THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13209, 16 February 1905, Page 2

THE FALL OF PORT ARTHUR.

UNPARALLELED ATTACK AND - . DKFKNCE. HORRIBLE EXPERIENCES OF THE BESIEGED. 'CHIVALROUS EXCHANGE OP COURTESIES. (Fiiou Our Own Cor.REsrcNDiNT.) LONDON, Jalriiary 6. New Year's Day brought to tbo world at'least one welcome and aebehUiiis gift hi the cessation of the horrors which so long had shocked tho whole civilised world, whose attention bad for months been almost breathlessly fixed upon Port Arthur and its historic, unparalleled siege. To Japan ;aine as the most acceptable New Year's gift the'world, could possibly offer, the-re-:aptnre of -that famous fortress, which had been so disreputably stolen from her by Utissia. Rut to the latter Power—the groat modern representative of " Punic Faith "— nils come, as it did to its pftictitiohere of old, dire, disaster and disgrace. •Yet tho disgrace attaches solely to the .Russian Government. On the Russian arms die defence of l'ort Arthur reflects only the highest honour. Never since the world began lias there been such a ill attack, such a defence. To compare the siege of Port Arthur with that of Troy or Gibraltar or San Sebastian or Bebastopol or Paris or Met/, or Ladysmith, is to compare things utterly non-comparable. The world has never before seen such gigantic, terrific, appalling weapons employed alike in attack and in defence as those used 011 both sides during the siege of Port Arthur. 'Just read the accounts of the Sebistopo! siege when I ho Allies began the bombardment with 32-nounder smooth-bore muzzleloaders and were for the time paralysed with amazement when their tiro was Bilenced in a. single day li£ the Rtaiaia, who rbplied with 68 and 84-pounders, or their equivalents in calibre. Compare that £ort of pop-gun work with the Port Arthur experiences, in which guns that would throw BOOIb shells with effect distances of 10,000 yards or more and accurately hit a mark the sifc! of an ordinary door at a. distance of 6000 yards—more than miles! Tht.so projectiles, too, were Jiot merely simple iron, but were steel shells which would pietoc a plate of solid steel or chilled iron 18in in thickness, aud then, bursting, would scatter death and destruction in all directions. Very different this from the old direct firo of plain shot or. the relatively sluggish vertical shell fired .from the oldfashioned mortir.4! Then think of the fearful plunging fire which' pitched gigantic missiles Over intervening bills, almost mounso that they fell as " bolts from tlio bluo upoh buildings and shins which were invisible to the gunners,_ and from which the guns themselves were hidden by those lofty hills. Surely, if anything couhl have tried the Jiervo of those gallant defenders, these missiles from unknown sources must have done so! But perhaps even worse than these hideous hailstones from above wore the terrible unseen approaches from below. It was known that the besiegers were steadily harrowing day and night through the solid rock, and were driving tunnels leading right under the Russian fortifications which, when tho right time should coine, would be filled with explosives powerful enough ■when fired to blow the superincumbent rock and all the fortifications built thereon into a mere cloud of dust ant) fragments. The diSfendei-s knew that the unseen tunnels were coming on, 011, on, yet fliey could neither arrest their course nor avert the surely coming catastrophe. Add to this that theso brave mea wero decimated by sickness, badly off for provisions, lacking all means of surgical alleviation of their sufferings when wounded. > objured to see their once-splendid fleet destroyed help'on-ly in harbour, enduring tho rigours of a severe winter, conscious that 110 aid could reach tliem until too late to avert destruction, and it needs little power, of imagination to rPfiliso I hat whon the. Russian officers on surrendering declared the place to have become a living hell" t-Jiey in no way exaggerated the unsurpassable' tearfulness of j its condition. 'Io bavo liorno up so long ttllder such an accumulation of dire horror ! was surely one of the greatest feats of heroism the world lias ever seen. , Nor was the lot of tho besiegers greatly superior. Themselves in a large degree exposed to much from which the defenders were Secure, liable at any advance to ho mown down in heaps by, the terrible fire of the defenders, compelled to force, under that hail of death, a way through entanglements of bal-bed wire charged with paralysing currents of electricity, having at evorv few yards tho prospect of-their foothold giving way beneath (hem so that thev would plunge into conical pits filled with sharp upward-pointing stakes to fall on which meant living impalement, aware that any step might explode a mine which would instantly convert a regiment, of gallant living men into a cloud of blood and fragments of flesh and bone, unable to find shelter even in the obscurity of -the darkest night because of the incessant playing upon t-hein of brilliant searchlights which rendered night as clear as day to the defenders, while they so tlazzltkl aiul 'blinded and the besiegers as to render them all the easier victims to the entanglements and t ie better target for shell and grape ami shrapnel while so entangled, tliey passed through an experience whose terrific liotroM can