' - * ! ' . . MONTHS OF CARNAGE. AV/FUL SLAUGHTER ON SLOPES OF PORT ARTHUR. Story of l"ijhtintr A round the Riiss.itn Stronghold Forms One of tlic Ulood- icst Chapters in History Slaughter Has Continued Over Tlircc Months. . Since August 1 Uio operations against Port Arthur have cost thou sands of lives , and embrace a series of lien-e assaults haml-to-haiul , - - strug gles awl artillery duelswithout par allel in history. When the Japanese drove the Rus- sin is : : from their strong position on the last range of hills in front of the fortress by a surprise attack July IV ) the Russians retired lo Ihe forts , but they als < Kstrongly held previously pre pared advance lines to prevent the Japanese from closing in upon the for tified ridges. This line of forts was fourteen milos long , forming a semi-circle from tin * oasi coast to four milefrom the west coast anil circling live miles northwest t f rorl : Arthur. The fortress belt proper was a twelve-mile semi-circle GENERAL , STUIibSEL. from coast to coast. The Japanese po sition was a mile from the advance Russian line in the center of a range of hills called Fenghoano Mountain. Ilesults of the operations since are as follows : August 7. General bombardment stop ped Russian fire from Tuklm and Shaklm mountains ; eight regiments climbed tc cre.--t. of Taklm. and. after desperate iiand-to-liand fight , drove the Russians into their permanent forts and captured four field guns. August S. Heavy Japanese attack be fore daylight on Shakhu mountain re pulsed but successfully renewed ; Rus sians left hundreds of dead in the aban doned positions ; Japanese casualties. 3,4UO. August 14. T\vo Japanese brigades captured important positions on the Rus sian left Hank , after suffering frightful losses in cutting a way through entangle ments under heavy lire. August 10. Covered by heavy bom bardment Japanese infantry made a gen eral advance under a withering fire and captured fort on west slope of 174 : yards hill at point of bayonet ; took five field guns and four machine gims ; Jap casual ties. 1.100 ; rioO Russian dead found in position. Russians abandoned Keekwan Port , set afire by a shell , but repulsed infantry attack on other forts. August 21. Russians attacked and re captured Keekwan Fort , but later in tht day. without orders , a Japanese regi ment broke ranks , stormed the height it face of a point-blank firo and recaptured the position at the bayonet pointVesl ; Ilanjusan fort also captured. August - . ' ' > . Japanese captured re xnninder of P.anjusan forts , forcing the Russians back to foot of fortified hills Japanese casualties from August 10 offi cially put at 14.000. August 25 to September 18. Russians sortie and attaek working parties almost every night , while guns bombarded bj day. Quarter not asked or given stretcher bearers tired on and killed. October 2. Fire directed on battle ship 1'obieda. Fifth shot pierced for ward decks of ship , sending up huge columns of smoke and leaving a gaping rent. Russians placed hospital ship in line of fire to protect other warships. October ] : i. The West Urh fort dam aged. Battleship Peresviet struck bj several shells from the howitzers and caught fire. Golden Hill Fort greatlj damaged. October 1(5. ( Japanese attacked an in trenched hill called Ilachimake Yaina between the east Urh'and west Benjamir forts. Under cover of a tremendous bom bardment the companies of the center dl vision charged the glacis with bayonets and captured the trenches at the crest. October 20 to November J . Furious general attack begun with the object ol forcing surrender before Nov. 3. the Mi kado's birthday. Five warships report ed sunk and Kihlung mountain and Sung slm mountain , which lies between UK railroad and llihhmg mountain , captured LIBERAL VICTORY IN CANADA. "Lauricr Has 3Injority of Nearly Sev enty Bordcn Loses Seat. Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Libera' ' party are masters of Canada. The partj which has been hi power for the last eight years' has swept the dominion over whelniingly against the Conservatives , under the leadership of Robert Lairc r.orden. From latest reports the Lib erals appear to have gained one of tht most complete triumphs in the history oJ Canadian politics and , contrary to gen eral expectation , they will have a Inrgei V majority in the new parliament than in the old. They are assured of a majority of nearly seventy , as against their late majority of fifty-four. The results show many surprises. The defection of former Minister Turte has had no effect in the province of Quebec nud the Conservatives elect only ten members there. French sentiment was too strong in this