The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-03-09

For hundreds Of years Chinese coast.
,ng turks, beating along the yellow
sca In the coaslwise trade, had run = INTO
tho land.iprkcti liai'bor or l,u Sfiui1
Kow, down ut tho extreme southern
end of tto t,lnot,ing peninsula. MI alohs
tic shore great grny cliffs ran up
straight from tic sea TO u Height WHICH
varied from 800 to 1000 feet II YOU came
close enough Ii, you could make Out y sl 81
iii tho mountains which gavo entrance to
4 body or water within. This SIT Wns not
more than 200 or 800 yards Woo 100. once
you got through the passngeWay there
wns I, yy,io stretch of water before you,
lcntned III By cliffs oh every side a.
hixh tide tlo water was deep enough
for tho anchorage Of n hig ship, but when
tho tide vert out hundreds Of acres OF
mud flats were exposed TO view. ia
IN the valleys between the cliffs were
buff some fifty or sixty miserable mud
huts. and ln5them lived 800 or 400 Chinese
coolies. THAT was the situation up to 1850
In what Is now port Arthur
tn that Year three or four ships OF the
British, navy came that way on survey
Ing expedition. one OF these SHIPS was
the grnboAt Algerine. commanded by
Lieutenant. William Arthur. Lieutenant
Arthur darIngly raj, his vessel In between
tho cliffs which guard the harbor, which,
was thereupon named Port Arthur In
horror OF his exploit.
But beyond tho name. Port Arthur
gained no new fame for another twenty
years. * II, 1881 it was still merely con-
vcniert hnrbor into which coasttng junks
could ruin for safety wher great storms
swept the seas outside. On the cliffs
and IN the valleys whereabouts there still
lived only Il few hundred wretchcd
Chinese coolies.
Then the great Celestial empire began
to wake up Foreign engineers were sent
along Tile coast to pick out a safe harbor
which might be fortified and made tho
chief station for the new and modern
navy or China. They settled on Port
Arthur, and 1t was planned to transform
| the place Into nm Immensely strong and
completely fitted naval station Plnns
| were drawn for great dock yards, work
shops dry docks, rofittihg basins and
| foundrics, while above them, on the COM
mnnding cliffs strong fortresscs Wero TO
be erected. The contracts for all this
work wore let to French contractors
SO that 1t was France which first among
the nations had to do wlt1-this Gibraltar
OF tho Far East FreEch contractors
with the aid OF swarms OF Chinese cool
les, working like slaves for fifteen cents
OF twenty cents day, worked for years
on tho works in and about Port Arthur.
Not until 1891 was the place turned over
to China, ready for occupancy as q great
naval station.
II BY that timo Port Arthur-ts Eamesake
already &forgOtten-had become fairly
we'll built town containing moro than
]. 900 houses and shops, outside OF the
government works. 1t then had q COM
mercial population Of 6,00O, to say moth
j,,v ~ l,1g orric nj
moro soldiers The forts were mounted
with modern guns, and Chinese gunners
were trained by German and other foreign
experts IN tho use Of the artillery.
In 1894, during the month Of November,
the victorious Japanese army marched
dowr one Of the two narrow passes
which lead,tthrough the surrounding
mountains to33tho city Of Port Arthur
captured theacity, and put tol,the sword
lnanytpf observation-disclosures, non comba tants
as we'll aS.tho members Of the garrison.
Tt was a. bloody day, though the Japan
ese officers stopped ,,the slaughter as
quickly as possible S
For time then Port Arthur was appn-
l5rently ir tho permanent possession Of
| the Japanese, until the pressure OF the
allied powers forced her to give 1T back
to the Chinese in January, 1896. Before
they marched out the Japanese destroyed
a large part Of the Chinese fortified
tons
In 1925 Port Arthur was LEASED" to
! Russia, which Immediately began to for
| tify IT, with the intention OF making 1t
| the strongest port In the eastern seas.
| Its Importance to Russia is great. Vladl-
vostoe. the other great Russian port on
| the Japan Sea. Is ice-bound a large part
| of tho year. The possession OF Port Ar