The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 9, 1904, Page 4

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1904. CHINESE GOVERNMENT CAUSES WHICH HAVE STIRRED IRE AND IMPERILED A WORLD’S PEACE Clash Between the Japanese and the Muscovite Is Based Upon Disagreements Extending Far Back Into History. | the eight- Russia first real- early part of whe nibitive power of England of her egress from the tic and her pent condition on the side of the Eurasian always Pacific side of her inion. | ths to the wi and the g fortifications at places on the nar- sh I as the woeful € ¢ emerging from the ready to b -of-war; ex: literranean by the the « f the Cri- n her approach to e n Guif by Britain's concern ¥ of her Indian Empire, incredible bor and made connected the whole k Pacific Ocean. t ances it was her @ ce for maritime free- the first half to now about ma full achieve: purpcse. RUSSIA'S EXPLORATIONS. e the Kolyma rtheastern end of named by Bering ter, entered and ex- River for some dis- St Petersburg, at once saw importance of the move make good the title Xt two decades the Amur red from Lake Baikal down uth, apd the valley aof the occupied by Cossack posts. P peace with China and ger the tea trade via 1 Russia in 1689, by the . to abandon. for tension of her occupa- Russian ship Balkil en- Ty of the Amur from the blished the port of Nik- r the mouth of the riv- iat foothold Russia pushed Pacific shores to Viadivos- the last quarter of the she made an important v, a8 well as strate- it is during the best it did not suit her ul- and she watched for of securing a better farther south on water open vear round. This came in the ? the Chinese-Japanese War, ceriain services to China overed, but which Japan of the fruits n the shape of occu- churia and domination acquired, through the late ng and the Empress a 99-year lease, ion of the strongly fortified sea- ports of Port Arthur and Talienwan, at the lower extremity of the Liaotung Peninsula. This concession was coupled with railway franchises in Man- churia and the building of the branch of the trans-Siberian Railroad @cross that province to Viadivostok and a branch from Harbin on that road via en and Newchwang to the newly uired stronghold at the mouth If of Pechili. | EXTENDING HER DOMAIN. In the few years that have inter- | vened she has added greatly to the strength of Port Arthur, made it her of the yea Li Hung C% Dowager possess later naval and military base in the Far Zast and buili up a grand city near by —Dainy—as the commercial terminus | of her grea ontinental railroad | syste tue of these port leases concessions she. has strung | her columns of troops through Man- and the adjoining province of ongolia and taken virtual possession | every strategic point. of Th her great European powers | were s ed 1o get concessions of equal commercial value in other parts of China, but Japan was not. Sore| from being thrust out of Manchuria, | after her victory over China, to give place to Russia, she has ever :ln(:e} watched every move of the latter power | with an anxiously jealous eye and al-} tempted, by diplomatic deals with | other European powers and °at thel court of Korea to stop the “Bear” at | the Yalu River, separating Korea from Manchuria. Lately she has seen that| . ds the actual possession | of Korea as indispensable to ultimate consummation her purposes in the Far East and realizes at the same time | the menace to her own safety and in dependence in that possession. | Both countries have had for many | years strong diplomatic corps at Seoul, the Korean capital, and have been strugeling fo gzin favor and material concessions from the “Hermit King- dom.” One intrigue followed close upon the heels of another, Russ and | Jap in turn promoting, until the Gov- | ernment was practically helpless and the country in a state of anarchy. In 1865, following a riotous collision between the Independent Club, repre- | senting the reform party, and their opponents, .the King of Korea asked | an to send troops to Scoul to pre- @ order. On the protest of Russia the contingent of Japanese soldiers or- dered to the scene was cut down and an equal force of Russians also called in A promige of reform on the part of the King in 1899 was followed by an ex- tension of Russian influence, and the lesbe to her for a term of twelve years of three ports on the eastern coast of the country. v The moves of the diplomats at Seoul, levered on sacks of yellow rubles and golden yen. with encroachments in body under various pretensions of the Rus-| | mercial regulations | were to be the early | ance as to both proposals and counter- i J o L)) P S i B Sl S PR LT i T SRR R URRIES TROOPS TO GUARD FRONTIER OF CHILI PROVINCE OFFICIALS AT PEKING HASTEN TO PREVENT LAWLESS OUTBREAK Rapid Measures Are Taken in Celestial Empire Against Uprising of the Populace Near Fields of War. : ey VIEW OF THE FIELD TOWING LOCATION OF RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE SHIPS AND TERRITORY WHERE FIGHTING WILL OCCUR. 