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About Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1904)
Kuropatkin's advance south from Mukden against the Japanese army was seriously contested six miles north of Yentai station , where a bloody bat tle raged. The Japanese on Sunday fell back along the entire front , and the Russian advance guard crossed the Schili river , .half way between Muk den and L5ao3'ang , which is shown in the map. Re-enforcements enabled the Japanese to push back the Russians on Monday , and the latter renewed the combat the next day , the rosnlt being in doubt. In the meantime it is said the east and west flanking movements by the Japanese continued. Tho tri angle bounded by Yentai , Linoynng and Sikwnnlun , which is well forti fied , is believed to be tho position Field Marshal Oyama had chosen for a de cisive battle. After driving back the left Japanese flank and assailing tho right Hank oil Marshal Oyama's army , the Russians met changed conditions Wednesday. Fighting so severe that even hardy vet erans were appalled occurred near Yentai , held by the Russians. Tbe heights above Yentai were shambles. Progress of the artillery was impeded by corpses. Russians and Japanese .were mingled in the same masses of the slain , where vantage points were taken and lost within hours by the enemies. Leading the Japanese to the assault , their dashing commanders were killed by dozens. The whole fierce fight culminated when the Russians broke and charged on the Yontai mines. Cries of "Ban zai ! " by the Japanese were answered by the crash of artillery aud the inces sant roar of machine guns. The dead ly fire continued during the night , when flashes of fire , not men. were tar gets. When Kuropatkin's lighters , un der the wounded Gen. Danieloff , reach ed and occupied Yontai , only the dead defenders remained. Both armies , totaling half a million men , engaged in a death grapple. The Hun river intervened between two of the attacking columns , and its banks SITE OF THE GKEAT BATTLE. Russian shelter trenches half way up the hill , but , according to General Stoessel , were driven out the follow ing night. The general reports the ces sation of infantry attacks and the re sumption of bombardments from Jap anese long-range guns , coupled with further activity in the building of zig zag trenches as a preliminary to new assaults. The Muscovites seem to have aban doned their purely defensive attitude of the early months of the siege and now make frequent sorties. That they have been forced to this by the tight ening lines is probable , for their coun ter-attacks , even though successful , must result in a heavier loss to them than to the enemy. And whenever the JAPAN PREPARES FOR LONG WAR Dcci'dc3 to Sacrifice Men and Wealth to Push Campaign to Success. A Tokio dispatch says that an increas ing feeling of sobriety and seriousness marks the popular attitude toward the war. It is doubtful whether the masses appreciated in the beginning the serious ness of the task of expelling Russia from Manchuria. They had confidence in the ability of the army and navy to reduce the fortress of Port Arthur , destroy the Russian fleet and crush Gen. Kuropatkin. The prolongation of the siege , the losses before Port Arthur and Gen. Kuropat kin's escape at Liaoyang have brought a general appreciation of the magnitude of the national task and dissipated the growing hopes of an early peace , based oa the confidence of sweeping victories. Events at Port Arthur and Liaoyang have impressively warned the Japanese people to prepare for a long and trying war. Confidence in the final outcome , hoAvever. remains unshaken , and the na tion has resolutely settled down , prepared to make sacrifices and pay the price that success demands. The strain of the war and the drain on the country's resources have not yet been felt to any extent among the people. Some lines of business are suffering , but the aggregate foreign and domestic trade exceeds that of 1903. The crops , par ticularly rice , are the largest ever known. There is general confidence in the abil ity of Field Marshal Oyama to drive Gen. Kuropatkin into Harbin and suc cessfully to resist a reinvasiou of Man churia. Tihe early possession of Port Arthur is also confidently expected. Death from wounds nnd sickness has overtaken thousands of Japanese soldiers , but their vacant places have been quick ly filled with the supply of able-bodied men anxious to fight equal to all possi ble demands. Munitions , supplies and money in hand indicate the ability of the country to wage war without embar rassment and vigorously for another year. "War News in Brief. The Imperial Japanese Relief Society has $400,000 on deposit. Part of the Russian Imperial Guard has started for the far East. TJie British steamer Chenan was JAPAXESE POSSESSIXG A COMMANDING HEIGHT XEAR PORT ARTHUR. were reddened by the blood of the con tending