Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1895-01-20

From the Japan Mail. December 2O.--
Among the four newspaper correspon-
dents at Port Arthur. three were
wholly novel to the work they were re-
quired to record. They had never be-
fore seen anything of war, and even its
ordinary incidents must have been
shocking to them. OF course we do not
desire to suggest that their evidence is
without value, but the public will GER
tainly be Inclined TO pay far more at
tentlon to the testimony OF the military
attaches who accompanied the army.
since they necessarily enjoyed the best
opportunities of observing the opera
lions, aud wee moreover, competent
to estimate them by expert standards
one OF these attaches has now returned
to Toxic. and we learn from him that
the statement hitherto published by the
lceal foreign press must be received
with the greatest reservation. and very
largely discounted before the rcsduum
OF truth Is reached In the first place
this observer states thnt the civilians.
or at any rate the non-combatnnis, had
all left the town OF Port Arthur before
the assault OF the forts and that
number of the soldiers had either dis.
carded their uniforms altogether or
thrown civilian garments over them
These men, thus disguised, continues
our informant, fought even more reso-
lutely than their comrades, aud suisse
quently escaping into the town, MAIN
tanned their resistance there.
The result was a good deal OF house
toulouse lighting, I'm which the Japan
ese used their swords freely. and when
Japanese sets out to use sword
In earnest. the results are often very
terrible. That there was Unnecessary
cutting down seems pretty certain, and
II In very conceivable that the cuts and
slashes often assumed character sug-
gestiVe of mutilation. But our infor-
mnnt did not see anything from which
wllful mutllatlon could fairly be in
ferred, and he does not believe that
genuinely puaccnble citizens were kill
ed. or that II few We're Killed the
thing was intentional. Tho sum OF
his opinion IL that the Japanese en-
ploying their swords and rifles under
circumstances whore discrimination
was difficult, ana In the sequel Of
many Chinese bnrbarities sufficient to
have irritated the subcrest troops In
the world. We're doubtless guilty OF eN-
cesses, but not by any means of such
oxeosses us have been laid to their
charge. or the death of women or
children he neither saw nor heard any
thing, and his conviction ls that there
We're no women or Children In Port
Arthur at the time. Finally, he Is EN-
phatlc in his denial OF the allie gntion
that undisclplined slaughter was con-
tinued through several days. The
whole aftair, 80 far as the town of
Port Arthur was concerned, began and
ended during the night OF the 2Ist OF
November From the following morn
ing nothing Of the kind was to be
seen.
We think II right to lay these facts
before our readers. They are not con-
elusive, lnasmuoh as some OF the testi-
mony is negative. and negative testi-
mony cannot possess much weight as
against positive. But they show, at
all events. that the stories hitherto
circulated must be received with eau
ton, and that the public should be
careful about attaching implicit cred
cnce ITO the allegations OF writer's.
some Of whom are proverblally dis
posed 10 take the harshcst possible
view Of every offence charged against