T HE only certain news from the Far East is that
the active little Russian cruiser the Novik ' will never reach Vladivostok. She was caught by two Japanese cruisers off the island of Saghalien, and after a sharp engagement, in which one of the pursuers suffered greatly, was driven ashore at Korsakovsk in a sinking condition. Her crew reached the shore, but the Novik ' is injured past repair, at all events for this war. From Port Arthur the only intelligence is that a desperate contest is going on, but of its result we are still ignorant, though the immediate fall of the great fortress is fully expected at Tokio. Chinese refugees report terrible slaughter of the Japanese, thirty-six thousand being the figure mentioned, and this is in part confirmed by news that General Kuroki has forwarded fresh reinforcements of thirty thousand men. On the other hand, it is reported that the Japanese have carried positions which enable them to pour an even sharper fire into the doomed fortress, and that the garrison is becoming utterly wearied out with its continuous losses, the want of good food, and the deprivation of sleep. From the land positions nothing trust- worthy is reported. No great battle has come off, the condition of the country from the rains almost preventing movement., and both parties are awaiting further reinforcements and drier weather.