1 sians on th> Yalu and the Japanese utvi the lower end of the peninsula have | tended to keep the whole kingdom in a 8ort of turmoil. FIGHTING FOR KORFA. The Japanese influence predominated at the court of Seoul during the last half of 1898, but in February, 1599, when the King, after failing to meet the promises made to the reform party, fled for fear of his life to the protection of | the Russian legation. Frequent rumors of war followed during the next few | months, and again later, when Russia | asked for the cession of Masampho, on the lower end of Korea, opposite Shimo- | neseki, Japan, for a naval station. The | request was being favorably r-ons{dered‘i when certain Japanese, acting, of course, for their Government, bought up all the land about the port in ques- tion available for strategic purposes. Remonstrances on the part of Russia prevented any use being made of the | territory purchased, however, and the fellowing year (1900) Russia acquired such foothold at the place as to nuilify Japan's action in the matter. The period covered by the Boxef troubles in China (1899-1900) brought outward calm to the situation in Ko- rea, but diplomatic scheming and working went cn just the same. At the end of the Boxer trouble and on the evacuation of Peking by the allies the contest for the supremacy in Ko- rea was resumed with more acerbity after a time than before. In Septem- ber, 1902, Yi-Heui, twenty-ninth of the dynaety founded in 1392, who, gnori having actually reigned for a number | of years, was declared titular Emperor in 1897, was reported dead at the hands of the reform party. Japan had in 1885 | compelled him to procldim the inde- | pendence of Korea and to promise cer- | tain reforms in the administraticn of | government# affairs, as well as com- This, as it were, | was assumed to give them an oversight | of his person and acts. This assump- tion end the attempted exercise of the | right, did not at all accord with tae views and purposes of Russia, so di- rectly opresed te every move of Japan. | Every day lrought sharper accent to| the strain cf reiations between the two | until it became apparent some time | since that the sword and rifle-gun arbiters of ‘the dispute. Though for some months past all | Europe and America have been in-| tensely interested in the diplomatic duel the sparring for time and veiling the real purposes of the two contestant parties, they have been left in ignor- proposals as to the matter at issue, bot are able to form some conjecture as to the real points at iessue. LAST STAGE OF THE TROUBLE. The starting point is the convention between Japan and Russia, signed at Moscow June. 1896, by the late Prince Lobanoff de Roslow for Russia and ! Marshal Yamagata for Japan, which was as follows: Article 1—The imnerial Governments of Japan and Russia definitely recog- nize the sovereignty and entire inde- pendence of Korea and mutually en- gage to refrain from all direct interfer- ence in the Internal affairs of that country. Article 2—Desiring to avoid every possible cause of misunderstanding in the future, the imperial Governments of Japan and Russia mutually engage in caseé Korea should apoly to Japan or to Russia for advice or assistance, not to take any measure in the nomi- nation of military instructors or finan- clal advisers withoyt having previously come to a mutual agreement on the subject. Article 3-=In view of the larze devei. £, yen LONG STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY_INVRICH REGION WHERE THE KOREAN MONARCH HAS HIS COURT 'Diplomats Throughout a Great N umber of Years Have Been Engaged in the Controversy Which Has, Finally Reached a Climax and Promises Settlement in Sanguinary Strife. + opment of Japanese commercial and industrial enterprises in Korea, as well as the considerable number of Japanese subjects resident in that country, the imperial Government will not impede the development of commercial and in- dustrial relations between Japan and