stronghold of the French-Canadians to be shaken in any degree. In Ontario , where the conservatives ex pected to make a large gain , the Liber als , have scored instead and have cut down the former Conservative majority f fifteen to six. OI4 pacers for Bale at this offlo * . KILLED IN TWO DISASTERS. Jlincrs Fall to Death and Reservoir Bursts Killing Seventeen Persons. Thirty-live persons were killed Wednesday in two terrible disasters in \the United States , eighteen in a Penn sylvania coal mine and seventeen through the breaking of a water reser voir in South Carolina. The mining accident occurred in one of the shafts of the Delaware , Lacka- wanna and Western Company's mines , about eight miles south of Wilkcs- barre , at Nanticoke. When the men started to work eighteen entered the lowering machine. A few feet below the surface the steel cable of the car riage , connected with the hoisting en gine , broke. Instantly the heavy car shot downward with frightful velocity and it and the men were crushed at the bottom of the shaft , several hun dred feet below. Frantic efforts were made at once to reach the men and rescue them if any had survived. It was necessary to construct a temporary elevator , however , and every one of the eigh teen miners was dead when their fel low-workers reached the bottom of the shaft. Six feet of water was in the bottom of the shaft , and the men who were not killed by the fall were drown ed. The accident was caused by ma chinery in the engine room going wrong. Details from the frightful disaster at Winston-Salem , S. G. , where seventeen persons are known to have been drowned , are meager , but it is be lieved tliat many others lost their lives. The Winston reservoir , situ ated on top of a high hill , burst , and the water swept down the valley with terrific force , carrying everything be fore it. Houses , trees , animals , human be ings , fences and crops were swept away by the onrushing flood. Houses were crushed like eggshells ; trees were snapped off or pulled np by the roots. There was no chance of escape by any thing in the path of the water. The residents of the valley had no warning of the approaching catastro phe , and men , women and children were killed almost before they realized what was happening. RUSSIA'S BALTIC FLEET. Squadron Under "Way for the Far East to Meet tlie Japanese. The Baltic fleet which Russia is send ing to the far li/ast consists of seven battleships two armored cruisers , seven protected cruisers , twelve destroyers , one repairing and one hospital ship , one ice breaker , a distilling ship and a FORIS DEFENDING POR1 ARTHUR IN WHICH GREAT GAPS HAVE BEEN MABE BY JAPANESE a-rao v. < . / : \Ifaf. , * fj fffi * * & &L * 5W ° rV ATOK : # W te5B < EON BAYk g vy * * ? - , f * \ fl' * ' 7t . / > PC gk / Ti CfS il/ J faC " ? > | h' k * * sAJ ? r 7p" . " - " - , . . -jf = YanSctncctcng/ j = fi v7Herf / V lBlx' SJ ' In. , / I X'liSl - i l iJx.-iat1 , > 5i / * 'if , I5rfjT a- vJ0.'SMUi { $ \'i--e ; < ? > v RllltScn \ CVxnqtau T * > Official reports from Port Arthur , made public by imperial headquarters in Tokio , show that the latest Japanese attack is by far the greatest since - the beginning of the siege and apparently will end with the reduction of the most important forts guarding the north and west sides of the citadel. The terrible fire of 'hundreds ' of great siege and naval guns by the Japanese diave battered large holes in the forts crowning many of the hills , notably Sungshu , limiting and Keekwan mountains , two of which are shown in the map , and the Itz ( Etseshan ) fortifications. Following the successful bombardment the Japanesehave captured the trenches supporting many of these positions , and from this vantage point the miners and sappers have discharged mines of dynamite against the walls of the forts , tearing great gaps in them. A Unique Business. A Cleveland man lias started n busi ness which promises to bea great suc- cess. He has hired an office , a large number of expert stenographers and a number of telephones. Business men call up by telephone , dictate 'Lheir let ters over the wire to a stenographer and the letters are .later sent back by mes senger boys to be signed. ISJsS &sv * ' ' v * - ' * ; * ' - * & , ( , IBl&r i e3y3illli : K&y DETACHMENT OF THE BALTIC FLEET. large number of colliers. Four of the battleships , the Barodino , Orel , Impcrator Alexander III. and the Knidj Sowaroff , are of the first class ; three are of about 13,000 tons displacement ami develop 30,000 horse-power and IS knots speed. The batteries consist of 4 12-inch , 12 0-inch , 20 3-inch , 20 3-pounders and 0 1-pounder guns , and from four to six