Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-12-14


| every nerve to get into Port Arthur
before the Baltic feet shall arrive
| there. That fleet is slowly moving
eastward. 1t was reported last week
that Admiral Rojestyenskys division
was coallng off Swakopsmund, in Ger
man Southwest Africa. The division
which went by way of the Suez Canal
has passed out Of the Red Sea, and
| before long will be in touch with the
| division which is circumnavigating
| Africa. Some of the vessels which
left the Baltic last of all have coaled
| at Tangier and are on their way to
| Port Said.
The japanese have made progress
| at Port Arthur. They have gained the
eminence called Two Hundred and
| Three Meter hill and the fort which
crowns it. That hill is dominated by
others of which the Russians retain
| possession, but the japanese think it
is worth the price paid for it, which is
said, though the figures probably are
exaggerated. to have been 5000 in kill
ed and wounded.
The seizure of the hill is a breach
in the inner line of defenses of Port
| Arthur The desperate and unsuc-
cessful effort of General Stoessel to re-
| gain 1t shows how much Importance
he attaches to its possession. 1t is adj
| mitted at st. Petersburg that the loss
| is irreparable and the fall OF the fort
ress only a question of time. But
while the advanced position held by
the Japanese commands the town and
harbor of Port Arthur the Russians
ran fall back to the forts on the Liaoti
promonotory south of the town, and If
they hold on to those forts as stub
bornly as they have to the others It
may be weeks before General Stoes-
sci hoists the white flag. He may be
| relied on not to do so till Athe last mo-
| ment.
General Nogi made the last day of
November memorable in the history of
| the siege Of Port Arthur by capturing
Two Hundred and Three Meter Hill,
| overlooking the Etszhan and Antsz-
shan forts. Once before, in the middle
of September, he had succeeded in
| placing a company of his men we'll up
| toward the summit, but after n day
! and night without food or water the
company was driven off by the Rus
slams. The all-day fighting of Nov. 80
followed several days of premlinary
! attacks. Repeated charges were re-
quired before the fierce Russian resist
ance was overcome, and it was not till
late in the evening that the entire
summit was in japanese hands.
1t speaks well for the fndomitable
| courage of the Russian soldiers, both
! officers and men, that in the face of all
their losses and discouragements they
were keen enough to attempt sortie
! the following day to recover the hill
| So reduced are the Russian soldiers in
| number that they are not sufficient to
man even the short lire Of forts on
which the fighting has now centO-ed.
| The sailors from the 1eet have been
sent out to help. and sailors bodies
were among those picked up by the
japanese after the Russian sortie had
been repulsed.
While the japanese are nerved to
| heroism by the hope of an early vie
| tory, the Russian defenders of the
| fortress must surely by this time have
| realized that they are beyond succor
! and that they have nothing before
| them but capture. They are but a
| remnant, probably not more than a
| quarter or a third, of the original gar
rison. Wounded, they must suffer
without comforts. Dead, they must
often enough lie unburied. Their gem
erals have no thought of surrender,
and In the terrible rage of final as
| sault the men can expect no quarter
from the enemy They face extermi-
nation And yet they fight on as
tercely and doggedly as ever.
Port Arthur will have a place in
! history as one of the most famous OF
sieges. The japanese assailants will
be remembered for their cheerful in
difference % death in their terrible
charges, but the Russian defenders
Will make an even stronger appeal to
the imaginations of men in the future.
I
the line of the Shakkhe River is much
what 1t was week ago. There have
been Russian reports of movements in
which the Japanese got the worst of
1t and japanese reports in which the
Russ ans came off second best. 1t is
intimated that General Kurokl is NOV
ing around the Russian left flank but
| thcvs Is no evidence of II.
Nearly all the correspondents and
military attaches have left the Rus
sian army This is an indication that
| no great battle is looked for during the
winter, But 1t Is hard to believe that
the two huge armies will remain
where they are until spring. 1t is said
that the Russians are suffering for
lack of fuel and are thinking Of for.
ward movement TO get possession of
the Yenai coal mines. OF which the
! Japanese have the bene 1t. II so IL
Will be the first battle on record for
the possession of coal mine The
question of water supply may become
q serious one now that the streams
are frozen up. The epidemics which
come from the drinking Of polluted
water may break out.
The Japanese diet has met and I,
preparing to vote the money needed tc
carry on the war next year. The term: