Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1904-03-29
PROGRESS OF
THE WAR.

There appears to have been little real
fighting during the last week. The nu
merous alleged bombardments of Port
Arthur can all he boiled down into one
single attack. This bombardment was
served up fresh by the refugees arriving
at Yingow, Newchwang, Ten-tsin, Che
foo and Shanghai to the correspondents
in those towns. And the correspondents,
thinking they had new stories, promptly
cabled the refugee tales home. SO the
story kept drifting in all through the
week
1t has become evident that, all reports
to the contrary Notwithstanding, the
Japanese battleship squadron is quite
intact up to date. A Mukden CORE
spondent of a French paper visited Port
Arthur and was there informed that ac-
cor'ling to Russian advices the enemy's
squadron was reduced to the battleships
Shikishima, Yakima, Mikasa, aAsahi.
the Matsuse, which must mean the Hat
suse and the Fudashi. which must mean
thC > uyA- 4nC6C SlA D0lltSSAiDo 0At dlk
that the A1ikado has ever had.
The dash of the Port Arthur squadron
to unite with the Vladivostok cruisers
came TO nothing. The ships erept out
at night, bu. soon encountered the Jap
anese scouts and returned. On Tuesday
tile russian squadron, with the aid of
ice-breakers and dynamite, forced its
way out of frozen Vladivostok harbor,
and afterward was reported at rest in
Possiet bay, about ninety miles to the
south.
A Toxic paper which has hitherto re-
ceived great deal of accurate advance
information about military movements
printed statement that a japanese
army division had crossed the Tumen
river between Hyeisan and Mrsan. If
this news be true it is likely that the
divisions objective is Vladivostok.
Hyeisan and Musan thsy are marked
only on the larger maps lie on the boun-
dairy between Korea and Manchuria. The
two towns are about $50 miles apart by
road. Hyeisan may be found on large
maps by taking a line from Kilju slight
~ north of due west. Where this line
intersects the boundary is Hyeisan. Mu-
san lies to the northeast about 100 miles
as the crow flies or due west of Du-
kuga. On the Manchurian side of the
river there is fairly fat country between
Hyeisan and Musan. To the northeast
that is, in the direction Of Vladivostok
the fiat country continues. To the
southwest-that is, in the direction of
the mouth of the Yalu and the Seoul
Pekin road, along which another Jap
anese army is known 10 be operating
the fiat country is broken by series
of precipitate mountain ranges. In 9th
er words, it would be exceedingly diff
cult for an army in the position describ-
ed by the Toxic paper to move south
westward toward the mouth of the Yalu
or the Liaotung peninsula, whereas it
would be comparatively easy, so far as
the coniguration of the ground goes, for
such an army to march northeast, toward
Vladivostok.
The inference is strong that if the di-
vision has crossed the Tumen river, as
reported. its objective will be that town.
That will give two or perhaps three dis
tinct campaigns. One will be against
Vladivostok. Another will be against
the Russian forces near Win, at the
mouth Of the Yalu. A third may be
made by an expeditionary army debark-
ing from ships behind Port Arthur and
raking that place in the rear. 1t is reck-
oned dangerous to divide forces too great
ly. Possibly the japanese fear a three
fold division, and prefer to make their
fight in two sections only. If such is
their intention it goes to explain why
the Japs have hitherto neglected what
every military expert who has appear
ed in an English speaking newspaper