torpedo tubes , two of which are carried Tinder water. Their normal coal supply is 1,250 tons , with a maximum capacity of 2,000 tons. Tihcy were launched at various dat iu 1901 nnd 1002 t St. Petersburg , and were given their trials la'te ' in 11)03 ) or early in 1904. The Imperator Alexander 111. on her official tri'al at Kronstadt av eraged 17.30 knots in four runs over a measured mile , and developed 10,205 in dicated horse-power , on a coal consump tion of two pounds per horse-power for each hour. It was intended to send her to tlie far East in the early spring , but ther tests appearto have taken .place . be fore slie was fully completed. The other battleships are the Oslabya , of 12,074 tons , launched in 189S ; the Navarin , of 10.200 tons , launched in 1S91 , and the Sissoi Veliky , of 10,400 tons , launched in 1S94. Two armored cruisers the Dmitri Donskoi , of 5,882 tons , and the Arnural NaMiimoff , of 8,524 tons were launched in 1SS3 and 1884 respectively. These vessels have been re-engined and other wise overhauled , but ut the best they tire only medium representatives of this im portant class of fighting ships and can not be compared favorably with the Asa- ma and her sister ships of the Japanese navy. The protected cruisers are the Oleg , 6n75 tons ; Aurora , 6,830 ; Ahnuz , 3,285 ; Svietlaiva , 3,828 , and Temtchug and Jzumrad , 3,080 tons each. All of these are modern vessels of a useful but not liighly important tj'pe. Seven of the destroyers are new nnd belong to the single screw "B" class , which includes the BuLstni , the liedovi , the Bravi , the Blestieschy , the Bezum- prechm , the Bodry and the By tri. These ere built at Nevsky and Ishora between 190u and 1902. On 6,000horsepower they develop 28 knots. They are arm- d Troth one 12 and five 3-ponnder gnus. Tlie auxiliaries are efficient vessels of their type. The Okear , for example , is ft coal transport of 12,000 tons , 18 knots , launched in 1901. She can carry 4,000 tons of coal and steam 10,000 miles with 800 tons as her own supply RUSSIANS ADMIT BLUNDER ; SHELLED THEIR OWN SHIPS. From a reliable source the Associa ted Press learns that the circumstances of the firing as detailed by Russian of- President's Th By the President of the United States of America , a proclamation : It has pleased Almighty God to bring the American peo ple in safety and honor through another year , and in accordance with the long un broken custom handed down to us by our forefathers , the time has come when a spe cial day shall he sot apart in which to thank Him who holds all nations in the hollow of Ills hand for the mercies thus vouchsafed to us. During the century and a quarter of our national life we as a people have boen blessed beyond all others , and for this we owe humble and heartfelt thanks to the au thor of all blessings. The year that has closed has been one of peace within our own borders as well as between us and all other nations. The harvests have been abundant , and those who work , whether with hand or brain , are prospering greatly. Reward has waited upon honest effort. We have been enabled to do our duty to our selves and to others. Never has there been a time when religious and charitable etTort has been more evident. Much has been given to us and much will be expected from us. We speak of what has been done by this nation in no spirit of boastfulness or vain glory , but with full and reverent realiza tion that our strength Is as nothing unless we arc helped from above. Hitherto we have been given the heartiest strength to do the tasks allotted to us as they several ly arose. We are thankful for nil that has been done for 'js in the past and we pray that in the future we may be strength ened in the unending struggle to do our duty fearlessly and honestly , with charity and good will , with respect for ourselves and with love toward our fellow men. -ilc Brevities. TheColorado Fuel and Iron Company re-elected its old officers. A treaty of extradition has been con cluded between Belgium and Cuba. Patrick Granah'an , a well-known citi zen of Upper Ltizeme coirntj' , Pa. , was found dead in .his kitchen with a bullet wound in his head. The Ontario and Western stockholders' committee has sent out > a circular con taining a plan to fight for the dissolu tion of the Ontario voting trust. As an outgrowth of the exposition travelers' "aid committee , formed to pro tect women iand children attending the world's fair , a permanent organization to be knownas the American Alliance of tho Travelers * Addhas been perfected at St. Louis. ucers closely re semble the facts I reported by the ad- < miral of the fishing < fleet. When abreast of