Korea. Behind this thin veil each party has striven to do the most of everything to further its own ends or thwart the aims of the other, and now the crisis is %t hand. Russia, safely intrenched by conces- sion and actual military occupation in Manchuria, needs and proposes to have the same dominion over Korea and the adjoining waters. It is a matter of most vital interest to Japan, involving as it does the control of Korean Straits and the Sea of Japan, and ultimately, perhaps, her own national independ- ence, that. Russia should be halted now the Japanese are trving to charter a sailing vessel. They are hastily sell- ing off their property and winding up their business. Japan has been tel- egraphically cut off from this port for ten days. A detachment of Japanese troops stationed on the island of Zu- zima, forty miles from Masampho, Korea, has been ordered to be in read- iness to Jand in Korea in the event of a rupture. The Japanese commercial agent at Viadivostok has been or- dered to les BRITONS PREPARE TO SAIL. Sherwood Foresters Will Leave Shang- hai to Guard a Railroad. SHANGHAL Feb. 8.—The British regiment the Sherwood Foresters is preparing to sail on the steamer Kyang Ping to Chin Wang Tae, where the railroad from Tientsin to Kien T before the session opened to-day. The first call showed a market with prices steady, from 10 to 12 points higher than Saturday's finals and confirming the frequently expressed opinion of the most active traders that the war influence on the market had been fully discounted. During the noon hour prices made a sensational reaction.of from 80 to 90 points from the lowest ‘levels of the morning. Shorts covered freely and helped send values up. The advance was rapid, prices leaping upward 6 and 10 points at a time. fon e S JAPANESE ARE LEAVING. Rapid Exit From Port Arthur Made by Many Residents. CHEFU, Feb. 9.—The Japanese res- idents are leaving Port Arthur. On Monday a steamer took one hundred and proceeded to Dalny and thenée to branches of the service, those of the customs contingent and the available recruits. FORMIDABLE ARMY OF RUSSIA'S EMPIRE In the army of the Russian Empire there are, estimatin, million men in rank and file and more than 66,000 officers. the regulars and reserves, The list follows: Z the strength on a war basis, three and a half This number includes the soldiers in all of the those in fortress, the national defense force, War Strength. Officers. Rank and File. Horses. Guns. Regulars ....... soibla 28,300 1,311,000 P £528 Reserves .. . . e 15,470 832,300 163,000 1,376 Fortre.sses ..... RV e, 4,500 252,000 3700 g Rec}'mts b v s ey 6,640 373,700 3G o o National Defense.......... 10,500 740,000 g o T T B e S S R Rty U 1,000 - 40,000 e . —_— fGrand fotal. i ciaaih o aa 66,4:0 3,549,00¢ * 562,200 5,818 55 i 3 at the Yalu River and that stream Chau passes the great wall. The, Japan. Oth made zhed fln(;uJ Timit o‘(! her march ! movement of this regiment is pre- I mirai Alexiglt; fxrleea‘:i(:.l;-e‘:sgx’:-‘:“&‘:;_ thward 2 ‘apanward. = % N e P sumably to safeguard the Tientsin-|and promised protection to their fami- JAPANESE ORDERED HOME. Members of Naval Reserve Now in Seattle Will Sail at Once. SEATTLE, Wash.,, Feb. 8.—Toku- matsu Hirokawa, a member of the Japanese naval reserve, and T. Some- kawa, a sergeant major in the army reserve, have received orders from the Japanese Government to return at once to their own country and they are expected to sail on the first vessel leaving for the Orient. Other mem- bers of the reserve in this city have made all preparations to leave in a moment. gl ALARM IN PORT ARTHUR. Japanese Commercial Agent at Viadi- vostok Ordered to Leave. PORT ARTHUR, Jan. 8.—The Jap- anese Consul at Chefu has sent a telegram to a Japanese elder here urging the departure of all Japanese from Port Arthur and Port Dalny. The greatest excitement prevails here. No steamers are available and Newchwang Railroad, which enters the great wall at Chin Wang Tae. It is reported that the Russians are seiz- {ing various noints on the northern part of this line. e JAPAN BUYS STEAMSHIPS. Freight and Passenger Carriers Run- ning to British Columbia Secured. VANCOUVER, B. C., Feb. 8.—The &anadian Pacific Railway steamships Tartar and Athenian have been pur- chased or chartered from the Cana- dian Pacific Railway by the Japanese Government. The ships are used as freight and passenger carriers be- tween British Columbia and the Orient. esiy s SN At COTTON PRICES GO UP. Situation in Far East Cause of Up- .