The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-04-04
81. 81 f6e Tort 81 rallway 81 the otlier

cur, or tie fort 81 railway on the other
side. .
It was doubtless. Tor this reason
that the vfcef6y did his best to remove
all business houses, and shops Of every
description to Talien-wan. ana y an
other reason. together with The NOD
question. FOR the exodus Of both civll-
ians ana troops.
The japanese showed. great judg-
ment In not pressing their recent It
lacks on Port Arthur any further than
they did. for to endsavor to take The
place By assault % arms would be IN
impossible feet; u TACT the only sidss
|6n which a tAtrAa6e csniA poesibly -
effected weuA - 90 the perth side. by
which the srailroad Approaches the
town. and Oh the west, owing 10 the
mature Of the nigh range .of Inns On ths
other ssida. It would b equally linz
possible to make boat attack BY Fths
entrance to the harbor. for there are
small batteries on either side which
could play murderouS crossAre on the
entrance and be themselves quite under
cover s'r'fss -* g
The laying Of mines round the en-
trance to the harbor presents very Sc
rious difficulties, as the passage IL
very short and you at once come to
open sea with strong currents and
deep water. So that. as has been
proved, the dangerous game Of laying
mines would have been better left un-
done by the Russians at Port Arthur.
Another great weakness in the de-
tense. and point that all persons
having authority should look to when
choosing a position to defend-which
doubtless weighed heavily with the
japanese when they gave up Port Ar
thurs that. IL the town were proper
ly invested from all sides. which could
be easily done, there would be no
means of beating retreat.
This is lesson the viceroy has evi-
IDENTIFY taken to heart before 1t Is too
late in moving his headquarters to
Hardin or Mukden, as he has been re-
ported to have done, and leaving only
a few thousand troops in Port Arthur;
for If the defense cannot be maintain
ed by means of the heavy guns. the
small arms would undoubtedly fail as
well.
The japanese having already taken
the place by assault with considerable
loss when held by the Chinese. are not
going to run their heads into another
moose by losing number Of valuable
lives when they know well that the
fleet can both hold Port Arthur and
prevent the issue by land Of large bod
les Of troops, once the Russian feet Is
locked up in the harbor, by placing
their own fleet on either side OF the
peninsula along which the railway runs
it being possible to command the neck
of the peninsula from either side.
A peculiar feature of the Russian
defense of Port Arthur is the history
attached to some of the heavy guns
which are at present in the forts.
These guns were sold originally to the
Chinese authorities by a German firm,
shortly before the Boxer trouble. when
the Chinese were buying arms on every
available occasion. They bought on
the 3-y var system. paid so much down,
and the balance divided between the
second and third year. The firm had
to pay the regular "cumshay' to the
lower officials out of the first money
they received. The guns were then de-
livered and deposited in the Shiku
arsenal, where Admiral Sir Edward
Seymour made his grand stand with
his wounded when returning from his
futile endeavor to rescue the Pekin le-
cations. Some of these guns were not
even unpacked. Before the second and
third installments were paid fighting
began, and the guns were captured by
the allies and handed over to the Rus
slams for custody. The Russians al
ways seem to have men to take charge
Of anything. and they took such great
care Of these guns in the Shiku arsenal
that they were sent over to Port Ar
thur; so that although Germany had
not received a penny for the honest
work done in her country she has uli-
Willingly provided Russia with the
means to defend Port Arthur.
There is another part Of the defense
Of the port that TIE Russians forgot to
put in order-namely, provisions. All
Japan has to do now IL sit down and
wait until the garrison is starved out.
an operation which viii not take long;
and this unless unforeseen circumstan-
ces arise, must be What she intends to
do.