New-York tribune., 1904-09-12
RAILROAD INADEQUATE.
Causes Of Russian Defeat-Looting
Checked at Lao Yang.

Liao-Yang via TIen-Tsn. Sept. 1o.--Many
foreigners who observed the Russian troops at
Liso-Yang before the battle which resulted in
the Japanese occupation OF the city OF the
opinion that the Russian reverse the re-
suit OF the last four months OF failure in the
field. OF what they term Decentralization" i"
which began at the battle OF Kulien-Cheng.
The task Of General KurOpatkin seemed TO he
hopeless. The railroad during the month Of
July scarcely sufficed TO bring into Liao-Yang
enough Russian troops to replace those who
were lost by death. sickness or wounds during
the month, and it estimated that the Rus
slams would have TO outnumber the Japanese
two TO one In order to be successful against
them.
Scenes in Liao-Yang before the big battle
gave evidence OF a certain degree OF demoraliza-
ton the part OF the Russian forces After
the Japanese had won their first success at An
Shan-Chan and Kai-Feng-Shu. and were ad-
vancing rapidly on tho second line of Russian
defences some Of the Russian officers who had
been on the fighting line flung their RESPONSE
bities aside Immediately after they reached
Liao-Yang and sought forgetfulness of the hard
ships Of their past work and the dangers of
the future. The pagoda garden was gay with
merrymakers: there was much drinking and
sounds Of music and women's singing were
heard from the officers quarters in the foreign
settlement
At the beginning Of the five days fighting the
hotels and public restaurants Of Lao-Yang were
deserted. soldiers and officers having been or
dered to the fighting line. but the men came
back into the city from the front many of those
who could INDUCED themselves in such pleasures
as the city afforded.
The Russian soldiers persistently underesti
mated the strength of the Japanese and I'm Liao-
Yang the statements often heard, even
after the fighting at Hai-Cheng and An-Shan-
Chan. that had not begun yet, and that the
Japanese were playing dangerous game. 1t
was generally believed among the Russian
troops that the japanese were enlisting boys and
old men in their ranks, for otherwise they could
not account for the large number of soldiers op-
posed to them in the field. The attitude Of
many Of the Russian troops with regard TO the
fighting ability and strength of the japanese is
changing. however, and the more intelligent are
beginning to give their enemy full credit for his
So gacity and worth.
The action OF the Chinese OF Liao-Yang when
the change in masters Of the city occurred was
astonishing. They had fattened long on the
Russian occupation, but soon the japanese
were known to be coming in they made ready
with their newly manufactured japanese flags to
greet the conquerors. Chinese shopkeepers at
once hid all the stores in their possession which
tion as the japanese troops later looted all such
property, breaking into neutral premises
where it had been placed for safe keeping.
AS the Japanese soldiers marched through the
streets of Liao-Yang they splashed the mud and
filth of the roadways on Cinnamon lying drugged
and senseless in the low opium joints fronting
the narrow alleys and passages. Many of the
japanese soldiers had been without proper or
sufficient food for the last three days of the
great battle, and this fact has been advanced in
excuse for their apparently outrageous looting.
The japanese looting was of short duration,
and now the comparative quiet and temperance
OF the Japanese troops is in strange contrast to
the noisy and bustling activity of the Russian
occupation, which for many months had made
Liao-Yang more like Western than an Eastern
city. The japanese military authorities as soon
as they reached Liao-Yang put into operation
their rigorous censorship on press messages, but
the correspondent OF The Associated Press was
enabled TO file his dispatch by way of Tien-
Tsin.
On account Of the scarcity OF wood the jap
snese are burying large numbers OF their dead
instead OF burning them.