troops. The Russian casual- tics were especially horrible in their number. A brigade of Russian infantry , with 2,000 cavalry and two guns , marching to strike Gen. Kuroki's fiink : , crossed the Taitse river. The Japanese cut off the retreat of this force and tried to annihilate it. The Russians attacked Slenchuang , thirty miles northeast of Saimatzc ami almost due north of Fengwangcheng , evidently with the object of cutting off Japanese com munications with the Yalu river. Gen. Danieloff , who succeeded Gens. Trous- eeff and Romanoff in command of the Sixth Siberian rifles division , was wounded in the log. With olood soak ing his uniform , he continued to lead his troops until exhausted. The battle commenced along the line of the railway with a terrific artillery fire on both sides. The railway lino almost to Yentni was in possession of the Russians. The station itseif was damaged beyond recognition. The sound of cannonading was audible for forty miles. The fighting commenced early in the morning. A bombardment of five hours' duration forced back the Jap anese lines along almost the entire front and opened the way for an in fantry attack. About neon tho Japan ese began to retire. Their flanks and center wero stubbornly defended and the battle increased in intensity , con centrating about the YcMitai coil mines , where firing continued until darkness fell. As a net result of the1 day's events the Russians drove in the Japanese left , while the right clung to its posi tion , but maintained itself only with -difficulty. From Port Arthur General Stoessel &as sent an account of tiie fighting of Sept 19 to 23. He says that lli > Japa nese attacks were made simultaneous ly from the north and west. In the attack from tho north the Japanese completely demolished the redoubt pro tecting the waterworks and apparently remained in occupation of the spot. The fighting on U\s west was waged especially around High Hill , near Fort Etseshan. The Jaoancse occupied the Japanese can exchange man for man at Port Arthur they gain the advan tage , since they can bring up new troops almost indefinitely , while the Russians cannot re-enforce at all. The Baltic squadron has not sailed , though its imminent departure is again announced. The restraining fear is that Port Arthur might fall before the advent of the fleet , which would then be in danger of annihilation. It is now evident that if the fleet had left early in the year Russia might have gained the mastery of the sea and the entire GENERAL KUKOKI. fortune of the war have changed. But hindsight is always better than fore sight. It could not be known early in the spring that Stoessel would make such a gallant defense. Japan is evidently prepared to put in the Held an army surpassing the most sanguine prophecies. The new conscript law will add C.OO.COO soldiers between the ages of 20 and 35 years to 'the Mikado's forces and raise the total to over 1,000.009. It is doubtful , indeed , whether Russia can ever sus tain : it the far eastern end of her em pire an army of 1,000.000 men. Xeither side has had anywhere near enough. The end of the war is not in sight. Japanese are anxious to take Port Ar thur by Nov. 5 , the Mikado's birthday. searched by a Japanese cruiser near Che- foo. foo.A A fleet of eighty junks is engaged in attempting to run the Port Arthur block ade. Japanese have seized the British steamship Sissian for carrying flour for Port Arthur. It is reported that the Japanese in Manchuria are suffering from privations , cold and hunger. Fears are expressed in St. Petersburg that Kuropatkm has undertaken a move ment too great for his army. It is reported that the health and gen eral condition of the Russian troops at thofront are remarkably good. Emperor William sent a "good-luck" message to the Russian fleet , and it may cause a protest by Japan. Gen. Tasagawa will take charge of tha Japanese troopa in Korea and the Ko rean army will foe suppressed. Preparations are being made to es " tablish "mi-underground winter quarters for the Russians about Mukden. Activity in China means either danger to foreigners or preparation to resist Jap anese aggressio7i after the war. The Japanese gunboat Hciyen was sunk by a mine near Port Arthur and nearly all of heicrew of 300 men drown ed. Russian papers say that Japan must be crushed so that she will never be able to renew her operations on the con tinent. Japanese at Yentai retreated before the Russian advance on Sunday , but were re-enforced and drove the enemy back on Monday. Kuroki is said to have crossed the Iltm river above Fushun ford and is marching direct oa Tie Pass. The Cir- cuin-Baikal railway is open. Count Okuma , leader of the Progres sive party in Ja-pau , estimates that a two years' war will cost Japan one billion dollars , meaning a per capita tax of $20. More than 100,000 mc\n ore believed to have been engaged in the fighting at Yen tai. Another fierce engagement has de veloped twenty-seven miles southeast of Mukden. St. Petersburg military officials do no * regard the Yentai battle as a general en gagement , as Kuropatkin's entire army has not reached the battle line. The de cisive engagement Is expected soon. TWO TRAINS CRASH MISSOURI PACIFIC EXPRESS AND FREIGHT COLLIDE. Tvrenty-scvcn Are Killed and Ti Others Terribly Injured Accident Occurs NearVarrensbuTR , Mo.