The Oskaloosa herald., 1905-03-16
MUKDEN FALLS INTO HANDS OF
oYAMA AND HIS ARMY.
RUSSIAN RoUT is COMPLETE
Many Prisoners and War Supplies
Captured-Fierce Fighting in
Progress Near the
Fallen City.

and guns have been captured.
Fushun was occupied by the japanese
Thursday night. The fighting continues
on the heights north of Fushun.
oyama Tells of Capture.
Field Marshal Oyama telegraphs as
follows under Fridays date: I'VE oc-
eupied Mukden at ten o'clock this morn
ing. Our surrounding movement, n
which we have been engaged for some
days past, has now completely succeed
ed. The f~iercest fighting continues at
several places in the vicinity of Mukden.
We captured a great number of prison
ers, enormous quantities of arms, am
munition, provisions and other war sup
plies. There is at present no time to
investigate the number of these"
Theta Captured.
Toxic, March IL. - The following
telegram has been received from the
Manchurian army headquarters in the
field: In the direction of Singching
for some days our force has been attack
ing the enemy, who is making an obstin-
ate resistance in strong positions. Final
ly in the neighborhood of Theta our force
at three o'clock Thursday morning COM
pletely ~dislodged the enemy, whom they
are now pursuing. In the direction of the
| Shakhe and east and south of Mukden
we entirely pressed the enemy to the
basin of the Hun river"
Streets Filled with Dead,
Diushantun was the scene Wednes-
day of the bloodiest and most desperate
fighting of all this terrible battle. Its
possession was vital to the Japanese,
who stormed it again and again. The
Russians dislodged them, but the jap
anese finally recaptured the village
after much hand-to-hand fighting. Eye
witnesses say the dead, scattered in the
streets, courtyards and houses, have
been unburied four days. Rifles and
other arms lie about wrenched and
twisted. Hand grenades were thrown by
the japanese and the garrison was sub
jected to the concentrated fire of as many
as a hundred guns.
st. Petersburg Knows Little.
st. Petersburg March 11.-"Last night
all our armies commenced to retreat"
The greatest defeat in the history of
the Russian-Japanese war was made
known in st. Petersburg last night, but
only in these paltry words from Gen.
| Kuropatkin to Emperor Nicholas, which
were flung about the streets in newspa-
per 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 dreaded, the latter hopedfor.
Gen. Kuropatkin is no maker of
phrases. His words never are quoted like
the famous "all is lost save honor" but
his laconic messages hide more than
probably any other two sentences in the
literature of war. st. Petersburg knows
nothing of the extent of the disaster, not
even the lines of Kuropatkin's retreat;
whether the route to Tie pass is still
open, whether he is endeavoring to cut
his way through to safety, or whether,
as many of the pessimistic believe, he
has taken to the mountains. If it be the
latter, he will inevitably be hemmed in
and starved into surrender, as Marshal
Bazaine was at Metz.
Much Peace Talk.
Everyone now is discussing peace,
which many of the stanchest advocates
of the war, bureaucrats and officers, now
declare to be inevitable. 1t openly is
bruited that Rojestvensky's fleet has
been recalled, and is now on the way
| homeward. The admiralty, when asked
if the report were true, said: "We
, don't know; call again tomorrow" and
declined to comment on the signifi-
canoe of the cancellation of the pur-
! chase of GOLFERS, or the direction of Ro-
~jestvensky's voyage from Madagascar
waters. 1t can be stated, however, that
no overtures for peace yet have been
made, and none are likely to be made
for a few days, before the extent of the
disaster has developed.
Causes Little Excitement. *
(Outwardly, st. Petersburg takes the
defeat unconcernedly. A stranger in
the streets would never know that arm
ies defending the honor and prestige of
Russia has just sustained a crushing
reverse. There were no crowds last
night, no demonstrations, no change
from the ordinary street life, Newsboys
were hawking extras on the streets
mere dodgers with three lines of Gen.
Kuropatkin's dispatch, surrounded by
wide margins of blank paper-but there
was nothing to indicate that the extras
were more important than those in
which, for a year, Gen. Kuropatkin's
dispatches have been issued. The gov
eminent made no attempt to palliate
the shock or explain the significance of
the retreat, but simply sent the dis
patch, when it was issued by the gen.
eral staff late in the evening, direct to
the papers with authorization to print.
Worst Fears Confirmed.
st. Petersburg. March IL. - The dis
patches from Toxic and Yinkow Friday
announcing that Mukden had fallen and
that the Japanese had captured thou
sands of prisoners and enormous'q guam
titles of stores and guns only confirm
the worst fears entertained here. the
dispatches received here on Thurs