hardly he even iniaginetl—could not possibly be surpassed. But tlie realities were even worse. Read this statement by a Russian naval officer who had -been in the beleaguered fortress till its surrender: "The cueniv, after suffering incredible slaughter, stormed their way into Song-shu fort, whence they sent a tornado of shells into our positions. NoIhing co\ild stand them. Had .General Stoessel waited longer the garrison would have been reduced to a mass of corpses. General Sinornoff himself favoured surrender, aud tho garrison, scourged liy the daily hurricane of fire, unanimously supported him. Yet the poor fellows wept' when the first message asking what terns would be granted was sent to General Nogi. The soldiers, half starved and racked l)y disease, stood in the trenches staring stupidly with sunken eyes at. one another, while the officers, prostrated by tlio thoughtof giving up tho fortress, actually sobbed like bereaved women, as though their hearts would break. I have never seen anything liko it in all my experience. During the gloomy day no hands played, and I do not remember seeing a single smiling face. Men seemed dazed and stunned already hy the impending calamity -which we knew that could ward off. We wandered about like mourners in a vast graveyard— and so Port Arthur was." Yet even worse remains to bs told. It is; almost too painful to read, yet everyonS' ; oilght to know what war—about which-we : often talk so glibly—really means. The 1 same officer goes on to say: "As for the hospitals, no words can adequately picture 1 their horrers. They wero worse than' a 1 battlefield. They were gorged with broken, i shell-torn bodies, and men in the grip of . mortal diseases. A nauseating odour of j human blood and festering wounds poisoned ] t.he air of the wards,, and even sickened the ( Sisters of Charity, accustomed lis they. Wero 1 to, such experiences. So fetid and powerful i was the stench that the Russian ladies at- 1 tending the wounded had' to keep their s npstrils plugged with cotton wool saturated 1 a'itll gati-de-Cologhe to i. ,oid being over- f .come with the miasma. So terrific was the.; 1 shell firo that few of the. hospitals escaped ! v injury, and many men were blown to frag-! c nlehts in their cots. For, days together the ,c roar of the Japanese guns from the heights 1 deafened our ears, mingled with, the ntuiihi- c

lating' 'blast of the biggest shells any of u ( had over, seen. Several doctors and nlirso were killed by these missiles, "Where the; struck. holes' like craters, and de stfoyed for yards around. Mam of our iiieii suffered from loathsome ulCeri on iho mouth, caused by eating horse flesh • itself • tainted, ■ lint the only oi'iitnal foot we could 'get. The Sisters of Charity anc 2 jho.vbllihteer ililrscs Worked day and nigh in these' slaughterhouses.''Many fainted ai their post from want of food.' The eliriek: and moans of (he wounded, the death ratth of the dying, and the curses and yells 0 men undergoing operations without anresthe tics, all combined to make the place a per feet inferno. Severed limbs and puddles 0! Ij' curdling blood met ono's gaze'Oll ever} ((, hand.•-It-was .1 relief to rush.from the fou , atmosphere and'horrible sights, even if the ° shell-torn streets wero tho, only alternative Medicines were scarce, and t.he number ol j g doctoF.? iVas insufficient even io attend whei immediate operations were lie'cessaryi The ijVheroism of tho great majority of " I jit e _ j wounded is something I shall never forget i( j Moii who had received, wounds «'hich» dii hot- incapacitate tliem from duty wouk . stager into tho hospitals, throw their rifles _ ' iside, and after dressing tlujjr own wound: would snatch iip their accoutrcnvnhv and hurry , back to tho trenches. Such scene' ■ occurred daily during the closing hours ol the sieee." 1 "Horrible, triost- horrible" indeed! Yet J that is what modem warfare always iniisi , - mean and involve. And it is the, professed Apostle of Peace himself, tho Lender of the Anti-War Crusade, who his precipitated •j upon humanity this unparalleled horror! Another. interesting account of the lust otlys of this marvellous- siege w/is given by , Captain Knrlzoff, in Co!inn:i(ii] of the Rus-f-ian torpedo flotilla, who raid to a press u Mwcseittative: "Tort Artuhr falls of, exr hrustion—l'xliauslion not only of ammnni;j lion, but also ol meiij The remnant left j_ was doing heroes' work for five days aiid five nights, and yesterday it had reached j tho limit of human endurance. In the caso.j mates of the forts one saw everywhere faces j hliiek with starvation, exhaustion, jand nerve strain. Lack of .ammunition fllone would iiot have prompted any attempt to arranger terms. Lack of ammunition has been comK mon iii the fortress during the past- months. q Many forts had nothing with Which to rej. turn the fire of the enemy. The Russians e sat in the • casemates firing no more than 0 one. shot to the Japanese 200. Then,'when u tho assault came, they repulsed the enemy j ttith the bayonet. But the men themselves, jj feeding for three months on reduced rations, J wero so worn that it is marvellous that they the final strain so long. Yestcrday Stoessel's determination to fight was j, undiminished. |. ! "' We cannot fight,' said his generals, e Out- men cannot, move. They sleep stand--0 'ng. They'do not- see a bayonet at their breasts. Wo' can order, but they cannot p obey:' 'Then you generals fight,' cried 1 B Stoessel, clenching his fists. Be seemed U fanatical 011 the subject, but was finally y brought to see reason -liy the insistence of j a subordinate.