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Show RUSSIA'S SAD PLIGHT I CREATES GREAT I CONCERN. I Only Two Undamaged Ves- H sels Loft of the Fleet at H Part Arthur. H Wild Rumors That England Has H Given Aid and Comfort H to Japan. Czar Has Issued Notice Forbidding .Correspondents to Use Wireless Telegraphy War Briefs. ATJSE of the destruction of I the Petropavlovsk, after -v three days' inquiry, ro- -f -f- mains in doubt. It prom- -4- ises to be one of tho great sea -t- mysteries. 4- ' Chinese laborers suffer from jJ bombardment on Port Arthur, -f in -which Japanese fired 185 projectiles at, Russian fleet. -t- . JH Russia and United States ex- jjf change condolences for loss of battleships and men by explo- -f sions. 1 Viceroy Aleocieff, who -was at -f -f- Mukden when the disaster oc- -f curred, proceeded promptly to Port Arthur to personally as- -f sume temporary command of the -r j- naval forces there, and reached - his destination last night. His 4 . -f presence is expected to put an - ; end to the demoralization there, -f if At Kobe, Japan, it is claimed. 4-; 4-; that the Japanese arranged to lay thirty mines ct the entrance of Port Arthur, then entico the ' -f- Russians out. After the mines 4 -were placed the city -was bom- 4 4- barded. and several Russian 4 4- ships besides the Petropavlovsk 4-4 4-4 were damaged. 4 4- 4 4- Japanese bombarded Port Ar- 4 4- thur for seven hours Friday, 4 4- without results. jM 4- " 4- Russia "becoming convinced 4-4- that the enemy's mine, and not 4-4- their own, destroyed IdTakaroff's -f 4- flagship. 4- : :- T PETERSBURG. April 15.-There arc now only two undamaged battleships the Peresictt and the Sevastopol In the hu'rbor at Port Arthur, but some of tho damag-.-d vessels have been repaired, although their 'H exact number and condition aro not known. Tho other effectives " are the armored IH cruiser Bnyan, the first-class, cruisers As- IH kold and Diana, the second-class cruiser Novic, tho torpedo gunboats Vzadnlk and Gaydamak. the gunboats Grcmiasschchf, '1 Otvashnl, Gillak and BQbr, the cruisers !H Djldjld, Rusboynik and Zcablka nnd tho H torpedo boat destroyers, whose exact num- ' ber is not known. 'H Altogether ten Russian vessels have beon damaged or lost since the outbreak the Port Arthur Squadron Impotent. 1 The disaster of Wednesday ends tho hopo that tho Ill-fated Port Arthur suad- IH ron would bo able (o become un aggrcsslt o factor in the operations before It Is rein- J forced by the arrival of tho Baltic fleot JH Until then tho aim of tho Russian will bi to hold Port Arthur and conserve the ro- jH raainlng ships within tho protection of it IH guns. Temporarily tho least fulth In sue- SA cuss at soa died with Admiral Makaroff, and tho Russian peoplo cow look to the jH army, In which they have implicit con- Jl lldcncc. lo retrieve on land the reverses B and distress suffered on the water. IH As a result of the depressing Influence jH produccd'by the loss of the Petropavlovsk. sonic pessimism Is manifested, and in con- H sequence all kinds of wild talks are heard. jf Tills is not strange, considering tho fatal- H Ism inherent in the Russian character. As H an example, tho specter of foreign com- H plications has appeared. jH Talk of Foreign Complications. IH It Is said that tho Petropavlovsk vras. jfl blown up by a submarine boot furnished H to Japan by Groat Britain, which of JJ courco .would moan war with Great Brit- H ain. In furtherance of this idea, it h jH pointed out that the British Parliament has granted permission for Indian troop3 H to cross the frontier of Tibet, which nutu- $ ,J rally means only that Great Britain IH preparing to aid hor alley by advancing , IH upon Central Asia. But such talk rinds no "1 ocho in responsible quarters. y--lierc, n. H deed, it in romnrkablo how, calm and conn. 'H dent the officials ore that a, chango of tor- tuno will take place as soon as (ho land H operatic ns begin in 'earnoat. Prevailing 4H belief hero is that thcJripanese will taM fl advantage of the situation to puah mat- trs and mako a. renewed attack on Port rthur. with tho object ot scaling tUo entrance to the port, or. considering tho Russian fleet to bo practically immobilized by Its Inferiority, proceed with the lauding laud-ing of troops nt tho head of tho Gulf of lalao Tuns:. U would not bo mirprlidnir if tho Japnneso attempted to Invest the fortress of Port Aruthur by land. Th latent reports r to tho effect that th Japanfso fleet Is still In Bight from (?olden hill. .Gn. Kuropatkln In concentrating hie second lino ot defense between Mukden and Llao Yang. Ho will have 120.000 men there by April 24th. |