MANCHURIA’S DEVELOPMENT

Evening Star, Issue 14225, 26 November 1909, Page 2

MANCHURIA’S DEVELOPMENT

No. 11. PORT ARTHUR. [By W. J. Joxks. Editor ‘Oamaru Mail.’] As one enters Port Arthur by train from Dairen the appearance of the town is almost funereal. No business is being carried on except that down on the water fiont a number of Chinese are handling v scrap-iron recovered from the wrecks of the warships sunk outside th» harbor. Long lines of rikishas are to be seen on the various stands, but no one seems to ride : n them. A tine,' large hotel—the Yamato, belonging to the South Manchurian RailwayCompany— 100 infrequently sees a. guest*. Indeed, although one is assured tliat provision has been made for extensive works of improvement at Port Arthur, up to the picsent little has been attempted since the Japanese took possession. It would seem also that the stronghold is being held with a slack rein, as the fortresses demolished bv tho Japanese or blown up by tho Russian's are ostensibly left in their dismantled collodion, that the occasional tourist mav have convincing evidence of the terrible * havoc wrought- by Japanese arms. The town is ciying out for improvement and restoration in every direction, but attention is now being entirely concentrated upon Dairen. It 16 intended that Port Arthur shall be made in some measure presentable, but the three million yen allocated for the work will not go very far in this direction. Scarcely anything has been done since the termination of the war, except to remove the most appalling evidences of the great tragedy which virtually culminated there Ine broken windows, the shattered doors, the perforated walls still remain,■ while the Denches ill and about the town are practically as the Russians loft them when thev surrendered the stronghold. Of course, the chief trouble is a lack of money. Japan has rather too many irons in the* tire, an-1 some of them must go cold. There is little tear for Port Arthur, even only partially protected as it is at the present moment. Despite the' splendid achievements of the Japanese, they did not take Port Arthur. It was presented to them by (.leneral SloesS’ 1 !, and should Russia or any other nation drive .Japan out of Manchuria, provided that provision and supplies were available. I <>rl Arthur rouhl dety the enemy for years afterwards. —lts Prosperous Days.— the Japanese assumed control of Die Historic stronghold there was a general exodus of Russians. IV here formerly there were hundreds, there now remains a sole representative of the Czar's people. He is there to conserve the interests of the absentee landlords, who. under the treaty. ietaiu their private property and place Values upon it which in the present financial slate of the town are prohibitive. Therefore no sales are effected, and the majority of the dwellings remain unoccupied. Up to the outbreak of the war there were residing in Perl Arthur some 3,000 European and American merchants, and a tlourishing business was done. The city was intended by tho Russians to be another Harbin, and,'truth to tell, there is little to choose between them to-day. As,, part of the daring scheme to appropriate Manchuria for the' Russian Empire, building was carried out on tho most lavish scale, hundreds of thousands of pounds being spent on the construction of the new town, the majority of the residences of which are to-day untenanted. Now there are merely a handful of “ foreigners” loft, and. as business is practically dead, most of these wonld cheerfully pack up their belongings and depart if they do so with advantage. It is just a question whether Port Arthur will not for all time be overshadowed by Dairen, ns the latter evidently caught Dame Fortune's eye first, and lias a fine harbor, which will pei|mit the shipping of produce to be done with the greatest expedition and economy. Poit Arthur must for the most part rely for distinction upon the fact that, while'admitted by the world's strategists to be impregnable, it fell into the hands of the. Japan-, esc, although defended by a. modern military Rower. A Unique flarbor.— Until quite recently there were lying just outside Port Arthur a number of Japanese vessels stranded for the purpose ql attempting to block the entrance during the war. the idea being to prevent the Russian warships in the harbor from effecting a possible junction with the VTadivostock fleet. To those unfamiliar with the conditions this action would seem futile, but it is an absolute fact that a comparatively small steamer suuk immediately in the fairway could have effectually bottled up tho warships inside the harbor, the opening scarcely being wider than the length of an up-to-date battleship. Port Arthur is a natural stronghold. The town and harbor lie behind Golden Hill and Tiger’s Tail Peninsula-. the forts upon which persistently kept the Japanese fleet at a distance, and it is completely encircled by ranges of high hills which command all possible approaches. Until the beginning of July of this year strict regulations were enforced by the Japanese in regard fo vesols entering the harbor. The owners of Chinese j links were compelled to inform the naval authorities of their purpose in coming to tho port. This was a prohibitive ordinance, as the junks could not communicate without first coming through the entrance ; therefore they had to remain outside, much to their annoyance and inconvenience. However, a Gazette notice has now been issued directing that junks mav come inside the harbor during tho day without informing the authorities, and this has materially facilitated trade, without imperilling Japan’s hold upon tho fortress. The fortifications at the entrance to the harbor and on the various vantagepoints cost the Russians ten years’ labor and the expenditure of millions of roubles. The story of how they fell into tho hands of the Japanese is all the more pathetic in view of the revelations made during the trial of General Stoessel—once the idol of Russia, now discredited in the sight of the whole world. —The Scene of Action.—