the trawlers the Russian squadron was formed in two divisions , the cruis ers steaming east and the battle ships Avest , the latter get- Hm * : imrm" tlir fish' . " " ° ° KOJESTVENSICY. ing craft and open ing fire. When nearly clear of the fishing craft , which were heading to ward the battle ships , some Russian shells flew ever the trawlers and struck cruisers , one of which , the Au rora , was hit-several times and some of her men were wounded , including a priest , who died. The transport Ana- tol apparently became tangled among the trawlers , which she mistook for torpedo , boats and signaled for aid , thereby leading the ollicers of the bat tle ships to believe the trawlers were attacking the Analol. This , coupled with the alleged appearance of two mj'sterious torpedo boats steaming to ward the battle ship , resulted in the fatal cannonade. In this great republic the effort to coin- bine national strength with personal free dom is being tried on a scale more girtmtic than ever before in the world's history. Our success will mean much not only for our selves , but for the future of all mankind ; and every man or woman in our land should feel the grave responsibility resting upon him or her , for in the last analysis this success must depend upon the high average of our individual citizenship , upon the way in which each of us does his duty by him self and his neighbor. Now. therefore , I , Theodore Roosevelt , President of the United States , do hereby appoint and set apart Thursday , the 24th of this November , to be observed as a day ! of festival and thanksgiving by all the peo- ' r le of the United States at home or abroad. ' and do recommend that on that day they cease from their ordinary occupations and gather in their several places of worship or in their homes , devoutly to give thanks unto Almighty God for the benefits lie has con ferred upon us as individuals and as a na tion , and to beseech Him that in the future His divine favor may be continued to us. In wituess whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington this 1st day of November lii the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four and of the independence of the United States the cue hundred and twenty-ninth. By the President : ' 'JOHN HAY , Secretary of State. The annual report of the Pacific Coast Company for the year ended .Time 30 shows total earnings of $5,902,072 and net earnings of $1,185,029 , a decrease of $211.948. Fearing death was due to poison , the family of former congressman D. G. Colson , who died at Middlesborough , Ky. , on Sept. 27 , dias 'had has body secretly exhumed , and the brain , stom ach and liver were taken to Louisville for examination by Dr. S. E. Wooay. Arthur Donoghue of Chicago , repre senting the National Association of Post- office Clerks , conferred with Postmaster General Wynne in Washington. He urg ed uniformity in bonding clerks and in making shifts from day to night work. All his recommendations will b taken up and investigate WARDUBLNG A WEEK INTEREST WAS IN THE WAR SCARE RATHER THAN IN WAR. Threatened Hostilities Between ICnz- lanil and Russia Startled the VVorl < l Lion anil the Bear Growled Viciously at ISacJi Other. The chief interest of the week cen tered not in the war , but in the war scare. The scare was a real one. Eng land and Russia did not so nearly light simply because of the tishing trawler Incident. The lion and the bear hated each other long before that happened , and will continue to hate each other long after it is forgotten. Since the Crimean war they have been perpetual ly growling at each other ; continually showing their fangs ; occasionally rais ing their paws to strike. Neither has ever dared to turn his ejes away from the other. The Dogger bank affair merely evoked a display of the hostile feeling which constantly exists. As for the happening itself , Russia was entirely in the wrong , and dis played an unparalleled ignorance of sea manners , sea custom and sea ef ficiency. It is said that the Russian boats are commanded by cavalry of ficers and manned by farmers. This seems to be true practically , if not lit erally. The firing on tlie English trawlers began at 1 o'clock Sunday morning. Two or three hundred shots were fired in about twenty minutes' time. Two fishermen were killed and eighteen wounded. One fishing boat was sunk. No attempt was made by the attack ing fleet to rescue the wounded fish ermen , although a Russian boat staid on the scene until G o'clock in the morning. The last shot was fired at the trawler Kent at 7 a. m. The Brit ish government Immediately demand ed from Russia : (1) ( ) An apology. (2) ( ) An Indemnity