© ward Tendency. NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 8.—The Far Eastern situation and its probable ef- fect on the cotton market was dis- cussed on all sides and caused anxious gatherings about the futures ring long lies. Russian officers and foreign mer- chants are also leaving, here in fear that the Chinese will rise. War corre- pondents will use dispatch boats. For- eign officers who have been refused permission to accompany the fleet will probably accompany the army. g % Nativity Church Fair. The annual fair of Nativity Chureh, whith began on last Saturday night, will continue till the end of the pres- ent week at.the church hall on Fell street, between Gough and Octavia. Each night is set apart for some sep- arate society or organization. The closing night will be Nativity Church night and a large crowd is expected to be .present on that occasion. ————— Claims He Was Robbed. Bert Noble, a discharged soldier, for- merly of the Fifteenth Infantry, claims that he was robbed of $32 last night. Noble alleges that a freduenter of a saloon at 410 Green street knocked him down outside the saloon and pilfered his pockets. The police are working on the case. WANT CONSULS AT POSTS. Washington Authorities Hasten Prep- arations for Departure of Officials. WASHINGTON, Feb. 8,—The State Department is pushing preparations for the early dispatch to their posts in Manchurig of United States Consuls Cheshire, Davidson and Morgan, who are to be posted respectively at Muk- den, Antung and Dalny. This is regard- less of the impending outbreak of war | and it is said that there is no reason to apprehend that actual will be allowed to prevent a Consul of a friendly nation from going to his post. Fowler, who has been in this coun- try on leave of absence, has departed in haste for CLefu, which in the event of hostilities is expected to be a point of the greatest importance for the col- lection of news and rendezvous of mer- chant shipping, being the nearest great neutral port to the prospective seat of war. The Navy Department will make no | effort to place, United States naval at- taches on either the Russian or Jap- anese fleet. It is believed that consent could not be had from either party, and in refusing Russia and Japan would be simply following the example set by the United States in the Spanish war. POLICE CATCH A SLEEK CROOK Man Who Has Been Occupying Rooms at Leading Hotels and Cheating Firms Now in Jail ——————— | It was with infinite satisfaction that | a number of local tradespeople and hotel proprietors learned from the Po- | lice Department yesterday that a “tank’” at the Hall of Justice contained the much wanted “Jack Corbett” of New York, who had been devoting sev- eral days of his time to victimizing firms out of their wares. Last Satur- day afternoon, as was related the fol- lowing morning in The Call, a dapper young man, acting well the part of a stranger, registered under the above name at the Palace Hotel. Half an hour later he had ordered a $50 suit of clothes from Raphael's and instructed the salesman to have it delivered to his rooms at the Palace, where he would pay for it. When the delivery man called Corbett donned the suit an then requested the man to wait in his room while he went to the office to cash a check. = He never returned to the hotel. Yes- terday the same young man registered at the California Hotel as “Harry Cor- bett and wife of New York.” He said his wife was coming to the city on a later train. During the afternoon the fellow vis- ited the jewelry stores of A. Hirsch- man, C. H. Kenn and William Flinde- mann and from each ordered jewelry in sums of $150 to $175. He had the goods'delivered to him, C. O. D., at the hotel, and when they arrived, under the pretense of showing them to his wife, he entered an adjoining room and vanished. Later the police were notified and be- fore evening they had the young man safely behind the prison bars. To the detectives the prisoner said his right name is John Kuger and that he is a soldier, but there is a suspicion that he is an experienced crook and a thorough investigation of his past is to be made. - " GATHER hostilities | VRS PEKING, Feb. $.