- Coaches Filled with Kxcuraiouihta. The second section of Missouri pas senger train Xo. 30 from Wichita , Kan. , to St. Louis , carrj'ing World's Fair excursionists , was wrecked in a head-on collision with a west-bound freight train east of Warrensburg , Mo. , eighty miles southwest of Kan sas City , early Monday. The forward coach of the passenger train was tele scoped and both trains were badly damaged. Twenty-seven persons were killed outright and thirty were in jured , some of them , it is believed , fa tally. Travel to the World's fair has been so heavy that all roads recently have been sending out many of their trains in two or more sections. The wrecked train , which was the second section of Xo. 30 , was made up at Wichita Sun day night and , as is the custom , it picked up many additional coaches along the line in Kansas. The last coach taken up was at Pleasant Ilill , Mo. , at about 4 o'clock Monday morn ing. AU of the coaches were crowded. Both trains were running at a good i\ite of speed when the wreck occur red. Dawn had hardly begun to break and neither crew was .aware of the approach of the other train until they werealmost upon each other. The im pact of the collision was terrific. The sleeping passengers were hurled in every direction. Most of the killed were in the forward coach , which was well crowded with passengers. The spot where the wreck occurred was in a narrow cut and this fact , with the darkness , added to the diffi culty of the situation. The greatest confusion ensued after the first lull following the crash and the groans of the injured were added to the escap ing steam of the wrecked locomotives ! Relief Hurried to Scene. It was some time before word was sent back to Warrensburg and news of the wreck was spread. Relief trains carrying physicians were sent out as quickly as possible from surrounding towns and everything possible was done to aid the injured. It was some time before the dead and injured could be extricated from the debris. The * dead were carried up the track and laid in rows in an open space until the relief train arrived , while the injured were cared for as well as could be. The freight train was an extra. Its crew had , according to the story of the conductor of this train , been instructed to take a siding and let the passenger train pass. The first section of the passenger train had gone by when the freight pulled out The passenger train bore no signal of second section to come , lie asserts , and he had no rea son to believe that another train was due. due.The The scene of the wreck was on the down-grade on either side of which there was a steep rise. Both trains had put on extra stram to carry them up the opposite lull , and when they met at the curve at the lowest point they were running at a terrific rate. The passenger train was made up of three coaches and a Pullman , with no baggage car , the front coach being next to the tender. The freight train was a heavy one. When the trains met the lieavy freight train pushed the passenger engine back into the first coach. The tender of the passen ger engine literally cut the coach in two in the center and never stopped until it had ploughed itself half-way through the car and its passengers , killing those in the forward end in stantly and mangling all within reach in a most horrible manner. Half a dozen who were not killed outright were so terribly injured that they died before they could be removed from the debris. Many of the dead were almost unrecognizable. A census was taken of the population of Buenos Ayres. Oue million were re corded. A treaty has been exchanged between Thibet nnd Great Britain , both sides re leasing prisoners. The Japs have taken possession of the coal mines at Yentai , where their main force is now stationed. Nicaragua and Honduras have settled their differences and Honduras has with drawn her troops from the territory of the former. At a recent concert in Warsaw the hall was suddenly invaded by spiders , which , attracted by the sound of a vio lin , caine from cracks and crannies in the building. The other lovers of music left. The only Persian newspapers which resemble those published in other coun tries are those issued iu ludia aud Egypt , which copy English models. The lew papers published at Teheran contain lit tle beside the Shah's proclamations aud pictures of prominent ollirials. An officer sent to investigate the af fairs f a government form in the Trans vaal , near Potchefstroom , found an ex pert at $4.000 a year , an assistant at ? 