The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1904-12-15
ONE WEEK OF WAR,
JkPs MAKE GOOD USE OF goa
METER HILL.
from Its Summit They Are Able to De.
stroy the Port Arthur FIeet-Futurs
of the Siege ProblematicaI - Baltic
Squadron Ordered to Halt,

stfoy the fOrt arthur tleet-Eutur(
of the Siege ProblematicaI = Baltic
Squadron Ordered to Halt.
The japanese have made good use
Of 203-Meter Hill, which they cap
tured. 1t took them just four days to
get large guns mounted in safe posi-
tons at the summit, and then they
began to lombard the Russian battle.
ships in the harbor. They lad been
wasting great quantities of ammuni-
ton on those ships for weeks past,
but as their fire was then from the
north the ships could get protection
behind Peiyu Hill. Under the new
conditions the japanese fire was from
the west, and the ships could get no
shelter except by going outside the
harbor and hiding behind Tigers Tail
Peninsula, which for reasons best
known to themselves they lid not care
to do.
AS General Nogi's reports of the
damage done to the Russian ships are
sent in great detail, we may assume,
says the Chicago Record-Herald, that
they are accurate, though of course
the observations are made from hill
tops four or five miles distant. OF the
Russian battleships, the Pobieda, Pol
tava, Retvizan and Peresviet are all
reported sunk, or, rather, submerged
in whole or in part at their anchorage
The Sevastopol, the only remaining
battleship, lies in such position that
the Japanese are not sure whether
they have damaged it or not The two
cruisers, the Bayan and the Pallada,
are reported as aground or badly list
ed, and both have been on fire. The
gunboats and destroyers are so small
that they make hard targets to hit,
but those of them not already destroy
ed can hardly hope to escape long.
This is a most inglorious end for
battle fleet, but we may be sure that
it has not been tamely accepted be-
cause of any lack of courage on the
part of the Russian officers or men.
A more natural explanation of their
refusal to make sortie is probably
that the sailors could not be spared
to die at sea when they were so great
~ needed to help man the fortifica-
tons of the city. Perhaps, also, it
may have been the case that the naval
use in the forts, and that the ships
had been without repairs so long that
they could not be effectively maneu-
vered at sea.
AS to the future Of the siege, one
theory is that the japanese, having no
longer any fear of the fleet at Port
Arthur, and having made sure that
no other Russian ships can enter the
harbor and live, will now trust to the
slow process of starvation to capture
the town, instead of renewing their
assaults. Such may be their decision,
but, on the other hand, they seem to
be pushing their trenches and tunnels
steadily forward, and a desire to have
the houses in the city for the army
to live in during the winter may make
an assault seem worth their while.
Certainly the sufferings of winter life
in the trenches would be very great.
A few days ago it was announced
that the Gar had ordered the dis
Patch to the Pacific of a third squad
ron, to be made up of two nearly corr
pleted battleships and five old ones,
with number of cruisers and torpedo
boat destroyers. There comes now a
report that the Gar, disregarding the
opposition of the grand dukes, has or
dered Admiral Rojestvensky, the COM
mander of the Baltic feet, not to 20
on to the far east Nothing definite is
known as to his whereabouts, but he
is probably near Madagascar. If such
an order really has been given, it can
only mean that the Emperor has his
doubts as to whether Admir- Rojest-
vensky, with his present force, is as
sured of a victory over the Japanese
feet, and deems it wise to hold him
back until he can be REINFORCED. At
this time of the year vladivostok, the
only port held by the Russians, is
frozen up 1t is not a good base of
operations, nor will it be a good place
to retire to in event of reverses.
Kouropatkin and Oyama still con-
front each other in strong entrench-
ments along the line of the Shakhe
River and there is nothing in the ac-
counts of the skirmishes which come
to us from day to day to justify any
inference as to their intentions. Little
fights seem to occur impartially at I'LL
points of the line. Lone Tree Hill,
which the Russians call Poutiloff Hill,
is, however, singled out for special at
tention, as the japanese are reported
as bombarding it at least once or
twice a week.
While the armies are quiescent
Kouropatkin is availing himself of the
opportunity to reorganize his forces.
Since the departure Of Alexieff he has
had a free hand At the present time
he has probably 100000 men all told.
but when his reorganization is COM
ptete he expects to have three armies
of 10000 men each, which he can
match, army to army, against the con-
mands Of Oku, Nodzu and Kuroki