Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1904-09-03

NightfaII and the Pyrotechnic Dis
play Was Described as Something
Beautiful and Awe-Inspiring.
st. Petersburg, Sept. 2.-8:20 a. m.
"A delayed dispatch to The Official
Messenger from Lao Yang under date
Of Aug. 81, gives some details of the
three days fighting from Aug. 20.
The dispatch fails, however, to
throw additional light on the state
telegraphic communication, because it
arrived Thursday morning, too late
for publication. Nevertheless, it is
among the last communications before
the suspension of press messages. The
dispatch indicates that the Russians
were holding out well and probably
could not be dtslodged without Gen
eral Kurokis flank movement. The
correspondent says that he was with
a battery on KouIack hill, to the. left
of the railroad line, at dawn Monday
when the Japanese guns opened.
Firing Was Terrific.
at was" he continued, "a simulta-
neOus salute by hundreds of cannon
and during the first hour the firing
was simply terrific. We were under
a perfect rain of shrapnel, bullets and
splinters Of shells. The Japanese
cation of our defenses, so they con-
stantly shifted their batteries, trying
to search out our positions. 1t was
in the course of these maneuvers that
terest to the Japanese artiIlerymen.
The sight was a beautiful but terri
flying one. Although we were we'll
marked and tolerably protected, the
sides of our hill were rent and torn
by bursting shells. Dirt, dust and
rocks filed the air; sand and smoke
hung like a golden halo overhead. We
watched the shells fail upon the ruins
Of the thousand year old watch tow.
or, where they completed the ravages
of the centuries.
Smothered with Shells.
"The Japanese got our range and
tried to enfilade us from a village on
the right. Here we had the advan,
tage Of knowing the ranges and sim.
ply smothered them with shells. Con-
seQuently the Japanese withdrew hur-
riedly. A second attempt to enfiIade
US was made at 10 o'clock in the
morning, but again it failed. We
swept the Chinese cornfields, whence
the fire came and turned out the Jap.
anese gunners like a nest of angry
wasps. Our rifle brigade held the
village Of Maietung against the roll.
ing waves of Japanese infantry
thrown against that position time
and time again, until our reserves
swept down and cleared the front at
the point Of the bayonet.
Grand Spectacle.
"The roar of the fight was not
stopped by darkness. The scene be.
came infinitely more beautiful as the
hills were lighted by the glare from
the flame-spitting batteries which had
been scarcely visible in the daylight
Each Of the thousands of shells be.
came a pyrOtechnic spectacle while
lines of fire raced and quivered back
and forth where the infantry was
holding our trenches against the creep
ing Japanese columns. The latter
had almost reached the trenches of the
Twenty-fOurth regiment authorized
by the darkness. The men, who
were at supper, dropped their soup
and black bread, turned quickly and
drove off the japanese with their bay.
onets. Then they returned to their
severely needed meat.
THE fighting on Tuesday was heavy
on the right flank. A spy captured
while attempting to pass the lines,
said the Japanese guard division suf
fered terribly"