The Savannah morning news., 1904-12-25
GREAT ARMIES UNDER GROUND.
How the Russians and Japanese Are
Passing the Winter In Manchuria.
From the London Times

From the London Times.
With November the cold weather be-
gins in Manchurit, and is increasingly
intense. Around Mukden the thermo-
meter does not usually fall below zero
(Fahrenheit) until the middle of De-
cember, when night after night 1t may
sink to 5, 10 and even 20 degrees below
zero, and during January to 3d. In
the frequent northeasterly or north
westerly billiards. no human beings
can live under canvas. Some may be
| quartered in native houses; but where,
even supposing that the owners should
be ruthlessly turned out, will accom-
mediation be found for half million of
men?
The answer is simple; the Japanese
| are already making use OF underground
dwellings; such as the natives some
times use, and which were used by the
Russians during the winter after the
Boxers had destroyed their railway
buildings. The soil Of Manchuria, ex-
cepting In certain places is dry at this
| season, especially in the districts be-
| tween Mukden and Liau-Yang, where
| Ii is, largely, loess and sand The
| Japanese, who hold the low hills with
| gentle slopes, are In the better posi-
| ton. The method is TO dig a trench
| about ten feet to twelve feet deep
and varying i'm width, but generally
about nine feet wide. A narrow stair
way is cut leading down TO the south
end. At the base 1t is widened and a
door frame set up with a native door,
| turning on wooden pivots The upper
| half Of the door is open work, which,
being covered with the Opaque native
window paper. admits light. The sun
shines at midday down the steps, and,
when the door is opened. freshens and
Il We ha a 10 al. 4.
in, on one side is a cooking stove,
| camp oven or boiler, In a simple and
| primitive style, TO which both Rus
slams and Japanese are accustomed.
Along the length OF the trench is a
| platform some 2z feet high and six
| feet wide, made of hammered earth
and rough, unburned bricks. Beneath
this are several simple fiues, up and
| down which the smoke and heat from
the cooking place finds It's way, issu-
| ing at the end, remote from the en-
| trance. by a small chimney, cut in
| the solid ground. On this platform,
which resembles the old style Of green
house fiue and is called by the Chi
nese a kang, many men can sleep in
| warmth and comfort on a rough mat
| OF dried grass. This mode OF heating
is not only economical. but the fues
consume and carry Off the earth damp
/ or carbonic gas which always gener-
stes IN underground dwellings. Across
the top Of the trench rough pieces OF
timber or poles are laid, and on these
kaoliang stalks or straw upon which Is
heaped the earth excavated from the
trench. This covering keeps out the
cold and Is practically shellproof. No
rain falls. and but little snow. and
the latter can, if desired. be SWEPT
or the roofs or mounds over the DWELL
ing
The japanese have access 20 n large
number of the native surface" coal
mines, where coarse dust coal n
readily cNcavated and can be, when
mixed with a little wet loose earth,
burned IN the rough cooking places re-
forfcd 20. in which grass, rubbish and
almost anything can also be consumed
~ fuel. Whilst the first twelve feet
20 twenty feet ~ the plain ana low
hills now occupied by the armies are
dry iu winter, good water can be-
found almost anywhere af twenty-five
feet ~ thirty feet below the surface.