The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-10-25

With the country enveloDed in a
thick fog and the roads in wretched
condition, activity is for h time be-
ing impossible for either the Japan
csc or the Russian army south oc
There nave been several
brisk skirmishes and some surprises
of a minor character. but the lift
ing of the fog must precede any not
able conflict OF the hostile forces
No official eport from the COM
mander at Port Arthur later than
october 10 has reached st. Peters
gurg.
ALMOST COMPLETE SUSPENSION
OF uOSTILITIEs.
St. Petersburg, October 81, 2:30 a.
m.-Apart from skirmishes and ex-
ploits of soaring parties there is
almost 4 complete suspension of OPP
erations IN Man :llfa i. The heavens
have interposed o put a stop to
bioodshed. Rain. impossible a
and exhausted armies are factors
sufficient in themselves to explain
the cessation of hostilities. and these
conditions are aggravated by a dense
fog overspreading the whole of the
atre of war. Behind this pail either
side would be able to change the
disposition of whole forces in abso-
lutte secrecy: but the ~obscur1ty rem
ders absolutely dangerous any at
temDt at a forward movement
When the curtain of mist is lifted
the fighting may be resumed under
totally changed conditions
The wild flight of rumors contin-
ues in St Petersburg. the rout OF
capture of japanese divisions or bat
talionS and scores of guns alternat-
ing with alarmist stories Of General
Kuropatkin's retreat on Mukden. all
equally untrue. The war office de-
clares hat there have been no seri-
Gus developments since the capture
OF Lone Tree Hill last Sunday ana
authorizes the Associated Press to
deny the report that a Russian bat
tallion had been annihilated in try
ing to recross the Taitse river
The Associated Press is informed
on good authority that the sixteenth
army corps will be the next to start
for the front. This corps is station
ed at Vitebsk and belongs to the mil
itary district of Wilma which. as al
ready announced by n Associated
Press is going out as a part of the
second M~anchurian army under the
former chief of the Wilma district,
General ~Grippenberg. The corps
probably will leave Wilma November
Sth direct for Hardin.
Emperor Nicholas has received no
report from General Stoessel. the
military commander at ort Arthur
since October 10.
A correspondent of the Russky
Listok sends to that paper a graphic
account of the fighting by Genera;
Bilderling'S carps on October 18th,
when the Russian right f1ank was
broken. L now DEVELOPS that G:sas-
ter was averted solely by the timefy
arrival of General Soboleff's sixth
Siberian corps, composed almost en-
tirely of reservists and many regi-
ments of which were experiencing
their first taste of actual war. The
correspondent telegraphs that Cen
eral Oku's desperate onslaught fore
ed hack General Chickering's right.
The situation was most critical: but
the sixth corps. which a been held
IN reserve. promptly came UP and
supported Bildering, and things as
Eumed a brighter aspect. The fight
ing was exceedingly furious. The
reserve corps regiments, which a
not before been under fire. bore the
brunt of the japanese advance ana
obstinate,y held their ground The
following day the battle was resum-
ed with the fullest intensity. The
Japanese threw themselves headlons
against the positions of the sixth and
seventeenth corps. The fighting en-
tinued the whole day, despite a ter
rife downpour OF rain and a fearful
thunderstorm. A japanese battery
dashed out from Genera Oku's right
and opened a deadly fire upon the
Russian trenches until the tenth ar
tillery brigade came int action.
LOSSES in THE RECENT FIGHTING
Toxic, october 20.-Noon. Reliable
reports received from private sources
estimate the losses of the Japanese left
army during the recent battle at about
five thousand.
The number of Russian dead is large
" increased by the further discovery
of bodies Notwithstanding the nightly
removals by lantern light.
The Russian forces have been rein
forced by about thirty thousand men
OF the seventeenth corps, a large por>