The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-02-18
COT RISE OF The WAR.

Rv iuadvertence yesterday, the Ad-
yArtiser spoke of Hardin as the prooa-
HE objective of the japanese army III
the extreme north of Korea. what was
meant was the other railroad junction
lower down and distant but one nun
ared miles from the. Yalu, the place
x.,bera the line to Newchwang leaves
the main road. Hardin. at the june
tion with the V1adivostok road, IS uh-
doubtedly a point the japanese WIN
eventually aim at, but the approach
tn if must be along the railroad at TINS
.fnoe of wear and cannot be rapid pro
viding the Russians make the defence
of which they are capable.
# would work out well for the Jap
anese if they could get between Port
Arthur and Hardin with a sufficient
force to isolate the latter, leaving an
other army free to attack the fortress
without danger of an assault from the
rear. at the same time cutting the Rus
sian garrison off from all food supplies.
Current dispatches justify what this
journal has said all along about
I.iaotong objective. Everything when
concerns movement on the Aalo
concerns the railroad only. The 1aiu
river itself is not an important
point except as it offers a landing
MACE to invaders. What force the Rus
slams have there is obviously designed
TO protect railroad communication;
what force the japanese have landed is
as surely intended to break that safe
guard down.
1t may be fairly assumed that the
Japanese, if they once get the railroad
VIII work their way north as fast as
they can. for the more of the railroad
they control. the better for them and
the worse for the Russians OF course
the isolation of vladivostok and New
chwang are of only less Importance
than that of Port Arthur.
Meanwhile the Baltic fleet is slowly
coming on to eventually join the Red
Sea fleet and try once more for the
mastery of the sea. Mr.. Ballou, the
local naval investigator, does not re-
gard the Baltic fleet highly. but with
the Red Sea vessels added. it might be
called a respectable force. One of the
several strong reasons why the Jap
anese will want to make haste in the
matter of taking Port Arthur, Dalny
and Newchwang. is to deprive this fleet
of a Pechili refitting port and compel
it to run the gauntlet to Vladfvostok
where it might be bottled up.
The present situation at Port Arthur
is made worse for the Russians by fur
Their damage to their fleet. 1t is appar-
ent that Japan left cruisers and tor
pedo boats to guard the mouth of the
port while the battleships, which were
seen off VIII later, went on another
mission-probabl TO convoy transports.
This seems to have led the Russians
to come outside their port, with disas-
trous results to them. No news has
reached here from st. Petersburg of
this affair but London reported as fol-
lows on the 18th: Reports reach here
of a second engagement at Port Ar
thur in which eight Russian vessels
Were sunk and ten captured" As there
were but fifteen Russian battleships
and cruisers in Port Arthur February
3, and as six-aceording to a foreign
officers story printed wednesday-w
put out of commission on the Sth, one
more of the lot being blown up at
Chemulpo, the figures of the second
enga cement We're not convincing 1t is
possible, however, that, in the origi-
nal estimate of strength, torpedo boats
and destroyers We're not counted and
that these sustained the burden Of
calamity on the 14th.
The official Japanese account of the
affair of the 18th, only reports the as
sured sinking of one vessel, though a
torpedo was discharged in the dark at
another, The sunken vessel may have
been the Askold. though this is not
likely in view of previous dates.