outposts were stationed at the points
just beyond which to the east telegraphic communication had not yet been
interrupted, but the messages that were constantly pouring in from
places along this border-line revealed clearly that these outposts were
continually pushing further eastwards. A serious battle didn't seem to
have occurred anywhere. The utter surprise caused by the sudden
appearance of the Japanese troops, who seemed to spring up out of the
ground, had from the very beginning destroyed every chance of successful
resistance.

Shortly after the first vague rumors of battles said to have been fought
at San Francisco, Port Townsend, and Seattle, had arisen, even these
sources of information ran dry. The question from where all the hostile
troops had come, remained as much of a riddle as ever. That was a matter
of indifference after all; the chief consideration was to adopt
measures of defense as speedily as possible.

But the War Department worked slowly, and the news received from
headquarters at Washington consisted only of the declaration that the
regulars were going to be sent to the West immediately, that the
President had already called out the reserves, and that Congress would
meet on May eleventh to discuss means for placing the militia on a
war-footing and for creating an army of volunteers. The regular army!
Three States with their regiments and their coast-defenses had to be
deducted at the very start. What had become of them? Had they been able
to hold their own between the enemy and the coast? What had happened to
the Philippines and to Hawaii? Where was the fleet? None of these
questions could be answered, simply because all telegraphic connection
was cut off. The strength of the enemy was an absolutely unknown
quantity, unless one cared to rely on the figures found in the ordinary
military statistics, which had probably been doctored by the Japanese.
Was this the Japanese army at all? Was it an invading force? Could such
a force have pushed so far to the East in such a short space of time
after landing? The press could find no satisfactory answer to these
questions, and therefore contented itself with estimating the number of
American soldiers available after subtracting the three coast States.
The newspapers also indulged in rather awkward calculations as to when
and how the troops could best be dispatched to the invaded territory.
But this optimism did not last long and it convinced nobody.

An