The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 27, 1904, Page 1

Forecast made cisco for thirty RBain Saturday; southerly winds. A G THE WBATHEER. midnight, February 27: San Francisco and vicinity— brisk to high District Forecaster. at San Fran- hours ending McADIE, SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1904. ‘Wright.” Columbia—*“0! i Grand—*“The ’ Orpheum—Va Marching e ————e e THE THEEATERS. Alcazar — “The Alhambra—“The Kilties” Band. California—"“Human Hearts.” c-.-z‘u.:~m¢ of the Opium Chutes—Vaudeville. er’s—"“Roly-Poly.” Tivoli—“When Johnny Comes Home.” Matinees at All Theaters To-Day. ~ Wrong Mr. 1d Homestead.” Gamekeeper.” udeville. PRICE FIVE CE JAPANESE FLEET CONTINUES THE BOMBARDMENT OF PORT ARTHUR DAILY 10 GOVER DISEMGARKING OF TRODPS THAT WLL ATTAGK TRONGHOLD BY LAND ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 26.---A dispatch from Port Arthur, dated February 26, says: “At 1 o’clock this morning several Japanese torpedo boats were sighted from here. with sails set for the purpose of disguising their character. The battleship Retvizan and the shore batteries opened fire on them and continued firing until daybreak without any visible result. After daybreak a Japanese squadron, apparently convoying troops, was sighted. At a quarter past 11 o’clock the squadron came nearer and an engagement which lasted forty minutes ensued. There was no damage. Few shells fell in Port Arthur. It is expected here that the Japanese will attempt a landing soon. An inspection of the Japanese fireships sent into the harbor on February 24 shows they were loaded with coal and kerosene and that el ectrical infernal machines had been placed in the midst of the cargo.” RICH FRU LANDS ARE INUNDATED Part o@ameuto County Suffers Big pOSS. | Turbulent Stream Breaks Levee Three Miles South of the City. Etockton Is Still Safe, but Residents of That Section of the State Are | Considerably Alarmed. More than land in | m»m;m“ 1 the levee, the Edwards place, ed from the Ar p s looked for patrolling the river. A weak levee on the -ramento > of men was hen the bar- | water in the olo basin is ath the tres- e Southern Pacific Company a | hington. Watch- | int few miles west of Wa ed a als to report | water and it will be several feet under wate days before traffic on that line can be resumed. A number of le citi- | izens on their way home from San Francisco are stalled here because of high water, which prevents them | ) continuing on their way home. | EeSpnuet STOCKTON the IS ANXIOUS. Mokelumne River Overflows Its Banks Near Woodbridge, Flooding Town. STOCKTON, Fel. 26.—Stockton is in 2 state of anxiety to-night as to wheth- er or not the xt twenty-four hourfl will see the streams and channels in- tersecting the city out of their banks and flooding adjacent property. Thus| far the high water has been passing to north of the city, by the Mokel- ‘When the sky cleared at noon | ; it was thought the storm had| ch was not the ca for | ain about 5 o’clock this ning, and all indications are for a very wet night. The Mokelumne River began falling early this morning, and by 2 o'clock this afterngon it had dropped about fourteen inches at Wood- bridge. Mormon Slough and the San Joaquin River have been falling slightly all day. the " Continued on Page 5, Column 1. BRIVGE o7 THE SNG4 ARMY T0 BE MOBILIZED Will Take a Hand in Balkan Sit- uation, DO AR 1 Cable to The Call and New York ald. Copyright, 1004, by the Newy York Publishing Company. BERLIN, Feb. 26.—My. message of last night regarding the preparations made in Austria with a view to inter- vention in the Balkans finds confirma- tion to-day in the Berlin Morgen Post. This journal contains a dispatch from its Vienna correspondent stating that, according to information obtained from | an official of the Austrian Foreign Of- fice, measures have been taken for the mobilization of the Austrian army. The present rise in the price of grain in Austria may be ascribed to pur- | chases by the military authorities. These reports of Austrian military preparations find further confirmation in dispatches received in Berlin from | Rome stating that the Italian Embas- sador in Berlin, Count Lanza, has in- formed Count von Bulow that if Aus- tria takes action in the Balkans it will be difficult for Italy to abstain from active intervention. CONSTANTINOPLE, Feb. 26.—In consequence of the understanding al- ready reached as the result of the com- munications exchanged between the Porte and the Bulgarian legation here the opinion prevails that there will be no vomplications in the spring. It is understood that Turkey undertakes to grant amnesty to the Macedonians con- victed of disturbances in 1900, to permit the return of the refugees and to annul the vexatious regulations directed against Buigarians. Bulgaria agrees to stop the Macedonian agitation in the principality and to prevent the incur- sions of revolutionary bands. | Little Damage to Either Side in the Port Arthur Bombardments. —_— CHEFU, Febh. 27.—A number of Japanese sailors have landed thirty miles north of here. Port Arthur last Wednesday. ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 27, 2 m.