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About Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1904)
Reports from the scene of battle be tween General Kuropatkin and the Japanese around Liao-Yang are meager , but a study of the A-arious dispatches shoAvs it to have been one of the most sanguinary struggles of modern times. In the first two days of fighting it appears that 20,000 lives were sacrificed. The losses are about evenly distributed between the Jap anese tiiid Russians , according to all -available accounts of an unbiased na ture. Russian correspondents , how- ever , agree in declaring that by far ihe heaviest losses have been suffered i > y the Japanese. When darkness closed over the gory battlefield on the second night neither mbatant , apparently , had gained a decisive advantage. General Kuropat- Uin's men on the south and southeast sill held their trenches. On the ex treme left flank , however , it vras re ported that General Kuroki had found 41 Aveak spot , that the Russian line .was Avavering and tttat the Japanese seemed about to get around it so as to strike the main Russian position in the rear. rear.All All accounts agree in saying that all of Kuroki's , Oku's and Nodzu's troops .participated in the rencAved battle and that the fighting Avas continuous along the entire Russian line , a distance or .about nine miles. The Japanese opened their attack on the second day as soon as the eastern sky began to show the first gray Streaks of dawn. The rain of the night had left the plain sodden with auud , but this did not canse the Jap anese to falter. The sky was clear , and this fact gave the gunners on both sides their opportunity. From their 1,000 cannon the Japan ese poured a deadly shrapnel fire into the Russian intrenchments. As soon as possible after morning broke the Japanese sent up a big Avar balloon. This searched the plain in an effort to locate the Russian trendies. The Rus sian mortar batteries hammered away GENERAL KUKOKL iit the aerial craft , but were unable to wreck it. The balloon remained immune from hostile shells , and Avhen its mission Shad been accomplished it was IOAV- cred. Soon thereafter the Russians felt the effect of its service , for the -Japanese cannon and mortars hurled a doubly effective fire into the Russian [ positions on the south and in the cen ter. ter.Riflefiring Rifle-firing and infantry charges fol- Uowed the shelling of the Russian lines and then the combatants clashed again iand again with the bayonet and the < SAVord. The onsets were furious , the /resistance / was no less deadly. In one portion of the battle the Rus sians took the offensive. This Avas along the railroad south of Liao-Yang. 'The Japanese attempted to advance up the line , but the Russians charged them and by main strength and brute jforce in bayonet attacks pushed them down the track , for considerable dis tances at a time. Toward noon rain fell again , and this .hampered the combatants on both fsides. Through the mist , hoAvever , the .conflict . was kept up , and at 4:30 : o'clock in the afternoon it Avas report- od that the Russian left flank Avas wavering , that Kuroki was getting taround it , that he would soon be able to cross the Taitse river and be able to attack Kuropatkm in the rear. The long-expected battle at Liao yang began on Tuesday and the armies of the Czar and Mikado engaged in what was expected to be the decisive battle of the campaign. The general -advance of the Japanese began Mon day at noon , the Russian outposts fall- Ing back upon the main lines. The heaviest fighting was taking place -when the HCAVS dispatch Avas sent , from a point ten miles southeast of Xiaoyang , where the Japanese seemed to be concentrating for their main "blow. The Russians suffered princi- T iHy from the shrapnel lire of the Jap- anese artillery. The Japanese searched the whole -countryside with their fire , selecting -certain squares of territory on which tfor a few moments they massed a bail rof shot and shell from all their guns. JThen they passed to another square , thus working the Avholc field , Avith 'mathematical ' precision , from right to 'leftIn ' this T-'ay the entire Russian ifront was systematically searched in 'the ' first four hours of the cannonad ing. Then commenced the general Jap anese advance alone the Avhole line. SCENE OF THE GREAT LIAO-YANG BATTLE. The city of Liao-Yang is probably the oldest in Manchuria. It is situ ated on the Tai-Tsu-Ho river , Avliich runs into the Hun , a large tributary of the Liao. It is about forty miles in a direct line west-southAvest of Muk den. The outer face and battlements of the high Avails are of very hard brick , inner