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Otago Daily Times, Issue 13136, 21 November 1904, Page 4

THE POSITION 1 AT POUT ARTHUR. The successful dash for Clii-fu made by the Russian destroyer Raztoropni has enabled the news agencies materially to supplement the modest amount of war news they havo been able to supply of late, and it is not surprising that they are making the most of an event which came at n time when definite information respecting the progress of operations in the war was at a premium. The arrival of the vessel direct from Port Arthur certainly presented a golden opportunity, had the officers and men been communicative, for obtaining reliable news of the condition of the garrison. Apart, however, from the interesting narrative of the ]'ilot who came over as a passenger, the ship's company, apparently have nothing to say. ' The reticence they are displaying was 110 doubt enjoined upon them before, they left. The object' of the Raztoropui's rpission reasonably affords some food for speculation, which chiefly favours the impression that the purpose was to deliver -despatches—a view which is supported by Captain Pelem's subsequent conduct. The destruction of the vessel must have been prearranged, and, having accomplished what he was sent out to do, Captain Pelem can have had no hesitation in taking effective means to prevent the destroyer falling into the hand: of the Japanese. That it was nectary to send the vessel on such a mission seems to indicate that • General Stoessel was lyithout means of communication with St. Petersburg, or that whatever communication he was ablo to maintain was of a very scanty and precarious character. In order that he might subipit a full report of the state of the fprtress to the Czar there was probably rjo> other coprse open to him than to despatch the Raztoropni to do the best she could. The partial relaxation of the blockade, the speed of the vessel, and the feather conditions all contributed towards the success of the enterprise, which was naturally of the most hazardotis kind. Tfie story of Captajn Nowberg, the pflot, as tp the condition of Pprt Arthur is particularly interacting inasipucli as it indicates that the | Russian battleships are still in existence. The cable says:"'Tl]o hospital shij ... was too near the battleships, and the Japanese dropped shells around her." On the 4th q? the pnonth we Tyere informed with circumstantial detail of the dqsiructjon of these ships as the result of the Japanese bombardment. The number of times ,they have been "destroyed" by the yabl? suggests that

the Irish is father to the thought; bvtt, I na we have already stated, the actual truth about them will never be known till Port Arthur is taken. Captain Nowberg also asserts that the Japanese fire i sunk a number of vessels belonging to the Chinese Eastern Railway Company, aud it might be asked, if the Japanese could reach them, why could they not reach the warships? The answer to this is, of course, that the Russians would not take the same trouble to protect merchant steamers, and if there was any sheltered locality at all whore the ships might escape, then it would certainly be occupied by the battleships. The reports as to the progress made by the Japanese outside lvee-kwan and Er-lung-shan are contradictory. According to Mr Bemiet Burleigh, the- besiegers are still pegging away at the outworks, while Mr Fowler, the American Consul at Chi-fu, states that the outer forts, supposed to be Er-lung-slian and An-tsz-shan, have been taken. Mr Fowler's information is no doubt based on news brought by the Russian destroyer, and in his telegram to Mr Hay ho states that the condition of • Port Arthur is ''extremely critical." Now Americans are, as a rule, economical of words, and, as everyone knows, the condition of Port Arthur has been critical for weeks. Sir Fowler would hardly waste money telegraphing the fact to Washington unless he had some reason for believing that the defence was about to break down. It is just possible that the purport of the Ilaztoropni's despatches has been correctly inferred—namely, that General St-oessel - seeks directions from headquarters as to whether resistance is to be continued—and that the answer to them will decide the duration of the siege. Already there is a message from St. Petersburg which may conceivably be read as a reply to General Stoessol's request for instructions. It is suggested that the commander of the garrison has been authorised to retire to the Liao-tse-shan fort, after destroying the forts, dock, magazine, and vessels. Hut it is clear that if the garrison is unable to protect those any longer, the necessity for resistance is at an end, and a retirement to Liao-tsc-shan would practically mean that the objective of the Japanese had been attained. THE LATE MR, JAGO. The familiar faces of those of our citizens who were identified with the progress aud building up of Dimediu in the strenuous period which began in- tlm early sixties are fast disappearing. Year by year wo are called upon to chronicle the steady .calling away of one after another of the baud of sturdy pilgrims who east in their lot with the settlement in its earliest years, until their numbers are now sadly few. That- is only most natural, as it is a long vista of years to look back on if we carry our thoughts to the time when Dunedin and its surrounding hills still in large part retained their bush-clad form. It is, however, when we dwell for a moment on the rapidly-thinning ranks of Duuedin's pioneers of the second advent" that we realise how swift is the progress of time. It is 43 years since the startling and exciting news of rich gold discoveries in the Titapeka district- galvanised into throbbing energy the calm How of life in the picturesque little town in which up iill then rarely anything happened to disturb its peaceful, existence. So that even the boys of that day are now men of 50 and GO, and those who (locked to our shores as the result of the magic progress of Dunedin in its earliest '• diggings" years have already in many instances reached the allotted span of life. The names of the pioneers who were prominent in those stirring times as helpers in the work of building up the fast-growing town have, alas! in too many cases become only a memory. Merchants and contractors, engineers, architects, and politicians, ministers, editors, teachers, and doctorseach and all did their share in. moulding the destinies of the city and the people and in advancing their steady progress, and have each and all paid their full share in the inevitable toll of Nature. In the natural course, also, have their places been taken by the boys of the older days, and it is only to friends and comrades who have marched side by side in life's devious way that tlift calling away to other shores of our older citizens causes sad reflections. But those reflections are tempered in most cases by the knowledge that the lives that have ended were well spent and fruitful of service lo their fellows. It is unnecessary for its to recall with specific reference the names of those to whom we refer. From the reverenced and honoured names of Cargill and Burns of the Pilgrim Fathers to that of John Wesley Jago, whose unexpected death we were called upon to clrfoniclo on Saturday, it were easy to enumerate a long list of citizens who have faithfully served their fellow men in many capacities. Many of them have in these, columns received a justly deserved meed of recognition of services rendered to the community over a long course of years. And' so comes the turn of the late Mr Jago, whose blameless life, philanthropy, devotion to duty, high rectitude of character, and, above all, unwearying and strenuous advocacy, as

writer and platform orator, of reform in the drinking habits of the people, have made his name a household word in this community. It is not- necessary that we should be in agreement with the views of the liquor trade held by Mr Jago to enable us to express our admiration for liis character; but- it must be said of his strong advocacy of those views that it was over characterised by an absence of abuse of those whp 'differed from him

and that- it was supported by facts and

arguments, the results of a lifetime's industrious reading and research. In his best days a powerful and effective platform speaker, and a writer whose pen was ever at work in support of a cause whose triumph was his principal object in life, Mi' Jago did much to mould temperance sentiment in Dunedin, and his nariio is not likely to be forgotten by future generations of those who areallied in the same philanthropic cause. In efforts that he twice made to enter political life Mr 'Jago was not successful. Tho temperance cause was not in thpse days the power in the land that it is now, or the result would probably ltayc been different. It is not too hiucli to say, Jiijwever, that had Mr Jago succeeded in winning, political honoiirSj l|is strong common sense, clearness of

visjon, and great power of speech, would have brought him to the front, and secured for him a. prominent career in public life. He leaves behind him tho record of a bug life faithfully lived, and his memoir will ever be that of a man

who died at his post a faithful servant in the business of which he hiid control; a strenuous aud powerful worker for the cause of temperance, a generous helper of those who appealed to him. for aid, and in every way an estimable and a God-fearing citizen.