— A copy of a telegram from Viceroy They claim that they are from transports sunk at “On the night of February 25 our tor- pedo-boats proceeded seaward. The s 1ex1<f to the Czar has just been given | same night the Japanese torpedo-boats out. Itis dated February | | SCENES AT HARBIN, RUSSIAN CITY IN MANCHURIA, “'I“HUH JAPANESE MAY ATTACK. x = to the ST. PETERSBURG, Feb. 26.—Sur- prising and almost astounding, the | latest news is that General Kuropatkin will not go to the front, as was pre- | viously announced, in three days' time, but will remain here for several weeks. The reason for this, he states, is that it is not worth while for him to go there until 400,000 Russian soldiers are gathered at the seat of war. In fact, he cannot take the offensive until that number is forthcoming. The present | force available, outside of the heavy contingent guarding the railroad, does ot exceed 130,000 men. General Kuropatkin was recently in Japan, where he formed a very high opinion of the efficiency of the Jap- |anese troops. He belonged to the anti-war party. At a recent audience with the Emperor, General Kuropat- kin spoke very openly about the neces- sity of his having a large number of troops and he is further credited with having said: | “Your Majesty will need me back soon to look after European develop- ments.” Very probably the key is given to this in the statement of a widely known Russian international jurist, who says it is quite possible that Rus- sia will wage war concerning the Tibetan question in case England should make any move of too friendly |2 nature toward Japan. The third‘piece of news, which is Special Cablegram to The Call and New York Herald. the New York Herald Publishing Company. kuropatkin Wants— _400',000 Troops to Precede Him Front. Copyright, 1904, by of special interest to those initiated into the inner workings of the Rus- sian interior administration, is that there has just been formed an entirely new special commission atached to the Ministry of the Interior, its especial object being to distribute war news to the people, carefully recording its ef- fects on the lower classes, especially in case it should be unsatisfactory. In the highest military circles here a siege of Port Arthur is expected. The whole force of troops from Kasan district is to be poured into Manchuria and the entire Finnish forces also will be ordered to the front, which natu- rally causes much comment. ’They, however, will not be placed in the first line, which will be occupied by Cos- sacks, with Russian regiments in the next line and the Finnish in the third. TO ENLIST WILD WARRIORS. Prince Alexander of Oldenburg has caused a patriotic sensation. He has given a million rubles toward, the war fund and has proposed that the Em- peror raise a troop of irregular cav- alry of the dreaded tribes of Buriats | and Kalmucks of the stéppes, the con- | dition being that they be under mili- tary rule, of their own acording style of warfare. Prince Alexander offers to equip and —_——— 3 Rut allowed to do all they like in the way of independent raids |. + whence 1t is sent is not given, but it is supposed to be Mukden. The mes- sage follows: “A squadron of the enemy’s vessels, numbering sixteen,” approached fortress at about 11 o'elock this morn- ing and opened a bombardment on the cruisers Askold, Bayan and Novik, which were in the outer harbor, and also on the fortress. The firing con- tintied for a half hour. Then our cruis- ers went into the harbor. The enemy fired for several minutes on one of our batteries, and then began to leave. They stopped within sight of the fort, but out of range of the fire. -~ “At this time four of the enemy’s cruisers detached themselves from the squadron and proceeded to Pigeon Bay, where they quickly opened fire on our torpedo-boats that were cruising there. They directed also a strong cannonade against the shore. The commandant consequently sent troops to Pigeon Bay. The fifing lasted for thirty minutes, but no landing was made. The Jap- anese cruisers then departed. “Suitable measures have feen taken to oppose a possible move on the part of the enemy to creep up by sea. Our losses this day were ome man wounded at the battery. “I respectfully report the above to our Imperial Majesty. ALEXIEFF."” The following telegram, dated Febru- ary 26, from Viceroy Alexieff to the Czar is published here: “On February 24 seventeen of the en- emy’s warships, with twelve torpedo- ‘boats and steamers, were cruising out- side Port Arthur, but kept out of range. Theplavelagaln appeared in the roads, and the —_— the | | ALEXIEFF'S EARLIER REPORT. | battleship Retvizan and the fort bat- teries opened fire on them. Battery No. 18 reports having sunk one of the en- emy’s torpedo-boats. “At 9 o’clock in the morning a squad- ron of fourteen vessels was sighted in the distance. “Maps of Port Arthur and Port Adams and a chart of the Yellow Sea were discovered _aboard the enemy's vessels which were sunk in the night attack of February 24. Conducting wires and electric batteries were found on the vessel which caught fire. The wires were cut by port miners. The fire has been extinguished.” PRESS STORY OF BATTLE. A press dispatch from Port