Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-12-28
WAR In THE ORIENT.
COLD WEATHER PREVENTS
ACTIVE OPERATIONS.
Both Armies Occupy Substantially the
Positions They Have Held for Weeks
Progress of the Baltic FIeet-Next
Battle May BE on the Sea.

| A Mukden dispatch says that 1.-THE
extreme cold keeps things quiet along
/ the front" When the thermometer is
below zero one cannot look for active
and continued military operations.
There are reports of movements Of
Russian and Japanese flying columns.
particularly on General Kuropatkin's
| left flank, but both sides occupy sub
stantially the positions they have held
/ for weeks.
If it be the intention of he Japanese
/ to take their time henceforth about
the reduction of Port Arthur it will
/ be in their power to send Marquis 0ya
ma strong Reinforcement. The low
| est estimate of General StoesSers force
| is 1900 men. That probably is too
low, but if he should have three times
as many the Japanese can safely send
away a considerable portion of their
| Port Arthur army.
| In the opinion of the Chicago Trib-
une, if Marquis Oyama, after having
/ been REINFORCED from that quarter,
| does not take the offensive speedily he
| probably never will. His army will
| have reached the highest point of eff
| cheney after the arrival of the trained
/ soldiers who have been fighting under
! General Nogi. Tie men whom he may
receive from Japan will not be of so
| good quality. On the other hand, the
troops now reaching General Kuropat-
! Kin drawn from fhn cor nn
the western frontier of the empire and
are superior to many of those previ-
| ously sent to him. Before long Gen
| eral Kuropatkin should have at his
| disposal all the troops the carrying ca
| pacity of the TranSsiberian railroad
will permit him to keep supplied with
| provisions. The road is constantly be-
ing made more efficient by the con-
| struction of new sidings and the SUBJ
stitution of iron for wooden bridges.
1t would not be surprising to hear
that the japanese have given up the
| plan of assuming the aggressive for a
policy less prOdigal of the lives of the
| soldiers. In that event Marquis Oya.
/ ma could choose between holding his
present position after terrifying it
more extensively, or he could fall back
upon some point nearer his base and
await his enemy there.
1t is admitted that the Russian ships
at Port Arthur are destroyed, or are so
| badly damaged as to be unserviceable.
| The japanese ships which have been
| blockading Port Arthur have gone
home to refit and get ready to meet
an advancing Russian feet, which,
though superior on paper. certainly is
inferior in personnel. Naval officers
of all nations have turned their eyes
to the orient and are waiting eagerly
for the result of the impending con-
. test between great fleets of armored
vessels. They have a professional in
| terest in the matter aside from the
general interest felt by all.
General Stoessel has given General
Nogi a map showing the positions OF
the hospitals in Port Arthur, so that
Progress of the Baltic Fleet.
1t is almost three months and Il half
since the Baltic feet was officially de-
clared to have sailed from Cronstadt
for the far East However, the feet
fingered at Reval and Libau for over
month after that. and the real be
ginning of its voyage must be dated
from Oct 16
1t covered the first 2,2OO miles OF
its 17,50O-mile journey at the average
speed of about four miles an hour
Then, at Tangier, it divided into two
squadrons, one of which, under Vice
Admiral Rojestvensky, started around
the Cape of Good Hope and the other
under Rear Admiral Voelkersam, went
by way of the Suez Canal
Rojestvensky's squadron is now
coasting along German Southwest AT
RIGA. In forty days, since leaving Tan
gier, it has covered about 500 miles
at the average speed of five and hall
miles an hodr. Noelkersam's squadron
has left Jubutil. in French Somaliland
with a speed record up to date OF
about three miles an hour
The Chagos Islands in the Indiar
Ocean are generally assumed to be the
rendezvous for the fleets. At the pres
ent rate of sneed Admiral Rojestvens
ky should be there about the 10Th o.
January, the distance he has to coveI
being something less than 1000 miles
Then, assuming that the second squad
ron has arrived and that third squad
ron which left Libau in November ha!
caught up. he will be ready to take VI
the serious part of his adventure.
1t is 5000 miles from the Chago
Islands to Vladiyostok by way of til
Tsugaru Straits, or. for a fleet aver
aging five and half miles an hour
about fifty days steaming. The flee
ought to cover this distance, it is true
in thirty to forty days. but experience
up to date is sufficient to show that i
it ever approaches Fladivostok at al
it will not be till the month Of Marcl
at the earliest.
War News in Brief.
The Japanese cruiser Saiyen was sum