faces of stone. The Avails have a circumference of over ten miles. The population is about 50,000 , among Avhom are Mohammedans and many Chinese bannermen , with a goodly number of Manchus. The imperial higlnvay from Mukden to New-Chwnng and Port Arthur separates here from the old road to Korea. Liao-Yang Avas in ancient times a great Ko rean city , but AA'as destroyed by the Chinese and became the first capital of the Liao or Iron dynasty. The railway runs east and Avest past the city ; toward Mukden it goes northeast and from Shou-Shan south-southwest. The scene of the battle between the Japanese and Russians is on the plain east and south oi Liao-Yang. Kuropatkin's trenches are eight miles from the city. BALTIC FLEET GOING TO WAR. Trials Prove Successful ami Majority of Ships Await Unfinished Ones. The Associated Press is enabled to state authoritatively that there has been no change of plans regarding the Baltic squadron on account of the result of the re-cent sea fight off Port Arthur. The manetiA-eriug and firing trials of the ships have been completely successful and the squadron has now returned to Cronstadt to await the finishing touches on the bat tleship Orel and the cruisers Oleg , Izum- rurl and Jemtchug before sailing for the Orient. The Japanese statement , on which Japan bases its demand that the creAvs oi" the Askold and Grozovoi at Shang hai be interned until the end of the war , namely , that the officers and men of the Variag and Gorietz are on board ships bound for the far East , is untrue. The crews of those two vessels have been distributed among the school and train ing squadrons and on shore duty in the Baltic and Black sea , but not one man or one officer is on Vice Admiral Ro- jestvensky's vessels. JAPANESE RV53IAN TROOPS OF ARMUS AT LIAOYAMJ. Japs Gain lit Port Artliur. News arriving in Chefoo from Port Arthur appears to indicate that the Japanese luivc practically ceased to at tempt the capture of the fortress by as saults. Much fighting is going on con stantly , but it is a battle of artillery for the most part and the offensive op erations partake more of the nature of a siege than of an attack. Marion Temple killed Albert Slagle at Springfield , Ohio , by striking him in the head with a brick. GREAT BATTLES OF MODERN WARS. Battle. Armies. Losses. Waterloo French 72,000 liO.OOO Waterloo Allies 124,000 23,000 Sedan French inO.OOO 16,000 Sedan German 2.10.000 12,000 L'levna Russian 13.,000 40.000 Plevna Turks 00,000 30,000 Chnncellorsvllle Federal . . . S.t)00 ! 17,000 ChaiHTllorsvlllc Confederate 50.000 13,000 niattanooza Federal 6.,000 6.000 Clmttanofia Confederate . . . 4H.OOO 0.000 Fair Oaks Federal 112.000 5,730 GENERAL , OKU. Fair Oaks Confederate . 67,000 4,232 Gettysburg Federal . 80,000 23,190 Gettysburg Confederate . . . 05,000 22,000 Wilderness Federal . 116,000 30,600 Wilderness Confederate - 70,000 20,000 isewa in Brief. A Japanese supply steamer , said to have had $5,000,000 on board for the Japanese army , Avas stopped by a Chefoo official , and a torpedo craft from Dalny rushed into port in the night and rescued the cash. Russia has equipped tAvo steamers , the Korea and the Kitai , belonging to the Danish-Russian East Asiatic Steamship Company , as auxiliary cruisers. The vessels Avill be attached to the Baltic squadron. The Japanese have made some gains in their advance on the fortress at Port Arthur. They have destroyed the fort at Tungkia Tnshan , mounted guns on an adjoining hill and are bombarding the inner defenses from this position. Recently a Japanese officer tried to gain entrance into Port Arthur in a sack carried by a Chinaman. The mouth of the sack AA'as filled Avith cabbages. A sentry stuck a bayonet into the bag and exposed the artifice. Both the Japanese and the Chinamanvere shot. Early Tuesday morning the Japanese appeared on the hills east and southeast of Liaoyang. At 11 o'clock the Japanese infantry advanced very boldly from the south on to Mount Shoushan and took the villages nine versts south of Liao yang on the railway line. The Russian shells did great execution. There whs a pile of about a score of khaki-clad Japanese bodies , the result of a single shell falling in front of Shoushan from a Russian trench. When this shell fell the Japanese infantry began fire. Monaco is Europe's most densely populated spot KUBOPATK1N AT BAY. FURIOUS BATTLE FOUGHT NEAR LIAOYANG. Japanese Attack Russian Forces with 200,000 Men Celebrate Mikado's JJirtliday by Hurling Shower of Shrapnel at the Jincmy Many Slain. The long-expected battle at Liao yang began on Tuesday ami the armies of the Czar and Mikado engaged in what Avas expected to be the decisive battle