RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Mataura Ensign, Issue 1417, 29 November 1904, Page 4

RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Gen. Stoessel's despatch by the ' Koztoropui warned the Czar that the garrison of Port Arthur was being :. starved out. The- Japanese press deprecates an immediate assault on Port Arthur, since it is certain to soon fall. It is admitted that 14,400 Japanese casualties resulted from the as- ' saults from August 19 to November 24. Prisoners estimate the effective garrison of Port Arthur at 8000, only a third of whom are provided with "winter clothing. " Six. hundred Russian'infantry compelled .the Japanese to evacuate Hsinglukuu, and burned the village. The* Kussinns, at dawn on Wednes*day, made several surprise attacks near the Shaho railway bridge at' Piibtzuyon, but were repulsed. Japanese shells on Sunday fired a hugo pile of coal'at Port Arthur railway station. It burned for 14 hours. Capt. Osawa, who- was aboard the Mikasa during the .naval battle off Liaotung on August 12, states that a 12in-shell slightly wounded Prince "Vushime:. another burst close to tho ' bridge where Admiral Togo arid I<> others were standing, wounding four. including the captain of the Mikasa and the chief of the staff, killing a lieutenant and three others in the chart room below the bridge. The officers then forced Togo to enter the conning tower; j The Danish authorities refused to permit the Russian cruiser Izumrud to coal from a collier in Frederikshaven roadstead, and requested hello go outside. Router's agency reports that Berlin bankers find 20. million pounds of the Russian 5 "per cent, loan, and Paris 32 millions, i The Russian squadron has sailed from, the Skaw. • • Nov. '2o. The- Chunchuses jure constantly de- - stroying the railway. One night they blew it up in six places with melinite cartridges. Three mysterious yachts, one flying the French aiid two the English flag, have entered the Suez Canal. It is suspected that the Russian Admiralty engaged them to explore'the Gulf of Suez and Tbadwan Island be•fore the Baltic fleet's arrival. The Standard slates that it is reported in Odessa that a general mobilisation throughout European Russia has been, ordered for January. The 'New York Herald's St. Petersburg correspondent says-the absence of fuel and wafer will probably compel Kuropatkin to stlspend'hostilities until 'ihb .spring. The .difficulty of hacking '• enoijgh i,ce from . frozen • : streams and melting it "by means of - roots of Kaoliang pfants, dug from . frozen ground, are enormous. The "only ponuunwit "forts in (lie possession of Mho. Japanese about. Port Arthur'ars two at Paolupg, captUred in August. The .Japanese hofti advuiice works at Erlunshan. a redoubt called Kuropatkin fort. Ichinohi, Kohu hills/Sochatakyama, and 174. inetp hill, also the camponjeregalleries.' and iuoats outside Erlhurig, ■ and. north of Keekwan. Admiral Foelkersahm denies the reports of Russian disorder in Canea. A destroyer coaled .from transports in Port Said harbour.. Foelkersham's officers. are r described, as. efficient, hu:t the Crews are ; ignoraiit"of the rudi- . ir.ents of seamanship, some being peasants .without technical knowledge. The cruiser JConotz traversed the Dardanelles with three submarines aboard. -,, . From 30 to 90 per cent, of the Jews in the Kishinelf, Kherson, and Sunpheropol districts failed to respond to the recruiting order, and crossed the frontiers. A quarter of a million tons of Welsh coal has been purchased on Russian account, and 100,000 tons on Japanese account for shipment early next year. Advices from .Mukden stall. - thai three sotnius - of frontier guards,with two guns, routed I.'HK) Chunchuses, with six - guns, near Khaiyuan station. TheiChuuchuses had 200 casu, allies, tbc Russians but few. It is officially reported in Tokio that early on the 23rd the enemy "made a series of attacks on the outposts at Pomolun, Iml \wi-e. repuls-

Oku reports that after'hard fighting' he repulsed an attack und occupied Putuen. The Uussians left maD.v dead on the fi»-ld. - -ScVcn' destroyers belonging to the ~ r Baltic fleet have traversed the Suez Canal, with men stationed* at the .' guns and torpedo 'lubes. Upon arrival at Suez! two destroyers reconnoitred for an hour, and then rejoined, the others at the anclioragc. The . ironclads' are being towed through lhe canal. Two battleships~and three cruisers are anchored in the Bitter Lakes; nine transports proceeded to Suez. The St. Petersburg Court has confirmed the confiscation of the British steamer Cheltenham, despite the owners' contention that Kusan, being ".' in Korea, is not an enemy's port. Kuropatkin reports that Stoessel '?*" telegraphs that ho repulsed a fresh Japanese attack on the 21st. It was officially stated in Tokio on • Sunday evening that an assault on Sungsunshan forts, eastward, began on Saturday, but that the object in view had not yet been accomplished. The 'Morning Post' reports that the Russian guns at Port Arthur are almost silent owing to the scarcity of ammunition since the magazine was bloWh up. Generals Nakimaru and Saito led specially-trained bodies of swordsmen into. Port Arthur forts, and eharged desperately. The Russians sanguin- , arily resisted, and the general attack continues. There is considerable irritation in Japanese circles at Britain's inability io prevent increasing shipments of English coal to ' Kussin. Supemafsu. interviewed, said Japan feels that Europe is assisting Russia in an uncontemplated manner, and even England is indirectly rendering assistance. The Baltic fleet'could not have sailed 1 without English coal. Count Hayashi expressed Similar flbws. Russia is negotiating, the-charter or purchase from Germany and Scandavavia a number of transports. . A foreign resident of Yladisvoslock, who has reached Nagasaki, reports thai twenty steamers arrive everv month with coal and stores. He states that a torpedoer-was sunk and a German steamer injured owing to the uncertain location of harbor nines.