4th June. formidable Ai fat-lands on its banks, he inw himself threatened by an attack of thirty thousand or even forty thousand Japanese, and supplement this by crediting him with supreme contempt for the fighting qualities of his enemy, contempt which Russian officers, high and low alike, had bean freely expressing from the time when the war broke out, is it conceivable that he ghould have retreated tamely? Is it not much more conceivable, if not actually certain, that be believed in the ability of his troops to inflict a crushing defeat upon the Japanese, that any Russian General i 5 his position would have entertained the same belief and that Kuropatkin not only intended him to stay but looked to seo very substantial ing. It was with Arthur, but General Smyrkoff and General Stoessel are disposing of the 35,000 men under their command so as not to allow the Tapanese to reach that place. It is supposed that a battle for the defence of the entrance to the Iéaotung peninsula is imminent. General Kuropatkin can send troops to Newchwang or Port Arthur within twenty-four hours if he thinks it desirable to attack the Japanese in the rear. The fighting so has consisted ci mere skirmishes, and there have been no serious battles. We are convinced that the Japanese will do their most to i make things warm, Dut General Kuropatkin will not assume the offensive before the end of May or the middle of June, when he will have the in our telegrams this morning that General Kuropstkin is thinking it is about time to make a move.
Po dispatch dated the 15th April to The "Nagasaki Press" reproduces a St. the following effect: "A sensational piece of news has leaked out in official circles. When matters began to look serious in the Far East towards the autumn of list year, the Russian Army being very short of light mountain artillery, seven batteries of new short and light artillery field guns were purchased from France, in order to be sent to the front. General Altbater, Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Division, was convinced that japan was out of the question, and sent the whole of the seron batteries to the Polish frontier. On Saturday last an urgent telegram was received from General Kuropatkin, asking where the new light artillery batteries were, upon the good services of which he built high expectations, General Altbater was summoned by the Emperor, and asked whether the guns had not been sent according to instructions, The unfortunate officer, after a painful scene, had to acknowledge that he disobared orders. It is said that General Altbuter is dead. Ho is supposed to have committed was to te Polish frontier for the seven suicide. Meanwhile, instructions have been
to the seat of war." bate 8 sent with the utmost hu An account by one of the Japanese officers who was wounded in the small engagement st Shusanlitai, on the 15th May, during the march of the second Jupanese army towards Kinchou, appears in the "Japan Mail." The fighting itself was a series of struggles for small bill positions, from which the Russians retreated one after another. They had, however, made such complete calculations of the ranges that they wore able to inflict 140 casualties on the advancing foe. Prisoners stated that it had been observed that the Topancse officers gave their orders standing, and the riflemen were directed to. aim specially at them; they were so successful that nine officers were wounded. A curious incident is mentioned. A company of the Japanese had left their knapsucks on the top of a hill and had pushed on in light marching order. The Russian artillery discharged shells at these knapsacks, and had got the range pretty cleverly before they discovered their mistake, the Japanese plating the part of amused' spectators.
The same paper says: "The good seed town by the Japanese in their Manchurian campaign of 1894-5 is bearing fruit now. Wherever the troops of the First and Second Armies make their appearance they are heartily welcomed by the people, who hasten to perform all kinds of services for them, even to the drawing of water for the horses of the cavalry and artillery. Japanese officers report that they find everything much easier than it was in Corea, where the inhabitants were too timid or too ill-disposed to offer aid or refrain from molestation. Daring the China-Japan War we were all familiar with the excellent. reputation won by the Japanese in Manchuria, and with the fact that when the time for evacuation was approaching, petitions against that measure were addressed to the military and civil officials of Japan. During the past four years, on the contrary, the country has been over-run by Russian troops, and what that means need not be explained."
It is pleasant to read on the other side that the 26 officers and 184 men, who were captured by the Russians at the sinking of the Kiushiu Maru, are being most kindls treated by their captors. On the 28th April they were sent from Viadivostock to Irkutsk The military authorities warned the inhabi tants to avoid any demonstration, but the warning seems to have been superfluous as there was no appearance whatever of a dis-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.