Manawatu Herald [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] THURSDAY, MARCH 10,1904. On the Yalu River.

Manawatu Herald, 10 March 1904, Page 2

Manawatu Herald [Established Aug. 27, 1878.] THURSDAY, MARCH 10,1904. On the Yalu River.

Ik view of the fighting between the ] Russian troops and the Mikado’s men' in the vicinity of the Yalu River, a description of this picturesque stream and the country through which it winds its 300 miles, should be of general interest. The Yalu is the dividing line between Corea and Manchuria, and is navigable by native craft as far as Shin-kin-Yuo, but steamers are unable to proceed beyond Antung, the port to which the Russians have lately devoted considerable attention. Some miles below Antung, lying close within the estuary of the river, is the port of Ta-tung-kao, where, when the weather permits, cargoes for Antung are sometimes discharged. Ta-tung-kao is, however, difficult of approach, and as a general rule steamers unload and receive their cargoes at Antung, a port of great promise in the near future.

The stream has a rapid current, and owing to the presence of innumerable shoals and sandbanks presents serious obstacles to successful navigation. Islands both small and large appear in its course, and high hills covered with bush and timber break away from the banks. From early December until the end of February the stream is frozen. Until lately the region of the Yalu was almost unknown, but with the advent of the Russians many changes in the character of the locality have taken place. On the Corean shore lumber camps have been formed, whilst at Ta-tung-tao and Antung prosperous native settlements have sprung into existence. The river teems with native craft, which ply between the mouth and the upper reaches. The view at the estuary is, perhaps, not very prepossessing; a long vista of mud flats stretches back to the mainland and extends mile upon mile along the river banks. A silent and rapid transformation is being effected, however, as the great possibilities of the Yalu Valley for commercial development are attracting foreign and native capital. Russia has naturally been anxious to secure a paramount control of the river, since its situation is of strategic value to her communications in Manchuria. With Nieuchwang and the estuary of the Liao in her possession on the one side of the Liaotung peninsula, the strategic occupation of the Yalu estuary becomes a military necessity to her. At the present moment Port Arthur is to a certain extent valueless, owing to the ease with which, by converging lines of advance from the estuaries of the Liao and Yalu Rivers, the positions of the Russians at Mukden might be enveloped and the lines of communication with Port Arthur destroyed. Whether the Japs are operating on some such scale remains to be seen. Russia’s greatest weakness in Manchuria lies in the defenceless condition ofher flanks, which would be at once obviated if Port Arthur became the pivot of a position in which the two extremities rested on the estuaries of the Yalu and Liao Rivers.