of the campaign. The general advance of the Japanese began Mon day at noon , the Russian outposts fall ing back upon the main lines. The heaviest fighting Avas raking place when the news dispatch was sent , from a point ten miles southeast of Liaoyang , where the Japanese seemed to be concentrating for their main blow. The Russians suffered princi pally from the shrapnel lire of the Jap anese artillery. The Japanese select ed the Mikado's birthday for the de cisive battle. The Russian forces were disposed at Liaoyang to meet the onslaught of the three Japanese armies described in tho dispatches. The combined armies of Gen. Kuroki , Gen. Oku and Gen. Nocl- zu probably exceed 200,000 men. Their forces are considerably superior in numbers to Gen. Kuropatkin's , but the Russian commander-iu-chief relied up on the strength and character of his position to overcome the disparity in numbers. The Japanese searched the whole countryside with their lire , selecting certain squares of territory on which for a few moments thoy masseel a hail of shot and shell from all their guns. Then they passed to another square , thus worlcing the whole field , with mathematical precision , from right to left , . In this way the entire Russian front was systematically searched in the first four licurs of the cannonad ing. Then commenced the general Jap anese advance along the whole line. The Japanese lost 2,000 men killed or wounded at the battle of Anping. The Russian losses have not been es timated , but are said to have been heavy. The Japanese captured eight guns at Ajiping and eight at Aushan- shan. The Russian retreat from Anshan- shan was ordered for strategic reasons , practically no resistance being offered. A light screen of batteries facing the Japanese guns beautifully disposed on a chain of hills masked the withdraw al of the main force. When night fell the batteries also took up the retreat , their rear guard lighting bivouac fires to conceal the movement. The Japan ese soon discovered this ruse and pressed forward , coming up with the Russian rear guard Sunday morning. For an hour the light batteries were hotly engaged. To the lot of the Omsk , Tobolsk and Krasnovarsk regi ments fell the duty of covering the re treat of General Zaroubaleff's Fourth Siberian army corps. The task was difficult , as the enemy continued to ad vance , deploying light mountain guns against the Russian rear and left , flanks , and it Avas imperative that the enemy should be helel back to permit the removal of the baggage and artil lery trains. The roads were washed out and heavy with mud produced by the deluge of rain preceding Friday. Many guns were mired and the horses exhausted. Cossacks and infan trymen were harnessed to the guns and managed to haul them along. It was slow work , but was successfully accomplished. The greatest difficulty of the retirement on the east front was experienced before Yanbantai pass , where it was necessary to hold tho Japanese in check until the artillery transport passed through and also to keep in touch with the Tenth Army Corps , commanded by General Hersch- elmann , to the north , as well as with the southern division , in order to pre vent a turning movement. From dawn until dark the eastern troops , although xatigued by four days' fighting , sus tained a rear guard action. The last Japanese general attack on Port Arthur was repulsed with heavy losses. They captured tAvo small forts situated to the northeast a mile and a half from towiv It is believed that they Avere Forts 10 and 11 , and that the Japanese cannot hold them , owing to the dominating fire from the forts on either side. It is also said that the Japanese have abandonee ! their confi dence in the immediate capture of the fortress. Interesting evra Items. In Victoria , B. C. , fire destroyed fifty dwellings and a part of the Albion iron works , causing a loss of $150,000. The Minnesota insurance fee scandal has aroused Gov. Van Sant and he will return to the Legislature the repeal of the law. The Security Trust and Safe Deposit Company at Wilmington , Del. , was ap pointed receiver of the "United Button Company. The American Water Purifying Com pany , with an authorized capital of $1 , 000,000 , was incorporated in Trenton , N J. , to supply municipalities' filtered Avater. The principal olHce of the com pany is in Camden , N. J. The incorpo rators are all of xPhiladelphia. Two Norfolk and Western freighJ trains collided at Portsmouth , Ohio Twenty-two cars were wrecked and out engine. Two tramps were killed n * buried under the wreckage. Engineet Slaten was fatally and Conductor Hen > ley seriously hurt. A decision was rendered against tht Mexican