INSIDE PORT ARTHUR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 10140, 29 August 1904, Page 3

INSIDE PORT ARTHUR.

RESIDENTS FAIRLY CONTENT.

The Sydney Daily Telegraph's correspondent at Hongkong, writing on July 29, said : —

There is a feeling abroad that the fall' of Port Arthur will come about soon. The fact that the majority of the correspondents who have been cooped up m Tokio for so long went forward on the 23rd to join the army which is devoting its attention to Port Arthur, is taken to Indicate llwt the Japanese have fixed' a date to attack the place, and they want to give the correspondents a chance to be m at the death. Often private letters get through, and the following extract from a letter written by a resident to a local friend is a good sample of the ienor of most of them. : "Atlhough it' js a long time since I have written you, our position is but very little changed. Occasional engagements have taken place with the Japanese, the result of which I am unable to give, as we civilians, though having the knowledge, that something has occurred, are entirely ignorant of the progress of the war. Very little information leaks out, and what does is seldom taken into consideration, as one does not know wliat to .believe. As far as myself and other non-combatants are concerned, we know that the place is m a sort of siege, and we must look after ourselves. Most of us, instead of liaving luxurious rooms m the new town, have now to be satisfied with cavities m the hills or underground cells. In the daytime we are about, partly on business and partly reconnoitring, and m the night we console ourselves with any amusement possible m our confinement. It is, indeed, a novel life, but a very safe and shell-proof one. The orchestra of the 26th Regiment and! the naval musicians give occasionally performances at the "boulevard, which not a few attend. Prices of food are slightly high now, but with the extra pay allowed us by our employers we don't feel the increase at all. The Chinese, however, have suffered, by the increase m the price of foodstuff, thought there are a very lew left now. Most of them, as you are no doubt aware, left here for Chifu m junks. The Novi Krai lias curtailed its four-page ne\yspai>er to a bulletin a day to its subscribers. The Red Cross Society is doing good work now owing to the absence of its real duties. They have stalled at various parts of the town cheap feeding rooms and) sleeping quarters. These are principally for the lower classes here who are out of work, and avlio are unfit for military duty. In tevery place women with the Red Cross badge on their aprons attend to the requirements. None of the well-to-do, so to say, are admitted. The wooden shed of Baroufski's circus serves as one of these places. There are- yet a few 'droshkies' abou£ but the rikisha has long been absent. lam getting m quite a collection of used! shell paYts ; they will be a long remembrance to me, and will remind me of the 'pleasant' times spent m a besieged port."