The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-10-10

from lar land, land void Of telegraphs
and mails. Here in the valley Of the
Pei-ho is reality, and no one can say
which force IS IN majority. Each day
brings its quota Of fresh troops, Of all
nations except Am orleans, and each day
brings It's little fleet until the anchorage
OF Iaku Is a great city OF ships
In stream, behind the Taku forts,
which they reduced and over which now
fly strange flags, still lies the feet Of
light draft war vessels and torpedo boats
Their once white and glistening paint IS
yellow and brown from the muddy water,
and outside the great men OF war ana
cruisers swing idly at anchor, fleets OF
dlngy transports nesting under cover OF
their guns. Ashore the Uidss still cast up
the dead, busy dispat3h boats pull up and
down the river, soldiers debark and
hurry up country. 1t Is war without the
lighting. Here the nations seem training
and stripping like giant pugilists. Cos
sacks, with sturdy, shaggy little ponies
and light tWO-Whesled carts, British-In-
dian troops, tall silent Sikhs, armed with
carbines, penniOned lance, sabre and re-
YOiYer, turOanle1 GhO0rkas, baFe-lezg5d
and 1.-the, 0utck-moFing Japs, and heaY-
lily ACQUIRED Germans thTOng the mar
row, muddy s5re5ts ana fill ths OUTGOING
trains. 1t is a military Babel, and the
natives watch the importing stream OF
their conquerOrs with Chinese impass-
iYeness.
In point Of cavalry the Russians at this
writing probably Outnumber all the rest
By far the majority Of their troops are
mounted, which gives them a decided
advantage IN this land OF no transporta-
ton. The Japanese come next in num-
Der Of mounted troops. There is an ap-
parent lack OF artillery, out Of proportion
to the total Of troops The Germans
have landed a few batteries, and the
British have landed a few naval guns
on improYised carriages. -Four Ameri-
can siege guns were sent to Tien-Isin
this week, with ammunition. But few
troops are kept in TOngku. The Taku
forts at the mouth Of the river are pretty
well g8TTisoned by the nations holding
them, but the men are hurried forward
as soon as landed. This is almost a ne
csssity because Of the lack OF camping
grounds. TOngku is merely a collection
Of one storied huts on ground slightly
above the water, while on every side
stretch the great flats, ill-smelling plains
OF reeking mud and shallow tidal pools,
over which the allies hOundered in 1861.
Under the hot sun they throw OF MAS
matte VapOrs and make the town almost
uninhsbi5able. The advent OF cool
weather is eagerly looked forward to here
~ 4AabAOfC buo ucdllAlulucob u tuo Dln6
and facilitate the work. As rule the
river does not freeze until the middle of
December, and there is about ten weeks
Of pleasant autumn weather.
AT present the fuel situation is receiv.
ing much attention. There is some coal
on hand here, which has passed into the
possession OF the allies, the United States
securi 6 a fair share. 1t is only little
Of what viii be needed, however, and
with the food question already practical
" settled, everyone is devoting all energy
to landing fuel, The scarcity Of vessels
in these waters makes the problem
grave one; especially as there is absolute
~ no timber in this section of China. 1t
Is believed that even with the best efforts
there will be a scarcity, and with the
rigor Of the winter IN this region much
suffering Will ensu5.