Central railroad in the City o Mexico in faror of claims growing out o the bankruptcy proceedings against th Mexican and Gulf road. Mortgage bond aggregating $ ! ) ,727,000 gold are recogni ? ed as legitimate and interest is'allowuc at 5 per cent from 3S93. ORDERS ALL TO QUIT. Donnelly Tells 15,000 Jlore Union Butchers to I.ay Down Tools. In a final effort to render effective the strike of the butcher workmen in the packing industry Michael Donnelly. president of their international organ ization , has ordered on strike every union member in Americawhether working for firms that have agree ments with the union and have stood by it during the strike against the five large pack 1S firmS Donnelly says , will be involved another 15,000 meat cutters and butcher work men , 2,000 of them being in Chicago. All stock handlers at the yards in Chi cago quit work Wednesday in support of the butchers' latest move to make their strike of some avail. More than 1,000 employes of the company walked out. out.All All who quit work marched out of the yards as soon as the hour for striking arrived. There was a party of about 500 of them in Exchange avenue during the exodus and much confusion resulted. In dependent packers with plants outside , who had bought cattle during the early hours of the market , were rushing their droves in order to be out of the yards early enough to avert any molestation and to get their animals into the plants in time for the employes to slaughter and dress before the strike order went into effect. Scenes of wildest confusion and dis order accompanied the departure of the live stock handlers as they emerged from the. yards at the Exchange street en trance. More than 5.QOO strikers were on hand to welcome them. The men came out in all sorts of conveyances. Some were standing in rows in carts , others in express wagons , some came on horseback , while many more were on foot. They made a rush for the head quarters of the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company , where they turned in their time checks. In the midst of the throng were farmers and cattle drivers of independent concerns who were vain ly trying to get their herds out of the yards before the handlers quit. { Pandemonium seemed to have broken loose for a time and the police were pow erless to check the disorder. 1 The national executive boarcl of the butcher workmen , at its meeting in Chi cago Tuesday morning , voted not to call off the strike at the stock yards. Instead , the struggle is to be continued until the j strikers are "accorded an honorable ad justment , " according to a statement is sued by President Donnelly as a result of the meeting. Following futile efforts to induce the packers to grant another conference members of the executive board of the butcher workmen met Monday night to ; consider plans. Statements were made that the question of calling off the strike 1 should be submitted to a , vote of the ; union. Objection against this was made on the ground that it would take three days to secure the vote and that mean time a break in the union might result. ' Reorganization of the union would be . difficult if a break occurred , it was said , j ' The anticipated break in the ranks of the strikers Tuesday was not as strong j as the observing ones said it would be. ' In the language of one , "the barrel is leaking. " In all 200 men and women re turned to work during the forenoon. At i Armour & Co.'s fifty men returned to work , and in the label , sausage and can ning houses forty women were taken on. At the Hammond plant forty men were , given work. Swift & Co. got back from twenty to twenty-five old employes. Nel son Morris & Co. put fifteen of its for mer employes back at work. At the , Schwarzschild & Sulsberger plant thirty j ( men returned. I With most of 7.000 men already let off because of lack of orders , announcement was made that the shops of the Pullman company , Pullman , 111. , practically will j be closed for a period. It was said that 2,000 men now employed in the shops probably would be let off , and the shops may be kept shut until after the presi- d&ntial election. Several weeks ago offi cials of the company asserted orders were so few that employes were being constantly let off. 