- Admirals Lochinsky and' 0 Wiren, Generals" Smornoff, Fock, and many e others,, sometimes with broken voices, urged the step which all had dreaded for so long, u | Stoessel, with bulldog tenacity, refused the s ] repeatedly-urged' advice of Iho other high s officers. He had told his Emperor that lie I never suriender, and he meant to keep 1 | bis word. Tlio greatest loss Port Arthur r I suffered occurred a fortnight ago when , General Kqndraehenkq was killed. He was 1 j seated in .the casemate of a fort discussing t j with seven other officers the best way of c | countermining the Japanese .when an 11-inch ) thell burst, killing everybody in the case- ! mate. Nogi has taken Port Arthur ; with his artillery and tunnels. Rifle bullets 1 he seldom found effective. Constantly wc ) endured a bombardment fiercer than any in ; history, the Japanese periodically assault- ' ing. If repulsed they calmly resumed the f bombardment. I do not exaggerate when • I say that the big shells, which wero mostly > used, frequently left no clcar place to-put ' ono's foot.'! ! Then the surrender, which was never to 1 tako place, happened. The " impregnable " 1 fortress was conquered, as had been so 1 maiiy other " impregnable " Russian strolig- | holds. The dcfence "to the last man"—so ! rashly promised—was wisely abandoned. ' And so l'ort Arthur fell. In a moment the ' j ruthless atul terrible Japanese foes became [ I the kindest, iiiost generous, lhcst considerate !• of friends. They paid every honour to : antagonists who had proved so "worthy of their steel." All that could bo done to mitigate the sufferings alike of the still | combatant portion of the garrison and of those who lay disabled in the hospitals was , done by the gallant victors, and I am glad i to lie able to add that 110 sooner was the capitulation known to be imminent than -ii British maii:oF-wiir, 11.M.5. ]Andromeda, , started from Wei-hai-wei with abundant supI plies of stores, surgical appliances, and : medical comforts for the Russian sick and | wounded. She brought two surgeons aiid nearly the whole staff of the Government ' Hospital,- 80 tons of stores, 350 beds, and 450 tons of provisions. It is needless to . say how acceptable tliev would have proved. It was the case of Paris in 1871 over again, when Englajid by her timely supply of food saved a large part of the Parisian population from starvation at the end of the siege by the Germans. But in this ease the good intentions of the Uritish were not allowed to reach fruition. Thtf Japanese declined the proffered a id, partly 011 tho ground that the Andromeda would' be in danger from Russian' subinarino mines not yet located or removed, and partly because Japan held herself capable of doilig ali 1 liiit- was necessary in the Way of relief. Directly after the white flag of surrender was hoisted at Port Arthur a conference of generals was held, at. which t.he terms of capitulation were arranged. They have of course, beeii cabled, but I may summarise tliem as follqws:—The whole fortress., ships, aiins, ammunition, military buildings, material, and other property of tho Rnssiati Government be surrendered In esse it is found ,that any of' these objects have lieen destroyed after the signing of tl'.e capitulation, it is to be. considered annulled; and full liberty or action is in that case reserved to the Japanese army. All- nlans ' of forts, torpedoes, and mines, and military and naval officers' lists to lie given up. Soldiers, sailors, volunteers, and other officials tt> be prisoners but. in consideration of the defence they have made, military and naval officers and civil officials attached to the services to be allowed to retain their arms, to keep private property of immediate necessity for daily lifo v , and also to return to 'Russia upon parole; ilot to take, until after tlie close of tlie present war, airiis or action in .opposition to Japim. Tho various forts not already 'captured to bo surrendered to the Japanese before neon - 011 January 3. Then came the most cordial fratefiiising between those brave and noble foes. Tho terms were admittedly .generous, as tho fortress had been virtually taken by storm, aiid if would have been preposterous to release" the rank and file oh parole, seeing that in previous cases tho men had not beim permitted to respect tlleiiv pledges, but bad been 'compelled by their officers to.disregard their parole and serve again; indeed, two officers were captured ill Port .Arthur who had deliberately violated their ■ parole of honour, aiid who therefore will be prisoners'until the end of the war. they could'expect 110 less, and might well have received a .severer punishment. L.t that lis the worst of the Russian character. Their word cannot ever he relied 011 us really sacred. It i. '.-eiit- so lotig as tbel-o is no ■ 'inducement, to '.peak it, but then—"piecrust" is'nut iu it! Indeed, this disaster and the wijolo misfortune of the. present war has befallen itnssia purely through her cynical disregard of.her solemn'promiso to Manchuria. Nor is sho yet liy any ineaiis at tbo end'of her. troubles consequent on tlial breaeh ..of faith.. '