The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-02
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St. Petersburg. Sept 2.-The news of the evacuation of Liaoyang and the withdrawal of the Russian army to the right bank of the Taitse river reached only a small section of the people of St. Petersburg at late hour, and caused intense excitement ands ndsdisappointments.
 Th4 ma 1rit, oi tue ipha bitapts re- tired to rest, believing that the Rus sion arms had again been successful and that the Japanese attacks had been repelled. Ugly suspicious. how ever. have been rife during the day owing to the absence of press telc- grams from Liaoyang, leading to the belief that the communications had been cut by General Kuroki.
 The following statement was ob- tained by the Associated Press from the war office at ten o'clock Thursday night:
 General Kurokrs army crossed in force to the right bank of the Taitse river, and it therefore became neces- -sary for the Russians to be In po sition to repel blow In this direc- ton.
 Tn view of this development in the operations, General kuropatkin decid- ed to abandon his positions on the left bank and to concentrate his whole army on the other side of the river. This position Is the stopgest both in character and in site. The great issue will be finally decided there.
 Russian Forces Compact. By withdrawing to thls position the Russian army avoided the danger of being divided by the river and en- joys the advantage of compactness.
 General Kuropatkin's move, there fore, is not to be considered as a re- treat, but rather as the carrying out of a we'll defined Idea.
 The withdrawal of the Russians to the right bank involved the aban- donment of Liaoyang. which is situa- ted on the left bank The Japanese took advantage of this to occupy the city, but the sternest part of the fighting is still before them unless General Kuropatkin decides at the last hour to again fall back to the northward. It is more than likely. however, that he will decide to fight to a finish. The cards are all in his favor, 1t Is believed now that he has the Japanese divioed by the river, thus effectually turning the tables upon his foe.
 The determined pursuit by the Jap anese of the Russian outposts when General Kuropatkin gave the first or der to withdraw was probably due to their anxiety tt keep the Russians south of Liaoyang until General Kuro- ki should be able to strike from the northeast. General -turopatkin, how ever, saw the trap and cleverly avoid- ed it.
 Fighting of September I.
 Up to the hour of filing this dispatch. the war office has not given out the de- tails of the fighting of September 1. but 1t is believed that this fighting ex- ceeded in fierceness that of any previ- ous day. The absence of press tele- grams from Liaoyang September 1 aroused suspicion that changes of i'm portance were proceeding which the military censors did not wish to be made known.
 A telegram from the Associated Press correspondent at Mukden filed at s.27 on the evening of September | states that the train service between Mukden and Liaoyang has been inter rupted. but the dispatch does not men ton whether telegraph'c communica- tions are open.
 According to a dispatch from Liao- yang. General Kuroki made his fl st attempt to cross the Taitse river late in the evening of August 3o undf r cover of a heavy bcmbardment of the extreme Russian left. The Japlne, Q artillery. which had been firing unin- terruptedly for fourteen hours that day, ceased about o'clock and then suddenly re-opened about II o'clock to conceal Kurokis preparations for crossing the river.
 These preparations necessitated the establishment of d pontoon bridge as the river was not fordable lower than Sakankankwantun and the pontoors must have been foated down the stream.
 The efforts of the Japanese to cross the river August 30 were not success FuI. and General Kuroki therefore or