunw mTI i |I0 " W of IJussia . which has always loomed so vast and so menacing beyond thc ImH n frontier, should in one short week hau; sustained' such severe shocks ) ' believe that these few observations define the general trend of iiafue opinion, so far as we have been able to observe it. The eon tempt with which the native com mumties regard empty u Kn siun advance towards India in cerium eventualities, is shown bv the lact that it has no effect whatever upon the money market.

TIIE COST OF A WAR. What will the war cost ? Russia's pi iL°lm Wa ',' fooUn «r accounts for £1,120,000 a day. Iler peace expenditure on her navy is eight millions a year, which sum may be multiplied indefinitely for war time. The sum mentioned for the army refers, of course, to mere maintenance, and is liable to infinite extension. War prices and peace rates are as different as famine and plenty. In the Crimea footi rose from' 10 to i!f> times its normal rate ; fodder was lip to times ordinary price ; milk ijrain and wood, live to nine'limes ' transport was from live to seven-ami a-half- times its ordinary rule. Possible cost can be estimated only from past experience. The Boer war was a trivial matter in connection with some. The United States incurred £1,000,000,000 direct outlay over her Civil war, or about ten times as much as would have paid £4O per head for every slave freed. The Prussian-Austrian war necessitated an outlay of £66,000,000 ; while the Franco-Prussian cost France £soo,6Bo,ooo—just a half of the total loss incurred. The Crimea, in direct outgoing was responsible for £340,000,000, of which Russia bore about half. The Russo-Turkish war cost Russia £101.000,000 ; the Schleswig-Holstein difficulty lightened exchequers to the extent of £15,000,000.

RUSSIAN CORRUPTION. Russia is proverbially corrupt. Will it ho foil ml when the day of trial comes that her battalions are non-existent, her stall' larking everything a stall should have, and her knowledge little more than ignorance ? H may He so. If a fourth of the stories of Russian dishonesty, Russian cupidity and Russian un<crupulous*ness be true, it will be so. There is no test of a nation's truth like the test of war.—Shanghai Mertury. RUSSIA'S OVERWHELMING STRENGTH. M. Oscar Brussel, of Yokohama, Japan, who is touring New Zealand, in conversation with an Evening Post representative, said he left Japan for a tour of Australia ami New Zealand in January, just before the -declaration of war. At the time our visitor left; the country the Japanese were greatly excited over the prospect of meeting Russia, and troops were being rapidly mobilised. As a matter of fari, said M. UriiHsvl, troops were being prepared for active service during at. least six months giri'or to the declaration of war, so that when it made its aggressive move, Japan was quite ready for the fray. lis leaders were also well aware of (lie impreparedness of Russia, owing to Japanese spies in Manchuria. Ife tells how a friend of lii-s was shaved one day by a Japanese in a barber's shop in Dainy, near Port Arthur, ami subsequently lie saw that barber in Japan in the uniform of an officer. M. Brussel says Japan has long been short of money, and he expressed the opinion that many of the cable messages sent to the colonial press arc mere fabrications. Ho beliovcs in the ultimate success of Russia, on account of her overwhelming strength as compared with Japan!

THE BALTIC FLEET. CAN IT REACH THE FAR EAST ? The report that the Russian Baltic licet is starting in real earnest for the Far East must (wrote Mr 11. W. Wilson ill the Daily Mail on Feb. .19) l-aisa tlie question what chance this force has of arriving olt l'ort Arthur. To give the answer, it is necessary to know the composi-| tion oi the fleet, which is reported to be as follows : liaLUeship, modern, Alexander 111. battleships, older types, Navarin, Sissoi, Alexander 11. Oid armoured cruisers, Nachimov, I'umiat Azova. Other cruisers, Svietlana, Rydna, Kornilov.

On thy way out these snips will pick up the small cruiser Almuz, litted wilh a wupei'b bampiet room for Admiral AlexielT, which was last reported at Algiers ; the Osliaibya, Dmitri Donskoi, Aurora, four torpe-do-boats, and six destroyers. It will then be composed of live battleships (two modern) and eight cruisers, to say nothing of the torpedo vessels. On paper, then, it is a formidable fleet. JJut the lirst dilHculty is to gel out, us Russia lias no coaling stations whatever on the line of roul.e to the Pacific. is a clear gap of 1.*J,070 miles between Kionatadt and Port Arthur, which must be bridged in some way, EMPTY HUNKERS, The supply of coal carried in the Russian ships' bunkers is, it need scarcely be said, inadequate. The Navarin is known as a great consumer of fuel and a very bad steamer ; her radius wilh full hunkers 'does uot now in all probability exceed iiOUU miles, Tlve SisH soi, though a belter seiflb'o'at, has a very short •a.Mu-wam'o ,ol : coal, an'd is not good for any great distance. The Alexander 11. hay an endurance of about tfOUO miles, since she has a very old type of engine. The Jtvmia is worst of all, though she is rig'gvd and may perhaps be able to use sail-power. Jlut her coal supply will not take her more than miles.

