The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-09-19
What Observers Are Learning
in the Orient.
METHODS ARE DIFFERENT
STRIKING CONTRASTS BETWEEN
TWO NATIONS. a..sm.

have made no revolutionary discover
les thus far; indeed. the chief lesson !
has been the Overshadowing irnpor- 1
tance Of that complete preparation
which has made every cog OF every
wheel of the great machine slide quiet
ly into its groove at the appointe6i
minute, the attention to details Sostf
lack Of which the servants of the czarY
are wasting so much brave food for
powder.
The work Of the Russians early GA |
the 3lst OF July commanded the high |
est praise from everyone. 1t was in
strong contrast to the showing made /
AT the Yalu and was in every respect |
a credit to that arm of the Russian ]
service. Their gun positions were Sc
lected by engineers who appreciated
Z the possibilities of the country as they |
had failed TO do at the Yalu. The
contour Of the hills which push for
ward into the valley both sides of Tao
wan afforded a line of defense which. |
speaking roughly. extended nearly in
n SeIni-circle. Most OF the Russian
b GUNS looked down into the valley and |
F. also commanded the lower ranges OF
the hills beyond IL. where the seven
Japanese batteries must find cover |
while they presented to the enemy
only skyline targets, difficult to gauge.
Consequently they gave the Japanese
artillery q hard day of 1t and COM
PEELED the batteries with the japanese
left division attempting to flank the
Russian right to shift their ground
repeatedly TO avoid the fierce and 40
curate FIRE poured upon them wherev
they opened. Moreover, the bravGYf
Of the Russian gunners was beyond all
praise. On riding over the battle
ground afterward il was seen that All
Though the japanese shells had hacolE
he"D able TO reach those Russian gf1@l
on the high peak behind TaOwan, the
other batteries had endured perfect
hai's.orm OF shrapnel which were un-
der foot everywhere, while common
shells had torn gaps over every few
feet Of ground about the guns. Many
statements have appeared in European
newspapers about the superiority of
Japanese guns. but their work so far
has illustrated the western aphorism
that success is not in holding a good
hand, but in playing poor hand we'll.
1t is conceded by the experts who have
seen their work in the field that the
Russian guns are better than the jag
snese and that the ratio to insure
equality should be about six Japanese
guns against four Russians.
Infantry's Poor Showing.
But the showing made by the Rus
sian infantry leaves much to be eX-
planned. IL their trenches had been
held by marksmen like the-Boers there
would have been no question of the
Japanese reaching them without heavy
loss, if at all. They were dug in splen-
did positions on the sides and the sum-
mits Of hills, and the approaches across
the valley and up the hillsides had
little cover except patches of corn. Yet
the Russian defense was either re-
11arkably weak--or- only a deHonstra-
ton, because the japanese Of the cen
trail division hit by their fire num-
bered only a score or two. Moreover,
there We're the same plumbers in man
agement that marked the Yalu. The
infantry i'm front of the Japanese left
fought we'll and maueuvered skilIfuIly.
but late on the night of the battle two
Russian battalions appeared north OF
Taowan I'm front of the Japanese right
flank and then retired without opening
fire, and the purpose of their move
ment remains a mystery. AT Henling,
where a thousand were cut 10 pieces.
and where. as at Hamatan. they had
brass band that left its instruments in
the field. they gave one OF the finest
exhibitions of futile bravery witnessed
during the war. They were marching
in close column of tours under de-
structive FIRE and although men We're
cut down by squads. they never broke
ranks nor retreated. The uselessness
of the sacrifice was as eloquent as its
courage. and the credit for the former
belonged 70 the officers
Different Systems of Generalship.
The great number of casualties
among the Russian officers. and par
ticulariy their generals. while no Jap
anese generals have been hit. is due
largely to the different theories Of
generalship followed in the two ar
mics The generals Of the japanese
u ,TTr
10 the old SkObelOff tradition Of a
commander at the head of his men
leading the fighting. From the Japan
csc lines we can see the white-cOateu
Russian officers riding cOnspicuously
before their troops. while from the
Russian side 1t must~be hard TO dis
cover the Japanese officers because
their uniforms are 80 like those OF the
ranks and because General KuroH and
the lesser generals usually are some
where behind the Sighting lines man
aging their battles by telegraph and
telephone Probably electricity has
never played so great a part in war
fare before as IL does with the Jap
anese. Every general of brigade IN
the field IS like modern ambassador.
lat the end of a wire which his di-
visional commander controls, and the
generals of divisions are in touch D.
telegraph or telephone with the corps
commander. The engineers run wires
after the columns with marvellous ra-
pidity. Firing is heard somewhere az
the front. a detachment or engineer
emerges from headquarters on pack
ponies carrying bundles of light bam-
hoo poles. while coolies and carts fol-
low them with coils Of slender copper
wire The poles, which have pointed
ends. are quickly planted. the wire
spreads out as fast as men can uncou
in and a field telephone is at work
No evidences have been seen as the
army advanced into the enemys coun'
try that the Russians employ the tele'
graph extensively. There are no traces
OF wires or poles except the old chi
nese line from Antung to Picking.
Japs More Business-Like.
The Russian generalship Is more spec
tacular and perhaps inspires the sol
dieFs with greater courage, out ui'
Jananese is more business-like. These
generals do not play 70 the galleries q
All. The censorship which they enforce
tends 20 deprive them OF their Just dues
I'm reputation Often correspondent
are forbidden to mention the names o.
the leaders in daring and important
fights because the names might gave
me enemy a clue TO the identity an6
therefore to the strength and the char
acteristics OF the organizations oppos
fng them. General OTTAWA gathered
his troops I'm the fog of early fnornint
on the Attn Of July and prevented TN
Russians from seizing the Motienling
he turned Kellars almost successfu
attack of the 18th into a disaster ant
his soldiers from the rocks above tn'
yuebltn1 shot down 1000 Russian!
v.ithovt any compensating damage e
themselves. He is a strategist and