The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-12

thO oay'
 The Japanese for some reason re- trained from making the most of their guns on this occasion. The Russians retreating in large compact bodies presented splendid targets A re" shells now and then might have thrown them into confusion but after the re- tirement began the Japanese artillery was silent. The spectators with this army have yet to see it engaged In lm- promptu field work for all its action as at the crossing of the Yalu. has been shooting at distance and elevations previously known.
 Between the methods of shooting or the two armies there was as great contrast as in other essentials. Russian firing is almost all by volleys with quite mechanical regularity. Even In the use of artillery they follow plan of discharging one gun after another rapidly and with precision. Today four Russian guns saluted the Japanese for an hour as a regiment of the latter was moving into position before the Rus sian front. The manner of it was. .'One; Two; Three; Four" again. Their infantry work is on the same order
 Jnpanese Fire nt Will.
 Occasionally the Japanese use volleys but most of the time they fire at will giving the enemy less information of their position and gaining the advan- tages of individual craftsmanship. They lie like a hunter in the bush waiting for his game and when they see 1t they blaze away-"Boer tactics, their ofn- cers explain.
 For the Russians it is as though the Boer war had never been" an English officer exclaimed, while watching the fight of July IT. The Russian soldiers has not the head to be trusted to use his ammunition of his own free will, Is the general explanation. Moreover lit is the opinion of all who have seen the two in battle that the Russians are much poorer marksmen than the Japa- nese, although the latter are not rated as high as certain other armies. No one who has seen this campaign questions Russian bravery. The great superiority of the Japanese lies in the head work of officers and men. The scene around the temple nearest the Pass when the correspondents arrived on the field bore witness eloquently to the courage of the patient Slav. Through four terrible hours the Thirty Fourth European Regiment held their ground under a fierce fire from the Japanese redoubts above them. The temple consists of one storied gray brick buildings forming three sides of d sheltered by Hostile Shrines. The compound Is perhaps a hundred feet square and looking in through the gates one sees the monster scarlet and gold painted mud effigies of grotesque deities of war who by their spells kept back the Japanese from the Mo- tien- Ling ten years ago. This month their shrine has sheltered many Japa- nese struck down by Russian bullets, the red cross hangs in Its gateway and the telegraph ticks on its altar. To the right of the temple, Qacing the pass) runs a road which, there. Is about two thousand yards from the main Japanese redoubts on the right for half a mile or more at an angle nearing the trenches which are sepa- rated from 1t by a wide deep ravine most of the distance.
 For four hours. from five to nine, the Russian attacking line held the temple and the road above it to the corner where 1t turns toward the mouth of the pass. and for four hours the Japa- nese in their trenches poured contin- , uous and deadly fire across the inter vening chasm.
 The temple Itself became a veritable slaughter house. In the road and the bushy field beyond 1t the Russians left more than hundred dead and wounded and 1t was said that at the angle of the road the nearest point to the pass which they gained, the bodies lay so close that it was necessary to pile them away to make room for the ammuni- tion trains that followed the pursuing columns.
 Ground Slowed With Bullets. From seven to nine the Japanese be- yond the deep ravine fired shrapnel among the Russian infantry al a range of little more than two thousand yards. Several shells struck the temple walls Two of them penetrated fifteen inches of compact bricks and dropped inside the yard. All over the temple. and over the road and the field about it.. shrapnel balls were strewn thickly and the ground was sowed with rifle bull lets. which could be picked up on every square foot. They testified convincin- gly to the staying powers of the Rus sian soldiery and upheld the judgment of their officers in electing to make a frontal attack against the gateway to southern Manchuria.
 Evidence more striking was the har- vest of the bullets. Not since Hama tan has this army seen more men dis abled on a small area Along the line where the Russian wave broke it left a fringe of dead and wounded. Five bodies were close together in the road just above the temple. all lying with their faces toward the enemy as they had dropped apparently In the first rush. One corpse was on it's hands and knees still clutching a rifle and but for the head fallen forward on the chest might have seemed alive and stooping to shoot. Others lay on their faces as they had been stricken with instant death. And others, some not yet dead. had crawled behind bushes and rocks in hope of shelter.
 Not Ashamed to Surrender. Two rifles stuck up in the road against little piles of stones, with handerchiefs tied to the bayonet just as had been done at Hamatan. The
 owners, 1t seemed tired of the fight and
 surrendered when the Japanese came
 down upon them. They were not the
 only ones to abandon the business
 The squads searching for wounded dis
 covered several stalwart soldiers with
 out any marks on them huddled in the
 shrubbery. Of one of these a foreign
 attache, speaking Russian asked if he
 was not ashamed. No" replied the
 soldier. T have had enough of thi:
 war, and made up my mind to be talk
 en prisoner the first time I found g chance The reports current in the
 army credit many Russian prisoners
 with the same action.
 The Russian go into battle witt heavy marching equipment. weighted ldown by all their effects. One soldier