—A detachment of Russian troops arrived here yesterday | afternoon, bringing the legation guard | of Russia up to its full strength. In response to a memorial from Yuanshikai, commander in chief of the army and navy, informing the Government that r between Russia and Japan had rtually begun, re- newed orders were sent to the provin- jal officials enjoining them to exer- e the most strict measures to pre- | vent lawlessness. ’ | Preparations for the -hspa!t-r! of | troops to guard the frontier of Chill Province continue. | A Russian firm at Newchwang has | completed the purchase of the availa- | ble stock of coal, amounting approx- imately to 22,000 tons. Germany has reovened the question of the payment of the Boxer indem- | nity in gold. The Chinese Foreign Of- | fice is considering its reply. + | AROUND " FESTAL BOARD | Knights of Columbus Enjoy Their Annual Banquet in Maple Room of the Palace . O———— | The annual banquet of the Knights of Columbus took place in the Maple | room of the Palace last night, the | suests being seated at long tables dec- | orated with sprays of evergreens, clus- ters of crimson carnations and silver | candelabra, with yellow shades. A fine menu was served, accompanied by estral music. eal Power was toastmaster of the | evening. He introduced the different speechmakers in an easy and felleitous manner. Following were the subjects and speakers “The Church,” Right Rev. George Montgomery; “Our Coun- It Joseph T. O'Connor; “Knights of | Columbus,” Joseph Scott; “Our Coun- ! ¢il," George A. Comnolly; “Fraternity,” Andrew Corrigan; “The Ladies,” Frank T. Shea; “Our City,” Mayor Eugene Schmitz. | The principal speech of the evening | was made by Archbishop Montgomery, | who took education for his main topie. | He said in part: | *“We do not want to abolish the school | system. We do not want to comtrol | the schoc! system. We do not want a division of the school fund. We do not want the State to pay for the teach- |ing ofany man's religion. We simply want to widen, broaden and deepen the school system so as to make it in prac- tice what it claims to be in theory— fair and just to all men. | “We have amended the constitution of the United States fifteen times. Might we not amend the school sys- | tem once? “Throw open education to free com- petition. Let the State pay for secular | education wherever and by whom im- | parted, no matter whether religion is taught there or not.” | Joseph Scott made a stirring speech. | He dwelt at length upon the aims and | purposes of the order of the Knights of Columbus and dilated on the work of | the early missionaries of this State. | Among the invited guests were Mayor | Schmitz, Father Weyman and Judge | Coffey. | Among the leading members of the | order present were Lawrence Walsh, Michael Casey, Judge Murasky, Ste- | phen V. Costello, Captain John Sey- | mour, Superintendent of Schools Lang- | don and T. J. O'Brien. | The committee on banquet was com- posed of P. F. McCarthy, Joseph G. Morrisy, Neal Power, J. J. O'Toole and | 3. R. Keith. D — WORK ON GRANTS PASS ROAD WILL BEGIN SOON | SR 2 s iy | Promoters of the Line to Crescent City Will Start Its Construction | During Coming Month. Colonel T. W. M. Draper, chief engi- neer of the company that is preparing to build a railroad from Grants Pass, | Oregon, to Crescent City, California, | returned yesterday from the north, where he has been looking over the ter- | ritory to be traversed by the proposed | new line. | He stated last evening that construc- tion work will begin early in March, | and it is the expectation to have the | ninety miles of road finished and ready | for the through operation of trains | within two years. The company has | already surveyed and secured rights of way for two branches of its main line, one westward to Chetko, on the coast above the California boundary and the other in a southerly direc- tion to the Klamath River. The latter branch is expected to eventually extend farther south in Cal- ifornia, but to what particular point | the promoters of the road are not pre- pared to state. On the main line the | Breatest obstacles in the way of con- struction work to be overcome are hills | that must be tunneled, one more than 11000 feet, another more than 2000 feet and a tjird 3200 feet, which will take the besC part of eighteen months to dig. ————— Temperance Workers to Meet. ‘The Central Women's Christian | Temperance Union will meet at the | home of Mrs. 8. B. McCoy, 158 Ninth street, this afternoon. An invitation is extended to all members and friends | to attend. ———— | Late flllwll? Intelligence. I PORTLAND—Arrived | lene from Newcastle, sch# Virginia from merce_ {rom -dondo | Coos Bay. Salled—Stmr l | Elder for San Fran- cisco. ASTORIA—Sailed Feb A5TOE eb S—Stmr Acme faw