Arthur says the Japanese torpedo-boat attack on February 25 resulted in a Russian success. The accurate shooting of the batteries inflicted losses on the enemy and caused the boiler on one of the Japanese torpedo-boats to explode. Early in the morning a Japanese fleet consisting of six battleships and four cruisers appeared on the horizon. ' The Russian cruisers Askold, Bayan | and Novik were then in the harbor and the Japanese torpedo boats ad- vanced to within thirty to thirty-five cable lengths to attack them. The Japanese battleships and cruisers sep- arated and then advanced against two Russian torpedo boats cruising in Pigeon Bay. One of the latter broke through the enemy’s line and under a hot fire reached the harbor. At 10:45 o'clock a flerce engage- ment took place between the Japanese battleships and the Russian cruisers, supported by the shore batteries. In view of the superiority of the enemy’s six battlgships over the three Russian cruisers the latter were withdrawn. ‘The enemy ceased firing at 11:35 o’clock and at 12 o'clock the Japanese cruisers which were chasing the Rus- sian torpedo boats began to fire on the forts, but the firing did not last long. The Japanese maneuvering was clumsy, and in turning their vessels came so close to one another that Russian shells could be seen falling upon them as they huddled together. | A Japanese torpedo.boat which was driven ashore near Fort Djetwol is supposed to have belonged to the flo- tilla which was escorting the five ships destroyed on the night of February 23. NO LANDING OF TROOPS. LONDON, Feb. 26.—A dismatch to .|a news agency from St. Petersburg says the official report of Major Gen- eral Pflug, chief of staff of Viceroy Alexieff, on the details of the attack on Port Arthur during the morning of February 25 is as follows: 'Continued on Page 2, Column 5, _—_— % JURY FIN \DS - DEFENDANTS ARE GUILTY Postal Conspirators Stand in Shadow of _Prigqn. Verdict Is Secured After Jurors Had Been Out Nine Hours. | Disgraced. Men Are Admitted to Bail Pending Their Appearance in Court To-Day for Sentence. WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—“Guilty as | indicted” was the verdict announced by the jury in tHe postoffice conspiracy trial shortly after 8 o’clock to-night, stating at the same time that this was | the verdict as to all four defendants, August W. Machen, late general super- intendent of the rural free delivery di- vision; George E. Lorenz of Toledo, Samuel A. Groff and Diller B. Groff, of Washington. The jury had beem out nine hours. In the dimly lighted room sat the Jrour defendants, who after the case | was given to the jury had been placed in the custody of a United States Mar- shal and confined to the limits of the City Hall. Each wore an anxious look and a deathlike silence fell on the small crowd which had been permitted to enter the room as the clerk inquired of the foreman if a verdict had been “ reached. | The jury as to a man arose, and as | the words “Guilty as /indicted” fell from the foreman's lips the defendants |and their counsel seemed appalled. Dur- | ing the time the jury was out the four defendants had paced up and down the hallway outside the courtroom and had given expressions to the belief that each hour the jury spent in discussing | the case brought them nearer to | quittal. | There was general astonishment that | the jury had included in the conviction Samuel A. Groff, a Washington police- | man, and inventor of the Groff fastener, as to whom Holmes Conrad, special | counsel for the Government, yesterday informed the jury he did not expect a conviction and that he personally did not believe in his guilt. Five ballots in all were taken. On the first ballot the vote stood seven to five for conviction; on the secorl, | eight to four; on the third, nine to Ithree: on the fourth. ten to two, and on the fifth the vote was unanimous. Immediately after the verdict was rendered Charles Douglass, in behalf of all four defendants, filed motions for a new trial, for an arrest of judgment and for an appeal for the purpose of having the defendants admitted to bail. Balil was then fixed at $20,000 each, the bond of Lorenz and the two Groffs be- ing increased from $10,000. When Attorney Maddox, on behalf of the Groffs, inquired as to the amount of bail to be required of them, Justice Pritchard said: “I know no difference between these defendants. The jury | has said they are guilty and I cannot discriminate, but will treat all alike.” | Next to Samuel A. Groff, the most surprised man was Machen, who said | he was thunderstsuck at the verdict. | The four defendants will appear be- | ae- fore Justice Pritchard to-morow | morning to receive sentence. | ————— | Files Report on the Prize Property. | - WASHINGTON, Feb. 26.—James G. Payne, auditor of the District Supreme | Court, to-day filed his report on the | amount and vailue of the prize property in the case of Admiral Dewey against Don Juan de Austria and other vessels captured and sunk in Manila Bay, May 1, 1898. The auditor, t~ whom the ques- tion was referred by the court, reports that the allowances of property sub- ject to the share libellant as prizes ag~ gregate $829,733.