The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-19
HABITS OF THE SOLDIERS,
Mtkad0's Men Practical-.0p.
 p0nentS POetical.
Associated Press Correspondent Tells oi Life of Warriors and Incidents of War Raging in Far
 East.

l Correspondence of Associated Press.I l With the First Japanese Army, Tiel
 Shttien, Manchuria, Aug. 12.--The les
 sons of the campaign are a text con-
 stantly before the eyes of the military | observers with this army. They have l made no revolutionary discoveries thus l far; indeed the chief lesson has been 1 the ovcrshadowing importance of that | complete preparation which has made every cog of every wheel of the great machine slide quietly into its groove l at the appointed time, and the attention to details for lack of which the ser wants of the Czar are wasting so much brave food for powder.
 The work of the Russian artillery early on the 31st of July commanded | the highest praise from every one. It was in strong contrast to the showing made at the Yalu and was In every re- spect credit to that arm of the Rus | sian service. Their gun positions were selected by engineers who appreciated l the possibilities of the country as they | failed to do at the Yalu.
 The range of hills which push for
 ward into the valley on both sides of Taowan afforded a line of defense l which, speaking roughly, extended | nearly in a semi-circle. Most of the Russian guns looked down into the val l ley and also commanded the lower ranges of the hills beyond 1t, where the seven Japanese batteries must cover | while they presented to the enemy only | sky line tarkets difficult to gauge Con- | sequently they gave the Japanese artil- lery hard day of 1t and compelled the batteries with the Japanese left divis ion attempting to flank the Russian
 right to shift their ground repeatedly
 to avoid the fierce and accurate fire
 poured upon them wherever they opened.
 Moreover, the bravery of the Russian
 gunner was beyond all praise. On
 riding over the battle ground after wards, 1t was seen that although the Japanese shells had hardly been able to reach these Russian guns on the high
 peak behind Taowan, the other batte-
 ries had endured a perfect hailstorm of
 shells which lay underfoot everywhere
 while common shells had torn gaps
 every few feet about the guns Many statements have occurred in European newspapers about the superiority uf the Japanese guns. but the work so far has illustrated the western aphorism that Success Is not holding a good hand but in playing poor hand we'll" It is conceded by the exports who have
 seen their work in the field that the
 
 panese and that the ratio to insure equality should be about six Japanese guns against four Russian.
 Russ Infantry Poor. But the showing made by the Russian infantry leaves much to be explained. If their trenches had been held by marksmen like the Boers. there would have been no question of the Japanese reaching them without heavy loss if at all. They were dug in splendid posi- tions on the sides and summits of hills and the approaches across the valley and up the hillsides had little cover ex- cept patches of corn. Yet the Russian defense was either remarkably weak or only demonstration. because the Japanese of the central division hit by their fire numbered only a score or two.
 Moreover there was the same blum ders In management that marked the Yalu enlargement. The infantry in front of the Japanese left fought well: but late on the night of the battle two Russian battalions appeared north of Taowan in front of the Japanese right flank and then retired without opening fire and the purpose of their movement is a mystery.
 At Henling. where a thousand were cut to pieces and where as at Hama tan. they had brass band that left It's instruments in the field. they gave one of the finest exhibitions of bravery witnessed during the war. They were marching in close columns of tours under a destructive fire and although men were cut down by squads they never broke ranks nor retreated. Theories of Generaiship. The great number of casualties among the Russian officers and particu- llarly their generals, while no Japan ese generals have been hit. is due llarpeIv to different theories of general ship followed In the armies
 The generals of the Japanese are di- rectors. while the Russians cling to the old Skobeloff tradition of a command CT at the head of his men leading in the fighting. From the Japanese lines we can see the whte-coated Russian officers riding conspicuOusly before their troops. while from the Russian side if must be hard to discover the Japanese officers because their uni forms are so like those of the ranks and because General Kuroki and the lesser generals usually are somewhere behind the fighting line managing tLeIr battles by telegraph and tele-
 phone.
 Probably electricity has never play ed so great a part in warfare before as 1t does with the Japanese. Every general of brigade In the field Is like Mexican ambassador, 'at the end of wire" which his divisional commander contro,s and the generals of divisions are in touch by telephone or telegraph with the corps commander. The en- gincers run wires after the columns with marvellous rapldity The Engineers Work. Firing is heard somewhere at the front A detachment of engineers emerges from headquarters; pack monies carving bundles of light bamboo poles while coils and carts fol- low them with coils of slender copper wire. The poles have pointed ends and arc quickly planted the wire spreads out as fast as men can uncoil 1t, and a field telephone is at work. No evil dences have been seen as the army ad- vanced into the enemy's country that
 the Russians employ the telegraph ex- cIusively. There are no traces of wires or poles except the old Chinese lines from Antung to Pekin.