Through the courtesy of Mr Takeshi Shi rani, Civil Governor of Port Arthur, Hie writer was permitted to drive round the ring of demolished foils, accompanied by Mr S. Irita. of the Foreign Department. The route was along fourteen miles of excellent roadway, constructed by the Russians to facilitate the transport of troops, guns, and supplies, the whole system giving direct intercommunication between the various ramps. ’The road winds round the peaks of the hills, and in many instances there are two or three hundred feet between the track and the plains beneath. But the horses are surefooted animals, and one felt conscious of safety even when the many awkward grades and sleep declines were bcine negotiated. The more the country is studied from the hills the more must‘the conviction he borne home that even had the Japanese not succeeded in ordering Port Arthur, yet (hey performed miracles unknown to military science. When the Russians announced for the benefit of the nations that Port Arthur was impregnable, they evidently made no idle boast. The forts were visited in proper order—the three C'hih-kuan-shans. Er-lung-shan, Sung-shu-shan, Kuropatkin, etc., and in each there were evidences of the amazing achievements of the Japanese sappers But the chief interest centres in 203-metre Hill, where the crowning victory of Japan was gained. I'Vir three months, this stronghold, which camo to he considered the key to Port Arthur, was assaulted by the invaders, and their casualties ran into tens of thousands.

Here General Nogi lost the second son of which tho war bereft him, and when asked what should be done with the body, replied ; “ Let it lie amongst the other heroes.” During the last ten days’ fiHrtiug nearly 3,000 Japanese were killed-, and their bodies almost filled the narrow vallev separating. 174-metre Hill and its bigger neighbor. But the end came, and the position was carried by a “forlorn hope.” who crossed upon the bodies of their slain comrades. , —The Country in Detail.— From the summit of 203-metre Hill one axof many square miles of undulat-

