The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-10-17
RETREATING
 TO KAREN Russians Won't Stop at
 Tie Pass. SUMMARY OF CONFLICT
 - Hospitals Are 0vertaxed and Surgeons Helpless. PepaIsr Opinion Is that Retirins Army win Go Into City for wiater. General Ikarepatkin Not
 Conaennned.
SUMMARY OF CONFLICT

-e-
 st. Petersburg, Oct. l7.---s:5o A. M.-- The official veil was today lifted from the rhastly tragedy around Shakhe. but even the official report suppieuented by numerous press dispatches leaveg much uncertainty as to the southerr army.
 Out of the fragmentary mass of fn- formation at hand. 1t Is possible only to conclude that the costly withdrawal and retreat from Idaoyans Is being duplicated even on grander scale. after more desperate fighting ana heavier losses.
 General ISuropatkfn's story leaves the Russians still tenaciously hoidtng the north bank of the Shakne river. but general belief is that there is only tho desperate finale of one of the greatest military dramas of history and that the Russian army as whole Is retiring to Mukden, having suffered from, at the most conservative estimate. loss of 10000.
 Of the left flank. which was one of the most important In the battle ne leaves the inference that 1t was not all in position to communicate with the rest of the army
 All of the wounded are being carried to Harbin, further north. It Is under stood that the correspondents also have been ordered to Harbin, which in- dicates the retreat will not even stop at Tie Pass. All hopes of the world heraIded advance to Port Arthur have been abandoned. The weather condi- tions are even worse than during the recent retreat from Liaoyang. Streams are bank high and lords are impass- able; but 1t is impossible to say how Axs- N&,n.I al ftxtnk kfAff may prove Russian salvation by pre-, venting Japanese pursuit. On the other hand. however. if the Russians are on the wrong side. the flooded rivers may only emphasize the com. pleteness Of the disaster
 Seven Days of Rattle.
 Another serious fact that remains ua- determined Is the ammunition supply Seven days of furious fighting must have greatly depleted the supply oi both armies. Officials express confi dence that General Kuropatkin is bet ter off in this respect. but at last re- ports the Japanese were bombarding as If they were sure of an inexhaustibis supply M
 The official report of the battle saya the Japanese made a desperate at. tempt to break the Russian center Fri. day night. but this it seems may be clerical or telegraphic error. foi Thursday simultaneously the Japanese launched heavy assault against the village of Shakhe, which had already been the scene of so many furious at. tacks and counter attacks. The Rus sians were forced to evacuate the vii. lage, but heroically recapured the DO. sition.
 This brought reserves of both sides into action. but whether the whole oi the reserves of either side were en. gagged Is not clear. In any event the Russians were in again and finally driven out, making five times that course of the battle. The Russians then retired to a new position north ! of Shakhe. General Kuropatkin says that Fri- day night was passed in comparative quiet, but that Saturday there was an ! immense concentration of Japanese on the great Mandarin road, where the Russian batteries were vigorously playing in an effort to hold them in | check. The result of Saturdays fight has not been officially given out. but there 1 is every evidence that 1t was of the most severe character. It was during the Japanese furious night attack of Wednesday, according to unofficial ac- counts, that the Russians lost their guns. Thursday witnessed another furious cannonade in which the whole Russian center was forced back. In the afternoon of the same day the Russian right began to give way. Towards evening came a further lull, but at midnight the cannonading was renewed with increased furioVsness. eye witnesses declaring that 1t exceed ed in intensity that at Liaoyang dur Ing the famous fighting of the 3oth and S1st, of August.
 There was much desperate fighting on Friday. which was carried on through tremendous storm of rain. hail and thunder. General Kuropatkin personally took command of the Peter off Regiment It was in the midst of this awful war of man and elements. the Peteron Regiment leading. that the Russians for the last time charged doggedly into Shakhe and took the town in the face of the hottest Japanese bombardment. The latest reports from the battle are of Sunday afternoon and evening, when the Russians were car rying on a heavy rear guard fighting. evidently retiring on Mukden. Generals Oku and Nodzu were con- centrating for another blow on the Rus sian right, where the fighting is de- scribed as having been furious Gem eral Nodzu Is reported to have been se- riously wounded but this cannot be l confirmed.
 Mukden itself remains quiet. though the sounds of battle are plainly heard to the south.
 Hospitals Overtaxed. The railway station is oongested with trains of wounded proceeding to Har- bin. The hospital facilities are conn pletely overtaxed. Six thousand wounded arrived at Mukden on Satur- day alone The heroic surgeons and nurses many of whom have been with out sleep for thirty-six hours, are ready to drop with fatigue.
 Although the official account of the battle does not present the disastrous picture that many in St. Petersburg have resigned themselves to see, the general feeling here is of the deepest gloom. If the battle has not been Rus sia's Sedan in fact. the moral and po- litical effect could hardly be worse. The result of the war and its conduct Is more unpopular than ever at home,