'ii'J\ ) ) \ The Republican campaign text-book has been printed. The Montana Republican State < on- rention will be held at Billings Sept. 7. The Idaho Democratic State conven tion will be held at Rock Springs Sept. 6. The fusionists and middle-of-the-road Populists of Indiana agreed to a joint convention. The People's party Avill place a full electoral and State ticket in the field in New York. Senator Elkins declares that West Vir ginia is as safe for the Republican ticket as Pennsylvania. David B. Hill said the Xew York Democratic State convention probably would be held Sept. 20 at Saratoga. Gov. Yates of Illinois has decided to .uake his home in Springfield , Avhere ho rill wage his campaign for United States Senator. Republicans of eastern Indiana will > pen the campaign Sept. 1 at Richmond , -Then Speaker Cannon will be the princi pal orator. State Treasurer Kempf of Wisconsin IBS appealed to the Milwaukee courts to > reveuj ; his removal from the La Pollette 'tate ticket , charging that he resigned nder political coercion. "People's Democratic" party is being rgauized in New Jersey by tho former learst element. Its members will sup- ort Parker , but an independent State nd congressional ticket will be nomi- ittted. Cne Hundred Years Ago. By treaty at Vincennes the Dehnvare and PiankeshaAV Indians ceded , their claim to all lands between the Wabash and Ohio rivers and south of the road , from Vincennas to the falls of tho Ohio. Margaret Shippcn , wife of Benedict Arnold , died in London. England tool : possession of Capo Nicholas Mole , Port-au-Prince , mount ed guns on the fort and fired on Amer ican vessels which passed. Seventy-five Years Ago. The Queen of Portugal and hec mother-in-law left England for MCtX- ico. Educators from all of the States met at Boston to consult on public school Avork throughout the country. A new asteroid , named Euphrosyne , AA-as discovered at the Washington ob servatory. An entire change of ministry occur- red in the Buenos Ayres government. Tifty Years Ago. The United States minister at Mad- rid left that city in consequence of thq feeling against him , as he AA IS accused * of general connivance in all the troii' * bias. bias.Maria Maria Christina , queen mother oi Spain , left Madrid for Portugal , undei an escort of government troops , .bul against the wish of the people , as sh was indebted to the State $8,875,000. Napoleon III. left Paris in order tq take command of the army of the north at Boulogne. The fortress of Ilango , Bomersuud , AAas bombarded by the allied troops. The Queen of Spain AA'ith her hus band and children Avas banished from Madrid. Cadiz , haA'ing bec.n made a free port Gibraltar was reported to have losj , much of its trade. Forty Years Ago. Indians were on the warpath on thg upper Arkansas river , massacring fam ilies and running off cattle. Indians of six tribes were reported to be massacring settlers and stealing cattle in the Platte valley , and to bo menacing Omaha and Council Bluffs. The Democratic national convention which nominated George B. McClellan for President and G. II. Pendleton for Vice President was held in Chicago. A report of the surrender to Ad miral Farragut of Fort Morgan , at the entrance of Mobile bay , Avas con firmed by a bullatin from Secretary of War Stanton. Secretary of War Stanton issued a bulletin telling of the fighting at Ream's station between Gen. Han cock's force-s and the Confederates. It contained a statement from Gen. Grant estimating the Confederate losses of the week at that point to be 10,000 dead and captured ! Thirty Years Ago. Russia sent a circular note to the powers declining to recognize the re public of Spain. Six leaders of a negro mob that had threatened to sack Pickettsville , Tenn. , were taken from jail at Trenton anel lynched. Three negroes Avere lynched bja mob at Brookhaven , Miss. The investigating committee of the Plymouth church , Brooklyn , made a report acquitting Henry Ward Beecher of the charges made against him by Theodore Tilton. Gen. Custer's exploring party , re turning from the Black Hills , reached Lincoln , Neb. , with tales of the fertile land and the gold deposits found there. Twenty Years Ago. Gov. Hoadly of Ohio ordered troops into Hocking county to suppress riots at thc < coal mines. Ten men were cremated in the burn ing of a circus train at Greeley , Colo. Fifteen persons A\ere droAvned by the oA'arturning of the steamer Belmont in the Ohio river near Henderson , Ky. England closed a contract with a Chicago firm for 300,000 pounds of compressed beef for the Gordon relief expedition to Khartum. A report that Queen Victoria had di ( < d suddenly threAV Lonelon into a panic until the canard was disproved , Ten I'ears Ago. Duties aggregating nearly $100,000 were collected at the custom house in Chicago , because of the rush to reloasa bonded goods under the Brice-Gorman act. Avhich had become a law. The Brice-Wilson tariff bill becamo a la\v Avithout the signature of President Cleveland. A thousand persons were killed and much property destroAed by a storm that swept over the sea of Azov.