2,000 and another at Vi-u00 in rlrirge of 200 chickens. Similar maimge'iieut had resulted in a loss , to date , of Sl. ooa GET RICH ON Ol ! _ . Smalt Fortunes JJcin Made by Indiana Karmcf . Oil has been one of Indiana's < -liIof tjes for nearly live ye.ir.s. but it only recently Mint anything like a boo-in pr/vailed in the counties where the production is largest. Oil has boon pro duced in Delaware , Madison. Grunt. Jay and Randolph counties iu paying quanti ties ever since natural gas began to "play out. " Even no\v in a section of country HO miles square , filled with oil drillers , spec ulators and owners of producing terri tory , there is none of that wildncss that lias characterized other parts of 'the country in which the drill has struck nay sand. Xo one has made a million and none expects to turn out a fortune to that amount , but there are numerous in cidents where families have been lifted trom poverty to afiluence. The wolf has been driven from the door and now con tentment reigns where once nil was dark. Mr. a.ml Mrs. Elijah Guff of Liberty township , Delaware county , will not have to give up their farm and go to the poor house. Elijah > Goff is 84 and ms wife is 94. For years theyhave been hope lessly in debt aud less than three month ? ago their guardian was contemplating the step of taking them to the infirmary. The guardian , who is aiso the county auditor , shrank from telling his aged charges that the mortgage holders would wait no longer and that they must leave the home which they had 50 years ago found in the wilderness. One day a party of oil drillers came to the farm. They obtained the guard ian's consent and then sent a drill down through'the earth. Day after day the drill pounded away. The old man and ; his wife sat in their front yardand watched the work. Mr. Goff could not quite comprehend what was being done. One day there was a shout from th > drillers. They had struck oil. The old man and his wife will not have to go 'to ' the poor 'house. The leases on the farm of f > (5 ( acres will yield them an income of Iii50 ! a month. The oldman. . too , will now have a phaeton , a thing he in his childish old age has long coveted , but which until now his guardian could nev er promise him. Samuel A. Winget had struggled for years against poverty on his little farm near Parker City. His income had nev er been more than $300 a year and as his children grew to young manhood and young womanhood lie longed to see them get a good education , but he almost de spaired. The drillers came. They want ed to put down a test well. The well was a success. One month 'later ' the rural carrier brought Winget ail envelope con taining a check for $ u' > 0. He handled k with trembling hands. lie realized that if the well held out ho was a rich man. It 'means ' so .much . to his wife and children. He is now receiving checks monthly of from ? 400 to ? r 00. Ttlie cases of many others are similar. Kind fortune has smiled , not on the wealthy speculators , but upon scores of hard-working farmers. Men who once went to scan only 'the ' hog and grain markets now receive the oil quotations by wire. It is a sure-thing game for thorn. JUDGE DENOUNCES MOB. Instructs Federal Grand Jury to In- EvestiKate Killing of Nejjro. Judge Thomas G. Jones of the United Plates District Court in hicharge tn lhe jury at Huntsville , Ala. , declared it to be tlie duty of that body to return in dictments against the lynchers of the negro Maples under certain conditions. Maples was in the Huntsville jail , accus ed of a grave crime. A mob of whitd men attacked the jail , set lire to it , se cured possession of Maples and hanged him. Judge .Tones asks the jury to put this question to itself after hearing the evi dence in the mutter : ' 'Would a white m. . : ! . under the same circumstances , charged with the particular offense upon the sKiie victim , have been attacked or murdered by this mob ? " In arriving at an answer the jury is advised to con sider what was said by members of the mob as well as what was done. If it shall decide that the mob woald not have murdered Maples if he had been a white man , says Judge Jones , "then every dic tate of humanity and justice demands that you return true bills against the members of the mob. " Here for the first timea federal judge has held that a mob which murders a negro because he is a negro as well as because he is charged with a crime lay ? itself liable to punishment under federal law. The tliirteenth and fourteenth amendments to the constitution are re lied upon to uphold the view that it is the nation's duty to protect its citi /.ens from violence aroused by race ani mosity. The point thus raised is impor taut. Interesting ; Ne-rva Items. The Piedmont clothing plant , Cha" lotte , X. C. , worth $90,000 , was burned Two blocks of buildings in Oakle ; . Kan. , were destroyed by fire that cause § 73,000 loss. Several