Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1904-08-06
sANaU1NARY BATTLE.
Reported Loss of $4,000 Japanese
ir Attacks Upon. the Deienses
of Port Arthur.

ir Attacks Upon the Deienses
of Port Arthur.
London, Aug. 5.-General kuropat,
bin NV his continued withdrawal toward
,ha north has, according to all advices
received from the seat of war, been apie
80 avoid thus far decisive engagement
with the japanese forces enveloplng MS
army. He has, however, retreated
obont AS far as.is possible, and there is
no doubt in the minds of those most
closely in touch with the situation that
the fight will occur either today or by
Monday at the latest. There is pos
sbility that the fight will pot occur
about Ans-chan-chan, as has been gen.
orally believed, but that the field OF bat
tie NAV be transferred to the vicinity OF
Lao. Yang. This possibility arises from
the fact that the japanese army under
General Kuroki, which has been and
still is menacing the Russian force from
the northeast, is drawing its lines closely
around Lao Yang, and shows no dis
position to advance farther south. 1t is
probable that Kuropatkin's plan is to
yet as near Mukden as possible before
engaging the enemy. The forces OF the
Mikado, under Oku and NOdzu, continue
to advance and the encircling mesh Is
being daily drawn closer and closer.
Dispatches from st. Petersburg this
morning state that the pessimism there's
growing. II is known that official dis
patches have been received at frequent
intervals from the front during the past
few days and the fact that these have
not been made public is accentuatlng
the feeling Of anxiety as this silence by
tho officials is taken to indicate that the
dispatches have no hopeful indications
in them. All reports regarding the sit
uation at Port Arthur continue vague
and contradictory. Even,the dispatches
from Chefoo, the point from which the
first actual news of occurrences at the
Port might be expected, do not agree
with the sensational reports emanating
from there yesterday 20 the effect that
the Japanese had lost in the neighbor-
hood of II, 900 killed and wounded in
two DAYS battle about the outer de-
fences. They cannot be confirmed and are
generally believed to be greatly exagger-
ated. if not manufactured from the whole
cloth. The only point on which there
seems to be a general agreement is that
the japanese have been able to narrow
the semi-circles of troops besieging the
iortresses and are now close to the inner
work.
London Aug. Ga dispatch from
Nagasaki, Japan, states thata report has
reached there that Port Arthur has fall
len. The report is given little credence
here. 1t is generally thought 70 be
another wild rumor, such as have been
going The rounds for week past. All
dispatches from the vicinity of the Port
recently haveindicated that the Russians
we're in position to put up long con-
tinued fight. 1t is true that Russians
were still in possession there three days
ago.
London, Aug. 6.-The Central News
has dispatch from st. Petersburg stat
ing that the Russian coast guard ship
Slaya accidentally struck torpedo at
Kronstadi, today, but suffered no serious
damage.
London, Aug. GA dispatch from
| Vladivostok this morning states that the
Russian prize court there yesterday had
decided that the British steamer Knight
Commander, sunk by Vladivostok cruiser:
off Japan, was lawful prize. The dis
patch adds that the examination of the
cargo of the steamer, by means OF the
ships papers, disclosed the fact that the
bill of lading contained items of railway
material consigned through Japanese
port for Chemu,po, Korea. The court
naturally took this to mean that the ma
terial was destined for use on the Japa-
nese military railway now being construc'
ted from Seoul to the banks of the Yalu
river.
st. Petersburg, Aug. GA telegram
from Lao Yang states that the japanese
have lost 10, 900 killed and wounded il
an attack on the Russian centre. The
telegram was received by the newspaper
ViedomOsti, and reads as follows;
Lilac Yang, Aug. yesterday anc
today fifty-four battaions of japanese at
tackled our centre at Hudsiado. The
enemy charged repeatedly. Each time
their ranks were decimated. Our troop:
then slowly retired and selected suitable
positions, from which they inflicted ter.
rible loss OH the enemy, with artillery.
The japanese casualties are Estimated
as being between ten and thirteen thou
sand men killed and wounded"
st. Petersburg, Aug. GA dispatch
received from General Kuropatkin thii
afternoon reports an advance of thu
japanese army and an engagement
on the banks Of the Taitsite river, bu
gives no details Of the fight. His dis
patch follows: "The enemy on Angus
4th advanced fifteen yersts north of Hal
Cheng. The enemy is advancing on ouI
east front and has concentrated at Holm
gen. Considerable forces Of the enemy
at Gutzyantse and Siheyan crossed to the
right bank Of the Taitsite river but were
driven back"
| --H9----
Jail Delivery.
One of the worst jail deliveries in the