The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 14, 1904, Page 1

Forecast made Cloudy Thursday; southerly winds, westerly. A G. District cisco for thirty hours ending at midnight April 14, 1904: San Francisco and vicinity— showers in the morning; fresh at San Fras. Ppossibly light chaaging to MCADIE. 1 [ | + SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, APRIL( 14, 1904. \DMIRAL MAKARDFE AND 600 MEN SINK WITH BRTTLESHP APLOSION ON AMERIGAN VESGEL KILLo TWENTY-NINE ST. PETERSBURG, April 18.—-Russia to-day suffered a greater disaster than any that has befallen her heretofore since the outbhreak of the war. During an engagement at Port Arthur the magnificent battleship Petropavlovek, bearing the flag of Admiral Bakaroff, struck a mine in the roadstead and sank aimoét immediately with all but a few of the officers and men on board. death, al Among the dead is Vice Admiral Makaroff, the idol of the navy. though he received a serious wound. BEstimates of the numher of men lost with the Petropavlovsk vary, the latest fixing it at about 800. Grand Duke Cyril, who was on the Petroj)avlovsk as aide to Makarofi, had a miraculous escape from e e Disizslor /4}§/§[l/5 Czar's| Government ana People. as been one of intense ex- Petersburg. catastrophe les st of a telegram by fmir from his son puncing the and the wou who was first of- v »aviovek Duke yril nd Duchess the aide to Grand Duke Cyr Lieutenant Vo kube Lieutenant Vonkube had gone down with the =hip . CZAR IS OVERWHELMED. The youngest son of Grand Duke Viadimir, nd Duke Andrew, hur- ried to the Winter P. , the Admir- =ity and elsewhere, seeking confirma- tion ©f the mews, which came two| hours later in a message to the Czar from Rear Admiral Grigorovitch, the commandant at Port Arthur. A re- ligious service was immedi held at Grand Duke Viadimir's p: . in which thanks were returned to the Al- the for sparing of the life of d Duke Cyril, but the Emperor was 8o overwhelmed grief at the h of Vice Admiral Makaroff that ther he nor the Empress attended the » member of his personal staff to k the sad news to Vice Admiral wrofi’s widow, who I8 living in St. Petersburg. Meantime the city was filled with the rumors, but the official dis- s were so meager and private tches so conflicting regarding had occurred that the public was kept in suspense for six hours. Then, gh the report was incomplete, hes were posted on the Nevsky »ect and other war bulletin boards. of the crowds, whose wmt[ fears thus officially confirmed, was touching. The Ministry of Marine was soon surrounded by thousands of persons eagerly asking for more de- | The ¢ d of inquirers were the | T es of those who were rd the lost battleship. | occurred prior to the blowing | up of the flagship was only vaguely | known, except that Admiral Makaroff, | with his flag fiying on the doomed ves- | sel, sailed out to engage the enemy | urtil the latter's reinforcements ap- peared It is believed possible that Vice Ad- iral Togo planned an ambuscade by g in a small squadron in the| f drawing out the Russian com- | ander t¢ the open and then cutting | his escape. STRAY MINES A MENACE. =s learns that the location of six mines planted by the Yenesei were | unknown, the charts having been lost | when that vessel was blown up. Prob- ably it was one of these mines that the battleship struck. Vice Admiral Makaroff’s death is/ really & greater loss than would be the destruction of several battleships. The pride of the navy was he, and he en- joyed the confidence of the Emperor as well as of the officers and men. Speaking of his death, officers here re- ervice. Instead, the Emperor sent | marked on the strange fatality that he T B ROADETEAD AT PORT ARTHUR, NAVAL HERO WHO LOST HIS LIFE IN THE DISASTER AND COUSIN OF THE CZAR, WHO HAD A REMARKABLE ESCAPE FROM DEATH. s RUESIX%NTEIAEHLBHIP PETROPAVLOVSK TURNING TURTLE AFTER ACCIDENTAL CONTACT WITH A DERELICT MINE 1 3 ST. PETERSBURG, April 14.—Official accounts of yesterday’s disaster at Port Arthur are . not clear in their details, but enough is gathered from them to indicate that the battleship Petropav- lovsk was returning to the harbor with the rest of the fleet, having retired when reinforcements for the Japanese ships appeared, when a derelict mine was encountered: in’the roadstead. The ex- plosion tore a great hole in the bottom of the battleship and she at once began to fill, sinking so soon - after the explosion that almost the entire crew was lost. That so few of those aboard were saved Continued on Page 4, Colummn ¥ =7 Continued on Page 5, Column 4. NAUAL OFFICERS LOSE THEIR LIDES ON THE MISSOURI Captain’s Prompt Action Prevents Destruction of Govern- ment -Dessel. PENSACOLA, Fla., April 13.—By the explosion of 2000 pounds of pow- der-in the after twelve-inch turret and the handling-room of the battleship Missouri Captain William 8. Cowles, ‘commanding, twenty-nine men’ were instantly killed and five injured, of Whom two will die. The Missouri was on the target range, with the Tex=s and Brogklyn at practice abont noon when a charge of powder in the twelve-inoh left-hand gun ignited from gases, explodéd and, dropping below, ignited four charges ‘of powder in the handling-room, and ! exoladed. Only one man 'in the entire turret and handling crews sur< vived. But for the prompt and ef- ficient action of Captain Cowles in flooding the handling-room and maga- zine with water, one of the magazines ould have exploded and the ship would have been destroved. Captain Cowles, completely over- come by the disaster, referred all newspaper men to Lieutenant Ham- mer, the ordnance officer. The latter gave out a statement about the explo- sion and its probable cause. Accord- ing-to him, about noon, after the first pointer of the after twelve-inch piece Continude on Page 2, Columm &