hotel guests ha a narrow escape. A monument marking the birthplace James Knox Polk , eleventh President ( the United States , was unveiled nea Pineville , X. C. Gov. Mickey of Xebraska admits 1. uses railroad passes , but says he won' approve a law making their issuance < acceptance a misdemeanor. After a running exchange of sho threealleged highwaymen , Henry Lesl William , ivrepts and James Orris , wo lodged in jail at Tarentum , Pa. Hilary Altaian , diaries Altman a' Iver Harney arc being held in Florida t the Georgia authorities in connect ! with the Duncan-Altman feud murder Mrs. Carrie Xation. Mrs. Lucy V\ holte. Mrs. Lydia Mounts and Mrs. M : McHenry broke two plate glass wind in the Mahan Wholesale Supply G. pany's warehouse in Wichita , Kan. , ; i weretaken to jail. Two freight trains on the Buff. Rochester and Pittsburg Railroad en od at Slum ford's Station , X. Y. , ki ! Charles Tanner of Rochester , a con tor , and Thomas Dundon of Roche- a fireman. Four others were iuju. Disobedience of orders is charged. More than 5.000 farmers , represeir sixteen counties in the dark tob. givwing counties of Tennessee and 1- tucky , met iu Guthrie , Ky. . and adoi resolutions asking the federal gr juries througho.tt the two States to vestigate the alleged ruinous compoti : of the tobacco trust. One Hundred Years Ago. All communication between Holland and England was stopped , letters to Rotterdam being seized and convej'fd to the French general. The French licet at Boulogne aguiu was attacked unsuccessfully by tho British. Both England and Russia declined to acknowledge the new title of "Em peror of German } ' , " which the ruler oC Prussia assumed. Tho crops in the Mont Blanc prov ince of France were destroyed by freshets. Seventy-five Years Ago. Dr. Alexander Duff , the first mis sionary af the Church of Scotland , sail ed for India. Locomotive steam carriages wero tksed on the railroads in England for the first time. A workingmen's college was estab lished in London by Frederick A. Mau rice. rice.An An explosion caused a great fire at Sateshead , England , fifty being killed , and the money loss being over § 5,000- 300. Fifty Years Ago. A motion to impeach the government svas carried by the Danish house of commons by a vote of SO to G. A. II. Reeder ( Democrat ) , first Gov ernor of Kansas , arrived at the capital of that State. The ships of the allied forces wore greatly damaged by fire during tho bombardment of Sevastopol. Abraham Lincoln challenged Stephen A. Douglas to a joint debatein tho canvass for the Senate. Forty Years Ago. Col. Robert G. Ingcrsoll addressed n mammoth union meeting at Bryan Hall , Chicago. Harrison II. Dodfl escaped from con finement at Indianapolis during his military trial at which much was de veloped concerning the operations oj the Knights of the Golden Circle. Federal troops and militia were im der arms all day and night at Mem. phis , Tenn. , expecting an attack by the Confederate force under Chalmers , , A letter from President Lincoln , urg ing the adoption of an anti-slaverj clause was read at a mass meeting in the interests * of a new State constitu tkm in Baltimore , Md. Elections in Ohio , Indiana and Perm sylvania were a decisive victory foi Lincoln nncl the administration of thi war and rebuke for the peace party. Ifcfrty Years Ago. A building at Aspatia , Spain , used by the Carlists to manufacture am. munition was blown up with great losi of life. William H. Wickham was unanti nionsly nominated by Tammany Hal/ / for Mayor of Xew York. Shanghai dispatches announced thi declaration of war between Japan and China. A report of the Illinois board 01 equalization said there were eighty-five corporations in Cook County and about 100 in the State. The Sultan issued a decree forbid- ling the exporting of cereals from Mo > rooco for three years. Bryan Waller Proctor ( "Barry Corn wall" ) , the English author and poet , lied. lied.President President Grant visited Vanita , I. T. , and addressed the Cherokee In- lians. wenty Years Ago. The fourth annual convention of the rganized trades of the United States > nd Canada opened in Chicago. An entire freight train on the North- rn Pacific road near Duluth waa 'irown into the St. Louis river and 'ie crew drowned. The University of Kief , Russia , waa oaed , and 1GS students were arrested larged with being nihilists. Marion Hendershot was lynched by mob at Troy , Ind. , for the murder of s mother. Vigilance committees of Oregon re- irted the State and surrounding ter- ory free from horse thieves , fifty of Iiom had been lynched within a half ar. n Years Ago. The Japanese attacked the Chlnse Wiju and captured the town. The inese were reported to have taken u nd on the north branch of the Yau. ) .ivid B. Hill , for the third time , ac- ted the Democratic nomination fo ; vernor of Xew York. ' ) liver Wendell Holmes , the author 1 humorist , died at his Boston , ass. , home.