ing. coimtry, now covered with quaint hamlets and cultivated' plains, where the rich kaoliang conceals the deep wheel ruts by which the valley was intersected. One see? -the great Russian road twisting round the approaches to the various forts and the less pretentious tracks made by the Japanese in their gradual movements towards their objective. : Due still sees plainly the network of trenches dug by the victorious army.'stretching in every direction like a . system' of narrow wfiterwhys ; one sees-thousands of indentations oil the faces of the hills where the shells gave found their billets—large indentations where the shells have burst, and smaller ones where they have failed to do ko. That the latter greatly predominated those who followed the newspaper accounts of the war will readily believe. These marks can be seen from one chain of hills to another,.-sometimes being plainly evident for a distance of several miles. From here the bare sides of Golden Hill, with its nnconqnci'ed fortress, is seen on the left side of the narrow.opening to tho harbor, while on the right the long, low peninsula of the Tiger's Tail stretches to the imposing heights of the celebrated bao-tieh-shan. Pigeon Bay and the other inlets from which the Japanese fleet vainly shelled the. city appear now as harmless seaside resorts. From 203-metre Hill one sees the whole panorama of interesting and . historic points upon which the history of the prolonged struggle, appears to be written, and does not marvel that the capture of Port Arthur uns accompanied by such grim tragedy. But he is faced by a. problem of warfare which will never be satisfactorily explained: how a great nation, possessing on the spot- between 23,000 and 30,000 brave soldiers, could ever tamely surrender Port Arthur, knowing the vital consequences of such action. —The Curio Hunter.— To judge from the number of cigarette ends, Tansan stoppers, broken beer bottles, and such impedimenta lying aboutwith the return of peace, 203-metro. Hill lias become a- picnic resort, at which the justly proud and interested Japanese gather together to enthuse and collect war mementoes. —bits of exploded shells, rusty cartridge cases, buttons, belt buckles, and other fragments. The youthful Chinese living in the vicinity earn an occasional half-dollar by .selling the tourist such articles as ate to be picked up on the battlefield. A Chinese boy who had been combing (he hills for treasure with a threepronged fork pulled from his open shirtfront- an unexploded galling gun shell and offered it to us for a small consideration, but Mr Iritla. shouting " Abiinai !" (" Danger''), hurried us away. Our guide subsequently explained that the Chinese do nol appear to appreciate the consequences of indiscriminately handling iinexplocled shells, and often come to grief on that account. When 205-metro Hill was captured a shell was placed on the top of a livefoot base, and this served to give the direction to the Japanese gunners on the hill opposite, who had been wasting ammunition in air attempt to locale the enemy's fleet in the harbor. At the end of four days’ bombardment- the Russian ships were put out of action. In (ho Souvenir Museum are to be seen a representative collection of arms, weapons, flags, shells, scaling ladders, modolsof forts, and, indeed, practically everything that the busy mind of the promoters of the institution could conceive. The bridge, near the approach, is ornamented with half-wheels of captured Russian guns, the guns themselves being dismounted and placed in prominent positions in front of the building under the waving Japanese colors. Amongst the curios are two flags of the Rising Sun and two wooden dummy cannon made by the Russians to trick the Japanese gunners and draw their lire to unoccupied positions. A monument is being constructed on one of the highest hills in the town in honor of those who fell during the war. This .imposing structure, which, at tho end of three years, is something more than halffinished, is to be 200 ft high, and will cost £36,000, the money being raised by public subscription. Although tho work 'is being carried on at distinct inconvenience, the 200 Chinese ami Japanese engaged upon the huge column face their work philosophically. The material chiefly used is stone which had previously served as ballast- for the Japanese ships sunk to blockade the harbor, and this is drawn to tho summit by means of an ingenious tramway. —Planting for Posterity.—

When the Japanese occupied Port Arthur the place was practically treeless, but all this has been changed. Planting operations have been systematically carried out wherever practicable, and the bills encircling the town are covered with promising forest trees —a liberal legacy for future generations, whatever nationality they may be. It is characteristic of Japanese to thus study afforestation, and in this particular they sot a very commendable example to the world. In Port Arthur, as in Dairen, what unskilled work is being done falls to the Jot of the Chinaman. Tic is occupied at the wharves, on the streets pulling the Tikisha. and driving the baslias. This is a significant fact throughout the whole of Manchuria, and is attributable partly to the cheapness of Chinese labor, and partly to the feeling of superiority amongst Japanese laborers. It is a difficult matter to get a good photograph of Port Arthur. Any picture which gives a comprehensive view of the town must also include the fortified hills in the foreground, together with the harbor entrance. And this cannot he obtained unless the official injunction be disregarded, which the Japanese policemen take very good care shall not be the case. If the Japanese lose Port Arthur it will not be because they have proved negligent in the matter of preserving absolute secrecy in regard to military affairs. One may" not look in the direction of Golden Hill'without being suspected of designing the downfall of the stronghold, and a visitor’s movements are thereafter carefully watched until he leaves the town. Port Arthur will never attain to any commercial importance. Ihe harbor is too small to permit of adequate wharfage accommodation, and some parts of it are so shallow as to be a constant menace to incoming vessels. But-it can always bo the last resort of a nation in its extremity after an unsuccessful war,- where the ‘final stand can be made—a stand which may be protracted indefinitely if. as may reasonably he anticipated in the case of Japan, command of the sea maintains for her communication with her outside base. It is a city that Japan lashed unmercifully before wresting it from Russia, and the s'cars remain unhealed. To-day that is its chief attraction.