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Show PEASANTS IN RUSSIA j EXHIBIT THEIR LOYALTY Great Demonstration Marked Visit of MakarofPs Distinguished Dis-tinguished Successor. Admiral Skrydloff Greeted by His Countrymen In a Rflst Earnest Manner. Ho Promises to Restoro the Prestige of tho Emperor's Navy in tho Far East. -H- f Will Bo Aggressive. T 7 ICE-ADMIRAL, SkrydlofT, who V Is to take chargo of tho Pais- sian navy at Port Arthur, is Quoted 4- as saying; -f "I believe In offensive tactics. It -j- Is necessary to push ahead and tnko -f tho initiative IiiBtond of lotting tho 4- enemy keep us in a stato of unrcnt. 4- It Is essential to keep him In a ntato of unrest. It Is necensnry to Invito -f 4- a combat and take chances. Any -f combatant who awaits hlB oncny Is practically at his enemy's mercy. -f- But aggressiveness does not mean 4- Imprudence. "VVIndom must go with 4- boldness; but It Is ovldcnt that to 4- be aggressive docs not mean tho 4- aamo thing for tho Russians as for -f- tho Japanese ut Port Arthur, slnco 4- the latter have more ships than the 4- former." fll-rim ST. PETERSBURG, April 19. Vice Admiral Skrydloff arrived here today on his way to tho far East, where he will take command of the Russian llectat Port Arthur. He was accorded an enthusiastic reception by the people, who thronged the streets. There were repeated outbreaks of enthusiastic en-thusiastic cheers ns the Admiral left tho car, and from the bareheaded throng a peasant stepped out and presented pre-sented Skrydloff with a copy of the picture entitled "The Holy Virgin of Joy to tho Afllictcd." which is reputed to have miraculous power. The peasant peas-ant also presented the Admiral with consecrated bread, telling Skrydloff that he saluted him in the name of the masses of the Russian people, all of whose hopes depended on him as the hero of the Turkish-Russian war. "Tho people arc convinced," added tho spokesman, "that Admiral Skrydloff Skryd-loff will justify the hopes of the Emperor Em-peror and the fatherland, and like the Virgin whoso picture has Just been given him, will hri joy. and that soon, to a people jow nflllctcd." The Admiral, who was visibly affected, af-fected, took the picture, declaring that he accepted Jt as a happy presage and adding that he would not part with the picture throughout the campaign and that lie would put all his faih In God. A representative of the middle classes presented the Admiral with a picture of St. Thcodoslus, the miracle worker of Ozernalkoff. Little Girl's Patriotism. The Admiral then entered a carriage and drove off, followed by deafening shouts of "Long live Skrydloff." On arrival at his hotel a little. j:lrl presented pre-sented the Admiral with a bouquet, hailing Skrydloff as the "supreme commander of my brothers who are serving in the far East." "God help you," said the child. "In all your paths, and- may good fortune attend you always during the war, for the glory of our dear country." The Admiral embraced the girl, and the action brought out cheers. Addressing the newspaper men, the Admiral declared he was deeply sensible sen-sible of the kindness shown him. Subsequently Sub-sequently Skrydloff called on the Grand Duke Alexis, High Admiral, und Vice-Admiral Avejlan, Chief of the Admiralty. Tomorrow he will be received re-ceived in audience by the Emperor and Empress. Probably he will return to Sebastopol Saturday to formally hand over the Black Sea fleet to his successor. suc-cessor. Admiral Skrydloff received a popular popu-lar demonstration, the scenes rivalling theve witnessed at the time of Gen, ICuropatkin's departure for tho far East. The Nevesky Prospect was crowded from end to end and the depot de-pot was almost taken by assault. The Admiral was accompanied by Lieut. Shlshle, whose brother was lost on board the Petropavlovsk, and who begged for the privilege of taking his brother's place. Husband of a Jewess. Admiral Skrydloff married a Jewess, and a number of prominent Hebrews among the crowd at the Htatlon was especially noticeable. The Admiral Informed In-formed the correspondent that he will remain In St. Petersburg four days, return to Sebastopol and thence proceed pro-ceed to Port Arthur. The Admiral addressed ad-dressed a delegation which called at his hotel, saying "It Is well understood under-stood what Russia expects at this difficult dif-ficult hour. The Emperor has confided con-fided to me a trying post. I am going to summon all my Htrength and knowledge knowl-edge to serve the Emperor and my country. The enemy is redoubtable, but Russia Is irresistible. I trust in God and Russia's might." To his friends Skrydloft has declared that his aim will" be to conserve the fleet at Port Arthur as a menace to the enemy until It ia reinforced The admiralty Bays the damage to tho battleship Pobieda is slight and will soon be repaired. It la now asserted as-serted that the Pobieda did not strike a mine, but was accidentally rammed during the confusion following1 the Pe-tropavolovsk Pe-tropavolovsk disaster. |