The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-09-30
WOMAN RUNS BLOCKADE
Wife of Russian officer Escapes From

|
! Port Arthur.
| Chefoo. Sept. N-Mrs. Anna Kravt-
chenko, the English wife of Rus
sian army officer who arrived here the
| night of September II with Lieutenant
Prince RadZivil from Port Arthur, is
! the first woman to run the blockade
from the Russian stronghold since the
Japanese increased their vigilance to
| prevent egress from the fort. Her trip
was rendered extremely perilous be-
| cause she came out with the prince and
| his companion, Lieutenant Christie
| foroff, who carried messages from
| Lieutenant General Stoessel, the COM
mander at Port Arthur. to General ku-
| 'ropatkin. Both of these officers were
disguised. and had they been captured
| by the Japanese they certainly would
| have been executed.
| Mrs. Kravtchcnko was so worn out
and exhausted by her adventure that
She was unable to see the corresponds
ent of the Associated Press until today.
In an interview she spoke to him as
follows:
I'VE left Port Arthur at 8 o'clock on
the night of September 15 There was
"a good wind and the moon was bright.
we were successful in avoiding the
danger of the first Japanese blockad-
ing line. We came up to the second
line when the moon was under a cloud.
Scarchlights were flashing on all sides,
but our junk was not discovered.
we suddenly discovered ourselves
close to another junk with Japanese
crew on board. They presumably were
pirates, but we outsaied them and
drew away.
AT 6 o'clock the next morning we
saw a steamer coming in our direction.
no q Al r.l1 Of
and | was terribly frightened. When
we saw the cruiser Prince RadZivil and
Lieutenant Christoforoff went below.
stretched myself out on deck and COW
cred myself with dirty blankets. Chi
nese were lying al my feet and at my
sides, and for nearly an hour, although
nearly Smothered. | kept my position.
] never uttered n more thankful prayer
than when l was informed that the
steamer we had seen was n Red Cross
vessel. and that her captain had no in
tention of overhauling us.
Work in the Hospitals.
Wonderful things are being done by
the staffs of the different hospitals at
Port Arthur, who are assisted by ladies.
There are thirty nurses for each thou
sand patients. The ladies devote most
of their time to the making of clothes
for the soldiers. The laundry work is
done by the poor women and wives OF
the enlisted men. The sick and wound
ed are thus kept supplied with clean
clothing. The laundry has to be done
In dreadful heat.
There are no contagious diseases at
Port Arthur, but many deaths are re-
sulting from the bite Of a large red
headed fly which feeds on the decom-
posing corpses scattered over the bat
tlefields. A doctor who was bitten on
the thumb by one of these flies in
stantly severed that member. He then
had his arm amputated, but not before
the poison had reached his heart. The
result of the bite was fatal.
Every day in the week the band
plays at one of the hospitals.
THE wounded men recover quickly
from the wounds inflicted by the Max
i'm projectles and by the bullets of the
Osaka rifle. but the wounds resulting
from explosive bullets are awful, and
recovery impossible.
"The old town of Port Arthur is al
most entirely wrecked. The streets
are filed with holes made by exploding
shells. The loss of life in Port Arthur
from the bombardments have been re
markedly small. Once l counted fifty
seven Japanese shells fired at a Rus
sian battery. not one of which reached
it's mark.
"The Russian garrison is cheerful.
1t would be impossible to imagine a
Drawer or finer set of men. They re-
turn from their days duty in the
trenches with songs on their lips Al.
though many places in the ranks are
vacant, all of the men have unlimited
confidence in their power to hold the
fortress against the enemy.
II assure you," Mrs. Kravtchenko
said in conclusion to the correspondent,
that believe Port Arthur will stand
against the Japanese; I don't think the
stronghold will fall"