Waterbury evening Democrat., 1904-12-17
THE WAR AS VIEWED
 FROn THE SIDE LINES.
A Correspo Who Travelled Among the Dead and the Lying Majority of Russian Wounded Shot in the This is Attributed the Shrapnsl Burst ing in the Air.

Harbin. Nov 16.-sBack and forth along the railway, now that there is not much in the way of actiye fight ing. writes a staff correspondent oi the Associated Press. lone meets many interesting acquaintances, near ly all of whom have something of in. terest to add to the general story. ot the war. Coming up the last time across the Itsun river was put I'D TOT the night by the bridge guard. clever companionable fellows with some very intelligent Chinese assistants, There is an iron br1uge across the riv- CT with. n cozy little tort at either end and boat patroIiing the river beneath to guard agalnst sudden descents ot the Chinese bandits. who ,ale always on the alert to annoy the lines of com munlcatiop. even if they cannot cut them. But the railway guard is 3 very mohiie organization and can con- centrate a strong force tip or down the line at short notice. while the guard boat makes the river hanks rln. tenabfe for an enemy.
 One of the Chinese on guard at the bridge is a very intel ligent fellow from the southern provinces and he predicts sweeping changes in China when this war is over. He does nnt speak as though he regarded Mancnu- ria as ah ilteSral part of China. He said: Whoever wins in this war IS goang t0 take AIanchuria. whether il -is Japanese or Russian China will not much care, But when the war is oyer you are going to see changes in China's internal economy. There are a great many Of us. especially in the south. who have studied the question tllorougilIy. We know what we want in the way of Chinese reforms and VIC are going to act filana after this warsola the border is out of the way.
 on a pronlon ntory high above the Itsun is perched a pretty little Chinese village aud here is estab blished one or tlIa neat. clean and compact little zemstvo hospitals. One ofsthe doctors had much to say of the wounded. ot whom he has handled hundreds and seen thousands. Cautiously enough said he. sbhe ma inritY of our wounded are shot iu the head. I attribute this to the shrapnel bursting in the alr, The Japanese artillery has been re spolsfhIR for the a 0st of our casual fecfiFe arm of tho Japanese service.
 We have many example les of the stoicisn and devotion of the soldiers who come under our care. | was at tendiug "a dying Cossack recently. He was in terrible pain. [ stopped to ask him at the end what message he had to send to his parents or relatives. But instead he gave me the number of his rifle. told me where 1t was and reduested that it should be sentIto his commander.
 Tn the field hospitals the men are put ss5 in a tent. They preserve their dise4nIine even in he'd and elect one of their tent mates. usually one of the less. severely wounded. as commander In Harbin the volunteer surgeons and nurses have been 9 blessing.
 One of the things that will need some explaining when the war is over is- how the Chinese bandits got their arms The majority of them carry Winchesters hut there are many Mau; sars and Japanese rifles among them and strongest If all. many Russian ii hes from tie goyetmenl factory, Jevi dently rifles that have been reflected by the inspectors, but which could moi have come into the hands of the ban dts unless they had been stelen and ilIEcitIy sold.
 gThere was an artillery officer iT tile station at, Mukden when I 5last passed through. He had been through seven battles ana had the St George't cross. His views as an expert were interesting. He holds that the aver age of the Russian artillery is tho equal of the Japanese, while tllelF fat est duiekfirers are better. But in th, earlier lighting, le says, the Japanest proved better gunners and mor' adaptable in placing and maskins their Batteries. The Rnssian guns II the earlier fights always occupied tho cresfs 0f the Aalls and fred p0in blank Ehe result was that they wer, knocked out by the Japanese hatteF1e every time. But now the Russlanl are using little except high angle fire It is not unusual to have a battery 20 yards in the rear of hilltop and tn, A141sg IS governed entirely by tele phone alii signals. 'fle result Is tla now the Russian artillery more thar holds itB own with the Japanese"