F RIDAY'S news from the front, though incomplete, is of very
great importance. In the first place, it is evident that General Kuropatkin, even if he ultimately escapes from the arms of the Japanese steel trap, has not yet done so, and the indications are that when the eastern arm closes, as it will in a day or two, it will catch a considerable portion of his force and a large amount of stores. The Japanese armies confronting Kuropatkin are said to number two hundred and fifty thousand men and six hundred guns. From Port Arthur comes the news, first, that the Japanese have carried Wolf Hill, and from this point of vantage are able to drop shells directly into the town ; and next, that the Russian fleet, pro- bably driven from its moorings by Japanese shells, and consisting of six battleships and four cruisers, made a sortie' on Wednesday last, and was at once engaged by the Japanese fleet in an action which lasted all day. What the result of this action was is, however, obscure. One account says that the Russian fleet escaped to the open, and will be able to join bands with the Vladivostok squadron. Another describes it as closely followed by Admiral Togo. A third states that the Retvisan ' and two Russian battleships were seen to return to Port Arthur on Thursday morning. Probably by the time these pages are in our readers' hands the mystery involving the naval action of Wednesday will have been cleared up. The latest telegrams seem to point to the dispersion of that part of the fleet which did not return to harbour.
