Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-12-13

The japanese soldiers are straining
every nerve to get into Port Arthur.
before the Baltic fleet shall arrive
there. That fleet is slowly moving
eastward. 1t was reported last week
that Admiral Rojestvensky's division
was coaling off Swakopsmund. in Ger
man Southwest Africa. The division
which Went by way of the Suez Canal
has passed cut 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
elninence 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 breach
in the inner line of defenses of Port
Arthur. The desperate and unsuc-
cessful effort of General Stoessel to re-
gain it 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 Il question of time But
while the advanced position held by
the Japanese commands the town and
harbor OF Port Arthur, the Russians
can 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 the 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 company of his men well up
toward the summit, but after a 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 premilinary
OF pfl-c TOD IL,
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 indomitable
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 a 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 line OF forts on
which the fighting has now centered.
The sailors from the fleet 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 vic
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 a final as
sault the men can expect no quarter
from the enemy. They face extermi-
nation And yet they fight on as
tiercely and doggedly as ever.
Port Arthur will have place in
history 0s one of the most famous Of
sieges. The Japanese assailants viii
be remembered for their cheerful in
difference to death in their terrible
| charges, but the Russian defenders
| will make an even stronger appeal to
! the imaginations of men in the future.
/ AS far as is known the situation on
! the line of the Shakkhe River is much
what it was a week ago. There have
been Russian reports of movements in
which the Japanese got the worst of
! it and japanese reports in which the
Russians came off second best Il is
intimated that General Kuroki is NOV
ing around the Russian left flank, but
| there is no evidence of it.
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 a for
ward movement to get possession OF
the Yentai coal mines, of which the
| Japanese have the benefit. IL so 1t
will be the first battle on record for
! the possession of a coal mine. The
| question of water supply may become
/ a serious one now that the streams
are frozen up. The lepidemics which
come from the drinking of polluted
water may break out.
The japanese dietl has met and is
preparing to vote the money needed to
/ carry on the war nextjyear. The terms
which it was intimSted during the
week would be ACCEPTABLE to Japan
the restoration Of Mabchuria to China
4 and the renunciati9nfby Russia OF her
lease Of the tip Of Nhe Haotung pen
insula, Port Arthur tt he dismantled--
are not acceptable tol Russia. The ru-
NOR that she is willi5g 70 make peace
with Japan if that cbTntry will enter
| into a close alliancet the two TO be
Joint masters of China and the Orient,
hardly deserves nOtife.
KuFopatkin reportsf an engagement
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