Stories of the War.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 12816, 25 March 1905, Page 6

Stories of the War.

DECTb.RE j;i CAFTAIjN SCOTT iIABDKN. The war between liussia, and Japan lms bi-x'ii tin< theme lor much writing and discussion in th« colonies, but until the ad Von I oi Captain tfcott liarden we had not had an opportunity of hptiring at lir^t hand the story of one ( who witne.sh.cd many of the scenes We have readi about and whi» lias harl several slariiing oxporieneex in tluil thirst for know ledge that is one oi the characteristics vi the successful war correspondent. Captain tfcott Harden, who acted as correspondent in tli'o' Far Must for one; of the big Lonlon dailies, us. well as the Graphic, .vas suited for his task. As an army oilk'cr who had served in , lEgypt, South Afiica, Samaliland, and' other 1 1 aces who re Kinglish soldiers havo had •o'do Anhfnig, ho watj used to 'rouyhing- it." and was also qualified to describe military movements in a niiiinev that the civilian corrctjjonlont — no matter how brilliant a writer -foil 1:1 not hope to attain. Last evenlie. iherefo*'e, m thu Thentre iloyal, he Captain had a very interested tU'dieiuv. who followed his narrative losely from hegi'nning to end. The leeIvas »•. yood voice alid a pretty ivit, an<l (ells his story in a froem'autor. Me first of all dealt with Port Arthur as H was belotes the war., and 'iiliiro-ed on 'lie -.f c:k s of gviiety in the (oun and th-.- <};>ti'>ni.sni of the gar lison. who never exijectod that Japan would s(rii;<> so suddenly and heavily is she cli.cl- He n<\\t took his hearers n ijo agnation to the Liao-yang peninsula, and »aye a short account of the battle of Liao-\ ang, in which signal heroism was displayed by both lides, tind in which groat strategy aas sNown by (General Kuropatkin. - !Ue followed this up with a somewhat brief recital of the terrible ! doings on the Sha-'ho. It appears that the Captain was in luck in being able lo .make the acquaintance of two of the foremost generals in the present campaign. Jle followed KiirokiV army for sonic time, and found tin famous fighting -Jap a most pleasant, accessible man, who talLcd freely. J[(.--wa^ taken prisoner by the llussiaias — for what reason did not transpire. — and whil'j "hc!<i" was treated in a very kind way by General Kuropatkin, with whom he tlrnetl and had Komt* pleasant (aIU. It was his luck, also, to fall in with some ifunghuses, \v}io like Englishmen, and >who treated hipi very kindlyi — which was nice of them, considering their characteristically fierce nature. Afterwards the Cajjtain drift ill to Che-100, but the deadly inactixity there was too trying to his ,-nergctic temperament, and he charicivd a steamer called the Sapnpson, hy means of which he wias successful in j <I(;ins some ooodo o od work for his papers, ! Later, lie determined to get into Port \rthur, and hired v Chinese junk. in which he succeeded in running the gaunt let— (by the way, the bloekad<was, according to the lecturer, a sham one), (He gave an account of some oi ( he scones incidental i o the siege— the ieinwaUon ot the dead, the effect of shell fire, the skill of the Japanese gunners, etc. He could not understand why General Stoossel capitulat ed, and gave tho credit of the clefonctfcoiGenorals Kontradencko and Smirnoff, the former of whom was responsible for the building of the forts, etc., and the latter of whom was a splendid organiser. Eventually, the Oautain decided that it was up t*. him to "light out" of the beleaguered city, and h« took the opportunity of getting a lift in the Russian torpedodestotayvr Itaztoropni. which was seiiti (jut with despatches. Thn fasi. little boat successfully ran -through the Japanese cordon, and the gallant •''ap tain was spared to toll to interested audieuces at story that is full of incident. The lecture was profusely illustrated, but. unfortunately, the limeliifhi. apparatus did not work as w-ell a< it might, nnrl things got upside down occasionally. 'A feature of tho entertainment was the excellent dramatic recitation civen by "Miss MaudeSmith, a chaining littlo lait>' of oxcollont stage presence, whom- we would havo liked to have hear.l again. Her imunciation was fine, and her gesture helped materially in. the success of a i-cry i>lcasi3iQ- itom. If at any futfiro liffli. Miss Iffaude-Smith comes this vrt\y she -may bo sure of a hearty wi«l-