Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1905-03-15

ed to publish the report, but were peremptorily forbidden by the censor to do so. It was quickly circulated, however, and was the subject of al- most jUbilant comment in the cafes and elsewhere.
 The fate of the Russian army. of upwards of a quarter of a million men. and 1000 pieces of artillery, wl;h which it was ey oected confidently that General Kuropatkin and his lieuten- ants could n-event the advance of the Japanese h-yond the Shakhe and Hun rivers positions still is in the balance
 They have been driven from those positions anu are now rushing north ward toward Tie pass, around which are high hills, which were prepared for defense after the battle of Liao Yang, there being no hope at that time that the Japanese would allow the defeated army to rest south of Tie pass.
 That the Russians have lost many men and large quantities of ammuni tion and supplies is certain for, with the single track, of railway to the north, it would be impossible to re- move the large stores which have been gathered together at Mukden. These, it is certain have been destroyed.
 The Japanese have not yet reported the capture uf munitions, which they generally do almost immediately, but it seems hardly likely that Kuropat kin could have removed all of his ar tillery. On the first of January, sc cording to a correspondent, who has just returned from Mukden the Rus sians had in their positions along the Shakhe and Hun rivers 1900 guns, in- cluding No. and inch guns on ce- ment foundations. In addition to these a great many guns arrived at Mukden during January and February so that the Russian artillery must have numbered nearly 2,G00 pieces. It is likely that Kurpotakin sacrificed some of these and is bending all of his energy to extricating his army. That this task is a difficult one. all dispatches indicate but Russian sym pathizsrs point to his retreat from Liao Yang where the conditions were opposed to him. The result of Mar shal OyRma's great turning movement depends almost entirely upon Kama muras army, which has not yet been located definitely, although it is sup posed to be moving from the east toward Kuropatkin's line of retreat. ' Should he reach the military road l which runs almost in direct line ! from Fushun pass, ,rore the passage ] of the Russian army, the circle will i be complete, as Nogis, guns already |. command the railway and should soon ! control Madame. Even should Kuro- i patkin extricate himself it is believed 1 in European capitals that peace will 1 soon follow this latest Japanese vic 1 tory.
 ST. PETERSBURG, March II, 2:30 a. m.-"Last night all of our armies ] commenced a retreat' was the terse ] telegram received from General Kuro- patkin announcing the greatest defeat in the history of the Russian Japanese ! war. It was made known in St Petersburg i last night, but only in the few paltry 1! words from Gen. Kuropatkin to Elm ; peror Nicholas, which were flung i about the streets in newspaper extras | and passed from mouth to mouth.
 Two thoughts formed instantly in the minds of every one, and two words were on every lip, 'surrender-peace" The former was decided and the lat ' ter hoped.
 Kuropatkin is no maker of phrases; i his words never are quoted like the famous'"All is lost save honor," but . his Iaconic messages hide more, pro- babIy than any other two sentences in the literature of war. St. Petersburg knows nothing of the extent of tine disaster, nor even the lines of Kuropat kin's retreat; whether the route to Tie pass is still open, or whether he is en- deavoring to cut his way through to safety, or whether, as many pessimists believe, he has taken to the noun tains. If it is the latter he will be hemmed in and starved into surrend CT, as Marshal Bazsine was at Metz.
 His dispatch has been studied as closely as was ever the most obstruse text of scripture, over which the dog maticians have wrestled and from the words "all of our armies" the opti mistic drew the deduction that the bulk of the Russian forces got away clear, the commander in chief sacrific- inp however, the deVOted rear puar0