for the families of the killed and wounded fishermen. (3) ( ) The punish ment of the Russian olficers responsi ble for the offense. (4) ( An adequate guarantee that there shall be no repe tition of the act Russia consented to requirements one , two and four , but held out against three. It would not agree to punish the responsible officers. It said its sense of sovereignty would not permit It to comply with such a request Great Britain answered that the request must be complied with , otherwise tlie Brit ish fleet would not permit the passage of the Russians through the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. At this point the tension was very great. France acted as a cruse of oil for the troubled waters and contributed to the eventual peaceful settlement Rojestvensky's explanation , the Chi cago Tribune declared , consisted of an extraordinary lie , but the lie undoubt edly averted a disagreeable alternative for the government war or Muscovite humiliation. The admiral stolidly maintained that he had actually been attacked by two torpedo boats. One of his officers Prince Keretelli went further , and said that there were eight hostile torpedo boats. Rojestvensky would have attained a greater degree of plausibility by making all stories tally. Rojestvensky's report raised a ques tion of fact between Great Britain and Russia. The facts must first be In vestigated to see how they lie. A mixed tribunal of admirals will decide whether or not the Russian squadron was attacked by torpedo boats. A huge mass of evidence will be sifted. A large number of depositions will be taken. Finally the tribunal will de cide that there was no evidence that torpedo boats had attacked the Rus sians. By the time this decision Is reached the incident will have lost its burning public interest. Russia will quietly apologize , pay an indemnity , guarantee immunity from like occur rences in the future , and punish ( per haps ) the offending officers. Every thing will go on as before , except for the unfortunate fishermen and their families. While the Baltic squadron has as yet j STORM FORT TRENCHES. Japanese Drivo Kussians from Outer Iiine of "Works at Port Arthur. The general assault on Port Arthur which began Oct. 24 developed into a fierce battle Sunday. According to a hitherto infallible authority the Japan ese flung heavy forces against the fortress In their third attempt to obtain a com manding position. The Japanese have been preparing for this assault for a month. It is believed that they did not , expect to capture the town on this occasion , but to accomplish another important forward step. The plan was adopted following the first as- Eanit , when thousands of lives were sac rificed in an attempt to swarm over the fortifications by mere force of numbers. This assault , like the previous one , fol lowed weary weeks of trench digging , gun mounting and small engagements. In the opinion of experts the r.ssault will cease when the Japanese have won positions that will enable them to creep steadily closer under the noses of the Russian guns. It is believed that two more genera ! assaults will be necessary before the distance between the bellig erent lines is shortened sufficiently for an attempt to enter the main forts and make the end of the siege practicable. Granite shafts were unveiled on San Juan Island in Puget sound marking the sites where the British and American garrisons camped while the territory was in dispute. Representatives of both the United States and Great Britain attend ed th'C exercises. John Marshall Barry , manager of the North American. Trust Company , was found guilty in Boston of larceny on six teen counts. His company advertised to make purchases for its patrons , pay ments to be made in installments. An appeal is to be taken. Inflicted fatalities only on the Eng- j'lish , It has practiced target shooting at several other nationalities. It fired on the Swedish steamer Aldebaran , likewise on the German steamer Sonn- tag , on the Norwegian steamer Skaa- tol. and on a Danish torpedo boat These extraordinary performances may be explained by Rojestvensky's orig inal proclamation that he would fire on any ship which approached him. His oiliccrs evidently interpreted his words to mean that they must fire on every ship which they approached. The British trawlers , for Instance , had their nets down and ware barely mov ing along. The Russian squadron came upon them and promptly fired. The War in r Ianchnria. After ten days of comparative quiet along the Shakhe river there are signs that the two armies arc again coming together. The Russians claim to be the aggressors in certain places , but