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APRIL 8, 1004.
The Commoner.
15
i
Tha War in the East.
The week ending April 3 opened
with the second attempt of the Ja
panese to close the entrance to tne
harhor of Port Arthur by sinking
merchant vessels. It was unsuccess
ful. The Russians, wero on the alert,
as they have been since the enemy
made his first dash and caught them
napping. The Russians had one tor
pedo boat destroyer damaged. The
Japanese are out the cost of four ves
sels, which were sunk to little pur
pose. The persistency of the Japanese in
the attempt tp block the channel at
Port Arthur is ascribed to their de
sire to have the Russian squadron
safely shut up there while their trans
ports, laden with soldiers and sup
plies, are on their way to the coast of
the gulf of Liadtung, where it is their
intention to make a landing.
If the Russians believe that to be
the Japanese program the proclaim
ing of martial law at Newchwang.is
easily understood. That place is tne
most obvious point of attack and it
becomes proper for the Russian gen
eral to get ready for hostilities, even
though the interests of some neutrals
suffer thereby.
The outposts of the Russians south
of the Yalu and the van of the J a-,
panese troops" advancing from Ping
yang and Anju have had their fiist
serious encounter. According to the
Russian report some squadrons of Ja
panese cavalry occupying an ad
vanced position were attacked sharp
ly. When reinforcements came up
the Russians fell back after having
killed many men and horses. Accord
ing to the Japanese account the Rus
sians did not attack, but were at
tacked, and were driven Jfrom the po
sition they held. It Is evident from
the point where the encounter took
place, only forty miles from the Yalu,
that the Japanese, in spite of bad
rgads and bad weather;, are pushing
steadily forward towards that river
and thd important town of Wiju sit
uated on it. Unofficial reports are to
the effect that the Russians are about
to send more troops to' the Yalu, and
that the Japanese are still advancing
and are only fifteen miles from Wiju.
Nothing is known positively as to the
strength of the Russian and Japanese
armies in northwestern Korea, but
it is the. general opinion that there is
a large Russian army on the line of
the Yalu which will defend it obsti
nately and that the Japanese have
about 100,000 men ready for action in
that quarter.
While the Japanese are hammering
away at Port Arthur and are press
ing forward in Korea the Russians
must be receiving considerable rein
forcements for their armies. It took
General Kuropatkin twelve days to
travel from Moscow to Harbin. Pre
sumably troops would not be carried
in anything like that time.- The gen
eral had the right of way. But the
fact that he could get through in less
than two weeks proves that the road
is in working order. There does not
appear to have been any of that blow
ing up of bridges of which much was
said at the beginning of the war. It
is reported .that 4,000 soldiers arrive
daily at Harbin from the west.
Last Thursday the foreign corre
spondents who have been waiting at
Tokio for leave to go to the front
got permission to do so. Where the
nfront' In to be Is unknown. They
will set sail next Wednesday on a
transport for some unknown point,
evidently the serious work of the cam
Pa gn is about to begin. Whether it
will be on the Yalu or near Newr
chwang may not be known for two
weeks. Chicago Tribune.
Church Relations of Governors.
The collection of a ?20,Gld,00u tiiank
?iTerXs;,s not the only thing m which
jue Methodists of the United States
are ahead of- other denominations. Ac-
NOT RUNNING AMUCK.
The game is treed, the guif is loaded, but the mighty' Ninirod slumbers on.
cording to a ti&'a comriilcd by the
Chicago In mine the Methodists have
"landed" more men in gubernatorial
chairs In this country during the lasi
few years than any other denomina
tion, there being no less than eight
states with Methodist governors at
the present time. This list leads off
with Governor "Dick" Yates of Illi
nois and closes up with Governor Say
ers of Texas, all of the eight being
republicans except Sayers and Gov
ernor Dockery of Missouri. The Pres
byterians come next with a score of
seven governors to their credit, two
democrats and five republicans, this
number including Governor uaen.
The Baptists come in third with six
executives, all democrats, which would
indicate that water and the democratic
party are better friends than some
have been led to suppose. But per
haps a better explanation would be
found in the fact that ail the states
with Baptist governors are in the ex
treme south. The Quakers are cred
ited with one governor, John Hunn of
Delaware; the Episcopalians with four
and the Unitarians with one. Twelve
governors are entered in the list as
men with no professed church con
nections. Leslie's Weekly. .
Dare Not Investigate.
It was John Sharp Williams who
stated on the floor of the house that
he had not sworn to obey the rules
of a republican majority which pre
vented an investigation of the notori
ous scandals in the postofflce depart
ment, but he had subscribed to the
oath requiring bim to do his duty to
the country, and he was ready to sus
pend the rules so that he could dis
charge that duty. An investigation
would hill every chance for republi
can Riionesa in the coming national
campaign. Natchez (Miss.) Democrat. J
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X HOMESEEKERS' EXCURSION.
One Far Plus Two Dollars For Round Trip. T
Dates of Sals Dae. 1 and 15. Jan. 5 and 19, Fab. 2 and 16, March T
land 15, April Sand 19.
To Minncflofa, Wisconsin, many points In Nebraska, North and South Dakota, In
eluding Uoncsteel. Kcturn limit 21 day A
?TlPS5aWmt A rtA-ranat S
R. W. McGinnis, f
Genaral Agent, Lincoln, Nebraska.
a imerfrnwu
tttfifc'.'ariMi
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