Show whoever wins in the war will take manchuria but progressive do s ot care as they are going to demand reforms at home WANT HOSPITALS PROTECTED tokio dec 17 4 p m gen stoessel has opened negotiations with tho japanese forces sur rounding port arthur providing for the protection oe the hospitals 0 tho city he has furnished gen bogl with a map showing the alons of the different hospitals harbin nov lg Correspond enco of press back and forth along the that thero Is not much in the way ot active fighting writes a staff correspondent of tho associated press ono meets many interesting acquaintances nearly all of whom have something to add to the general story of the war coming up the last time across tho itsou aher I 1 was put up for the night by tha bridge guard clever companionable fellows with somo very intelligent chinese assistants there is an iron bridge across the river with a fort at each end and a boat patrolling the river beneath to guard against sudden descents of the chinese bandits who arc always on the alert to annoy the lines of communication even it they cannot cut them but the railway guard is a very mobile organization and can concentrate a strong force up or down the line at short notice while the guard boat makes the river banks untenable tor an enemy one of the en on guard at the bridge Is an intelligent fellow from the southern provinces and he predicts sweeping changes in china when this war Is over ho does not speak as though he regarded manchuria as an integral part of china he whoever wins in this war Is going to take manchuria china will not much care but whoa tire war is over you are going to sea changes in cainas chinas internal economy there are a great many of us especially in the south who have studied the question thoroughly we know what wa want in the way of chinese reforms and we are going to get them after this war on the border Is out of the way on a promontory high above the it sun is perched a pretty little chinese village and hero la established one of tse neat clean and compact littos hospitals one of the doctors had much to say ot the wounded of whom ho has handled hundreds and seen thousands curiously enough he said the majority of our wounded are shot in the head I 1 attribute this to tho shrapnel bursting in the air the japanese artillery has been responsible tor the most ot our casual ties BO far it is the most effective arm of the japanese service ve have many examples of tho stoicism and devotion of the soldiers who come under our care I 1 was attending a dying cossack recently he was in terrible pain I 1 stopped to ask him at the end what message he had to send to his parents or relatives lie gave me the number of hla diflo and requested that it should be sent to his another sol adlor limped in here on toot he had refused to let the stretcher men car ry him saying there were others who needed the stretchers more his foot was amputated within an hour in the field hospitals the men are put 25 in tent they preserve their discipline even in bed and elect ono of their tent mates usually one ot tho less severely wounded as commander all this is quite independent of tho regulations the wounded take orders from their tent chief and whenever there is a shortage of helpers and there usually is they help the doctors with the dressing and bandaging and also help to get the meals in harbin the volunteer surgeons and nurses have been a blessing all of the doctors in the town have given their voluntarily and ot the ladles who never saw a bandage before the war have gone into tho hospitals and become skillful nurses one of tho things that will need some explaining when the war is over Is bow the chinese bandits got their arms the majority of them carry win chesters but there aro many maus ers and japanese rifles among them and the strangest of all many russian rifles from the government factor evidently rifles that have been rejected by the inspectors but which could not have cono into the hands of tha bandits baless they had been stolen and illicitly sold there was an artillery officer in tho station at mukden when I 1 last passed through he had been in seven bat ties and had the st georges cross he holds that the average russian ar is the equal of the japanese while their latest bulris are better but in the earlier fighting ho says the japanese proved better gun ners and more adaptable in placing and making their batteries the russian guns in the earlier fights always occupied the crests of the hills and fired point blank the result was that they were knocked out by the japanese batteries every time but now the russians are using littly except high angle fire it is not unusual to have a battery yards in abo rear of a hill top and the firing is governed entirely by telephone and signals the result Is that now the russian artillery more thau holds its own with tha japanese 1 f |