The San Francisco call., 1904-08-06
Mikado Has Twenty Full
Army Divisions Now
in Manchuria.
Expects Kuropatkin' sSur-
render and Port Ar.
thurs Fall Same Day.

BERLIN, Aug. 5.-The National
Zeitung prints private telegram from
Toxic, dated August 5, in which it is
said that there are five Japanese divi-
sions before Port Arthur, part of them
within three and half miles of the
fortress, and that there are altogether
twenty divisions in Manchuria.
The telegram says that Toxic is ex-
pecting the fall of Port Arthur and the
capitulation of General Kuropatkin on
the same day.
ST. PETERSBURG, Aug. GA Rus
sian correspondent of the Associated
Press, describing the general Japanese
advance of last Sunday east of Lao
yang, says that one of the Japanese
columns, taking advantage of the COM
plicatad network of mountain paths
and deep gorges, actually crept around
the rear Of the Russian position before
being discovered.
He explains this by saying that the
topogra ply of the country is SO COM
plicated and scanned with ravines that
two hostile armies might be within the
space of a half-mile without suspecting
each others presence.
In describing the fighting around
Simoucheng the correspondent paints a
picture of soldiers fighting all day long
in the sitting dust and the torrid heat
From an eminence on which he stood
the correspondent could see down to
the westward plantations of waving
kaolin. the crown of which was SO high
that sQuadrons of Japanese cavalry
wended their way within a quarter Of
a mile of the Russian cavalry, neither
side suspecting the proximity Of the
other.
The cores oondent could detect the
movements of the enemy through the
field by the small clouds of dust wnich
were raised when the crisis came, as
the japanese batteries enfiladed the
Russian gunners. Then the order was
given 20 retire, and Major General
Mistchenko's cavalry, a brigade of ar
tillerv and the Barnaol regiment COW
cred the retreat.
The Japanese swarmed into the Bar
naols' trenches. coming so close that
the Russians actually wrenched the
guns from their hands, clubbing the
japanese with their own rifles
Some of the infantry had to cut their
way out at enormous sacrifice. One
company lost all its officers and most
of it's men.
In addition to the terrific heat of the
day and of the battle the correspond
ent says that the Russian soldiers suf-
fered dreadfully because they were
obliged to carry their heavy overcoats
and equipments.
The number of sunstrokes was great.
To add still further to the misery of
the men, the water in their canteens
soon became exhausted and the springs
were nearly all dried up by the torrid
heat. Surgeon Kerenitvich said it was
actually so hot that some of his men
burned their hands on the brass but
tons and buckles of the soldiers as
they undressed the wounded. Only
when night fell did the troops get any
relief. The wounded were loaded into
Red Cross cars which had been
especially arranged for this purpose at
Haicheng
The correspondent mentions that the
One Hundred and Thirty Regi-
ment. belonging to the Thirty first Di-
vision of the Seventeenth Army Corps
was engaged in this fight. This is the
first definite information that any of
the troops of the Seventeenth Army
Corps were on the firing line.