The San Francisco call., 1904-09-03

sent TO the Car by General Kuropat-
kin on Thursday evening, the most OF
which was given out by the War Oftice
and was cabled by the press at 4;5O
o'clock on Friday afternoon, was not
made public last night, as was expect
ed. 1t was promised to the local press
and was awaited with feverish impa-
tience until o'clock this morning,
when it was announced that it would
be issued to-day. All the news, there
fore, as far as ST. Petersburg is con-
cerned is contained in kilograms from
foreign sources, and there Is painful
suspense awaiting news from Russian
sources.
Continued and dogged confidence in
General Kuropatkin is expressed In
many quarters, and the public gener-
ally, as we'll as many of the military
authorities, absolutely refuse to believe
that Liaoyang has been abandoned, or
if 1T has been abandoned that General
Kuropatkin is not in a better position
to make a stand north of the Taitse
River
There seemed to be an air Of consid-
erable confidence at Peterhof last
night. An official who saw the Gear
yesterday afternoon said that he was
extremely confident. Experts who are
familiar with the nature Of the intri-
cate and powerful defenses constructed
north of the Taitse River by General
Velitchko, one of Rnssia's foremost army
engineers, believe that the Japanese are
facing an almost impossible task in at
tacking them, especially with divided
forces.
1t is pointed out that General Kuroki
will have TO make a considerable de-
tour to reunite his forces. The bridge
heads abutting on the north bank OF
the Taitse River are strongly defended
by intrenched artillery, while it is said
that there is a strong rear guard still
on the south bank to contest the Japa-
nese advance. thus making the bridges
utterly impracticable for Japanese
crossing. The river itself therefore be-
comes an important factor in the gen
eraI scheme of defense.
A temporary 1ull in the fighting
would not be surprising. The men on
both sides have already made almost
superhuman efforts, and it is thought
that there must soon be a let-up of
some sort.
The report that Rear Admiral Ouk-
tomsky, now in command of the naval
forces at Port Arthur, is to be court
martialed lacks confirmation The story
probably originated in the same sources
as the earlier report of his deposition
and of his suicide at Port Arthur.
STRATEGY OF "SLAV FOX"
ST. PETERSBURG. Sept. 2.-The
feet disclosed for the first time in
these dispatches last night that the
strongest Russian position prepared
bv General Kuropatkin was not
around the town of Liaoyang, as the
public had been led to believe, but on
the north bank of the Taitse River,
was a. secret so successfully guarded
that not even an intimation OF 1t had
leaked out. 1t is now explained that
the Russian commander in chief had
all along expected that the japanese,
when they made their advance on
I,jaoyang. would pursue the Identical
tactics which have been so successful
in every previous stage or the CAM
paign. and while attracting attention
in front would attempt, by vide
detour to outfiank the Russian posi-
ticn.
General Kuropatkin was not caught
napping. He was prepared for just
what has occurred and as soon as he
received word that General kurokl
had crossed the Taitse twenty miles
above Liaoyang and was moving west
ward. Kuropatkin met the move by
throwing his whole army over at
night. By this strategy Kuropatkin'
in the opinion of the General Star'
gained an immense advantage. His
arn1v Is concentrated on one side or
the river and the road is still open
for his retirement northward, while
tho Japanese armies, which must act
in unison. are separated by the river,
which places Kuropatkin in a posi-
ton to oppose Kuroki with his whole
army. while Generals Oku and Nodzu
are stranded on the other side. This
| giveA Kuropatkin a possible opportun-
! itv to initiate Napoleon's tactics and
! defeat the opposing forces in detail.
WORD FROM KUROPATKIN.
At 4 o'clock this afternoon the War
| Office received a dispatch from Peter
hof. sent to the Emperor last night
by General Kuropatkin, dated 3
o'clock yesterday afternoon. AS COM
municated to the press the dispatch
stated that an artillery battle pro-
ceeded until o'clock and that the
/, Russians were retiring upon their
"main positions; that General Ku-
roki was attacking the Russian lett,
north of the Taitse River; that the
railroad station, which is situated a
mile northwest of Liaoyang, had been
set on fire by Japanese shells; that
the station had been transferred across
the river to a point on the north
bank; that Kuropatkiu had passed In
review the Third Siberian Corps un-
der General Ivanoff. which suffered
greatly in the earlier stages of the
battle on the east front; and, finally,
that the Russian losses for two days
were 5000 killed or wounded.
The dispatch does not admit that
General Kuropatkin is withdrawing
across the Taitse River entirely. 1t
is possible that, owing TO the pressure
of the Japanese, the Russian army.
cs stated in the Toxic dispatches was