Tlie problem which faces the Russian Admiralty is therefore a very grave one. If the ordinary route of Russian ships is followed, tlie following are the distances in sea-miles according to tlie Herman tables Kronsladt to Kiel, 800 miles. Kiel to Cuxliaven (using the canal and assuming Germany violates her neutrality), 70 miles. Cuxliaven to Algiers, 2000 xniles. Algiers to Port Said, 1500. 1 'or c Said to Suez, through tho Sue/. Canal, 87. Suez to Aden or Jibouti, 1320. Aden or Jibouti to Colombo, 2100. Colombo to Saigon, 2115,; Saigon to l'ort Arthur, 2200. It will be observed that the ships Wilh a supply only sufficient foe 2500 miles may by hard put to It to cover tile gaps between some of tho stations, even if they are 'given coal everywhere. They are certain to arrive with empty bunkers in the neighbourhood of the scene of war. THE POSITION OF .NEUTRALS. But they cannot be given coal. In view of the fact that Englund was mulcted to the extent of over JttiJ,000,000 for supplying the Confederate cruisers during the American Civil War with fuel, among other offences, and thut this award was made by an international court, all the I oweis are likely to exercise great caution in allowing the Russians to coal.

lly the terms of the proclamation of neutrality, no 'belligerent ship can be permitted to receivo more coal in a British coaling station Hum is sufficient to take her back to the nearest port in her own country. That is to say, before she was allowed to coal at any British coaling station, the belligerent ship would have to 'give an undertaking that she was only shipping as much coal as was needed 'to convey her home, und that she would proceed home. Attempts to evade this regulation by coaling now at the coaling station of one Power, now at another, would haw to be met by a frank refusal to coal the ship, li this rule were overthrown, if there were any departure from it, there would be nothing to prevent the Japanese fleet, after finishing off the Russians in the Far Eust, iron proceeding west and mooting the Russians at any selected point. Jn that case, with fourteen powerful Japanese armoured ships against a sciaiin lot of seven armoured ships, hull of t.iem obsolete, the destruction of the Russian fleet would.be a morul eoruiinty.

SOMEBODY'S GREAT ERROR. There is one other possibility which has to be faced. The llustians may take colliers with them «mi attempt to coal either al sea or ai the islands which abound ill the Eastern seas. But here their difficulty will be the pip between Jioouli or Aden and Sumatra, a stretch of water where all the small islands belong to England, ami where there are none but Britisn coaling stations. This gap is just uvej- ,'iDOU miles, and il would seem tint (lie coal supply of the Russian ■ships is too small fo ciarry them Once past Shigapore or Saigon the danger oi the Russians will be very gieai indeed. The Japanese chain oi positions comes as far south «s 1' ormosa, where their ships will he able, li they like, to wail lor the Kussaans with the immense advantage ol lull bunkers ami friendly porta under their lee. With their great advantage in speed, ami the met thai they will have clean hulls and clear tubes, while the Russians will oe foul after a long voya'ge, they must have a superiority or irom three to four knots in speed, and will be able to play round the Russian fleet. In fact, the despatch of thai force appears to be an error ol judgment on the part of some one at bt. Petersburg to the full as great as the blunder which eta-tioli-ed the Varyag- at Chemulp'ho to her certain destruction. One cannot but feel deep sympathy with the gallant olltccib uivd men who are sent on such an errand—if they ever are MCIil.

Tin; whole voynge up the Chinese coast, from Formosa to I'ort Arthur 01 Vladivostok, supposing the ItiihSi.uis UIV not -aM ( 'ackod 'in the Formosa Stritits, will lie made within easy reach ol' the .) apanese coast, while gi ave (laurel's from mines ami torpedoes will have to be confronted as tile ileet Hears its goal. As lor its lighting power, it must be remembered thai the guns in most Ol the ships are. of OKI pattern , the armour of an obsolt-le Ivpe; the engines in none u K , good order ; and I hut t lie crews must be lildiilereiit to ipialil.v and tuiupuv.l largely of untrained men. I nder the most favourable circumstances ji cannot near l'ort Arthur before the close ol April, ami very much may kav.e happened by then.

>SEJiDS OF XiEVOWfION. It is stated that if Russia be involved in a long war in Asia it is regarded us possible that Siberia will demand self-government as the price ol in the strive, ujihl that China. Bulgaria and Armenia will take the opportunity to net decisively. Hut within iiussia herself there are g*-ave dangers. Trouble may l,e apprehended from the following sections of the population for the reasons shown The J'ol.-s, conquered race ; the Finns, conquered race ; the Jews, oppressed : student c'ass, deniid free speech; peinlivnl ry, ruled with ihe rod ; educated classes, watched and distrusted. Lastly, there is threatened starvation in tile towships adjacent, to the Siberian railway, owing to trade and traffic lining suspended for military railway transportation.