dispatches from correspondents at Gen eral Kuroki's headquarters tate that the Russians have now been driven out of their last position south of the Shakhe river. In the opinion of the j Chicago Record-Herald , it would ap pear that the Russians are no longer strong enough to take the offensive on a large scale , while the Japanese have as yet shown no desire to push their way further to the north. There is sure to be a great deal of scattered fighting before winter sets In , but whether there will be another pitched A battle is uncertain. The battle of tlie STrakhe river will be memorable in history for the econ omy of lives with which the Japan ese fought it. In the battle of Llno- yang , although the Japanese had to charge again and again upon Russian intrenchments , the lasses of the Rus sians were the heavier the propor tion being about fonr Japanese killed and wounded to five Russians. In the battle of the Shaklrc the figures thus far available would indicate that the Russian losses were at least three , and possibly five or six , times as great as the Japanese. Concerning the losses , we have two facts upon which we can absolutely re ly , because both come from Japanese official sources , and Japanese official statements have not once during the war been open to the slightest suspi cion as to their literal truth. The first is that the total Japanese casualties killed and wounded numbered 15,879 officers and men. The second is that the total number f Russian dead burled by the Japanese on the field was 13,333. Now In the Japanese ar my , for which we have detailed fig ures , the ratio of killed to wounded was as one to six , and if that same ratio should apply to the Russians their total casualties n the basis of the dead buried on tlie field would number about 00,000. The Russian official statement places the total number of killed , wounded and missing at 800 officers and 45,000 men. This sets the lowest limit of the losses , but unfortnnately we can not feel confident that it Is the whole truth. An earlier figure purporting to come from an official report of General Kuropatkin's. but not verified , puts the wounded alone at 55,868. We have also the estimate of a correspondent at Mukden , who places the dead at 8,000 and the wounded at 40,000. If he was as much too loir on the wounded as on tlie dead ( using the Japanese fig ure of burials as the test ) , the total Russian casualties by tuis reckoning would be nearly 75.000. Reports from Port Arthur indicate renewed attack on the Ilihlting and Keekwan forts just north of the city. The end of the siege may very possibly be approaching. There are indications that the resistance at the fortress Is fast weakening and cannot be sus tained much longer. The Japanese are creeping in on all sides , taking an ad vance post here , another one there , a minor fort here , and a few machine guns yonder. They are always closing in , never receding. They are strength ening their artillery every day , while tlie Russian guns cannot be added to nor replaced when worn out Nogi fills up the gaps In the ranks as fast as they are made , while Stoessel's gaps con stantly grow bigger and cannot be filled up. Weight must shortly tell. > WAR NEWS IN BRIEF. The Japanese captured a height near Bentsiaputze , on Mukden road , and a , battle with cold steel on the summit left the slopes covered with dead. Leading Russians in Paris attack Bal- four's speech , stating that precise infor mation of danger to the Russian fleet is in the hands of the authorities. The Japanese won a position near the Shakhe river by a night attack. Prep arations made on both sides indicate that another great battle is not far o L Japanese shells fired during a general attack on Port Arthur destroyed the only smokeless powder magazine in the town , and a conflagration followed which lasted a day. The Japanese captured several important positions. The steamer Chiyoda discovered a floating mine off Chifa and brought it to Mojl. Tha gnnboat Ynmato sent a boat to get the mine and in transferring it the mine exploded , sinking the boat , injuring the Chiyoda and wounding sev eral men. France should have the credit for averting a war between Russia and Great Britain , according to statements made in St. Petersburg , where it is said that M. Delcasse proposed The Hague plan to both nations at the same time. The peace agrp ment between Russia and Great Britain leads to much discon tent in London , the Britons fearing that the tribunal , containing so many foreign ers , will take the word of Admiral Ro- jctvensky as against the fishermen and give Russia the verdict. A well-to-do man la often hard to do *