Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-28

United states volunteers. At the beginning
of the japanese war he was one of four
officers chosen to report upon the fighting
to the War Department
My talk with Captain March relates to the
little things rather than the big ones of
the campaign. The stories of the battles
have been told in the papers as far as the
censorship would permit. This matter
comes fresh from the field, and is, it seems
to me, full OF flesh and blood interest.
100000 Fighting Men.
1 asked Capt. March as to the number of
men now actually fighting in Manchuria.
He replied:
There are at least en9,G0o soldiers in the
two armies. The japanese have $4,000
and the Russians almost as many. The
forces are lined up almost facing each
other. They are on the two sides of a
little river known as the Sha, or as it is
more commonly called the Sha-ho, the
word no meaning river. The soldiers are
stretched along both sides of that river
for a distance of about thirty miles. In
some places they are not more than two
hundred yards apart and in others as
much as two thousand yards. Each army
has dug entertainments and put up forth
ficationS, and is waiting for the other to
charge Now and then there is a sally at
different places along the line but when
left there October is they were still
waiting 10 fight. They were waiting De-
cember 16, and are waiting STILL
Mulzden and the japanese.
care they near Mukden?'
lone end of the line | should say, is not
more than fifteen miles from Mukden The
other is perhaps fifty miles away They
are, you know, pretty far up in Manchuria
They are so near Mukden that we could
take our glasses and examine the towers
over the gates leading through the walls
They are about as far away from Mukden
n \, s,~rF
Fifteen or sixteen miles is not much
''Mukden is very important place, is it
not?"
Politically yes, strategically no." replied
Captain March. 1T is important as the
capital of Manchuria, and in that if 1t
falls into the hands of the Japanese 1t will
impress the Chinese and the ManchurianS,
and they may think that the Japanese are
the more likely to be victorious. AS to its
advantages az a war base, they are COM
paratively little. The most important point
is Hardin, at the junction of the Chinese
eastern railway and the Trans-Siberian rail-
way, where one branch runs off to Vladivos-
tok. Hardin has rich country surrounding
1t, which raises enormous quantities of
grain.
There are Touring mills there which are
supplying the Russian army. and also the
great warehouses of the Russians. Not far
away is rich cattle and horse country,
SO that altogether the place IS exceedingly
valuable. 1t is toward that point that the
Japanese are working If they could cap
ture Hardin and disconnect the two lines
of railway shutting off eastern Siberia from
the west, and, at the same time get pos
session of these enormous mills and sup
plies they would perhaps be much nearer
peace than they are now.
But is there any possibility that they
can do that?"
I'm war everything is possible" said Cap
tain March. Il am not prophet and do
not care to predict. You must remember,
however, that the campaign of the Japa-
kl.As.,
north, becomes more difficult, while the
campaign of the Russians is to a great ex-
tent less so. The Japanese are moving
away from their base. They have to carry
all their provisions, ammunition and other
supplies farther on, whereas the Russians
are falling back to where their supplies
are.
1T is something of an undertaking to
carry the food and supplies of 100000 men,
to say nothing of their arms and muni-
tions of war;" continued Captain March
You must remember that the japanese
have as many men now stationed along the
Sha-ho as there are men. women and chill
dren in Washington. Every one of them
has to have his three meals day, and
good ones to withstand the cold Every
one has to have warm clothing, and il pos
sible place to sleep at night. In the win
ter the thermometer gets down to or below
zero in Manchuria, SO YOU see that war
like this has other problems than those of
mere fighting. The same problems confront
the Russians
What the Soldiers Eat.
where do the soldiers get their food,
captain asked
.sThe japanese are living chiefly on rice
and meat. The rice Is in raw state. just
as you find 1t In cur grocery stores. and
it must be cooked before 1t can be eaten.
This necessitates water and fire, and makes
It bad field ration. ! think the Japanese
are discovering that. Il is not like our