Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-09-23
THE BARBARITY OF WAR.
The Horrors Of the Siege Of Port Arthur
as Described by a Russian officer.

as Described by Russian officer.
Gen. shermans saying that war Is
Hell" has never been so abundantly veri-
fied than in the developments of the war
between Russia and Japan. We know
that the fighting at Lao Yang the last
of August grew to the proportions Of one
of the greatest battles of modern times
with the killed and wounded on both sides
numbering at about 30, 900. but it is
evident that some of the most dreadful
features of warfare are being experienced
as a result of the long and desperate siege
of Port Arthur. This story is told in
recent dispatch from Che-Foo.
According to Lieutenant Prince Radz-
will, of the Russian army, who reached
Hardin recently from Port Arthur
bearing dispatches from Lieutenant Cen
eral Stoessel to General Kuropatltin,
the temper of the bellgerents at Port
Arthur has reached an absolutely merci-
less stage. Prince Radziwill saw service
with the British in the Boer war, and
says that until he became aware of the
state of affairs at Port Arthur he had no
idea that war could be so horrible
1t was set forth in these dispatches some
time ago that serious suspicious were en-
tertained by both beligerents that the
other was misusing the Red Cross flag.
The suspicious have been increased by
the commission of various acts by the
soldiers Of both armies, until now even
flags of truce or surrender are not re-
spected by either side.
Prince RadZlwi declares that men of
both armies are absolutely venomous in
their antagorism. Gen. Stoesse has ad-
dressed his garrison, saying that the pres
ent mood of the japanese indicates clear
~ the necessity of resisting them to the
last drop of Russian blood, because If
the Japanese soldiers entered the fortress
it would undoubtedly be impossible for the
officers to control them and prevent a
massacre.
In consequence OF the fact that flags
Of truce are ignored. numbers of japanese
dead who have been lying on the slopes
of the hills Of the northeast defences
for weeks past are still unburied, and
the stencil in Port Arthur from decom-
posing bodies when the wind is from this
direction, Is almost uncomfortable The
Russian soldiers who are in some cases
posted only fifty feet from heaps of de-
caying dead, must constantly wear over
their noses handkerchiefs soaked i'm cam
phor.
In the last four days OF August two
companies OF Japanese soldiers according
to Prince Radziwil found themselves at
the mercy Of the Russians and hoisted a
white flag. To this, however, the Russians
pdlu no Htlenuon ana continued TO Nolley
rapidly into the helpless ranks of the enc
my. In the meantime. japanese troops in
the rear of the companies which had rails
ed the white flag, saw what their comrades
had done, ard expressed their disapproval
of the surrender by firing into their rear
AS result of this fire from friend and
foe six hundred men were annhilated
The dead fell among the decomposing bod
les OF previous assaults. For days after
waru the wounded men in this area raised
nuttering handherchiefs in their hands
in pleas for help. but the Russians were
afraid to venture out TO give succor
Within n week the last arm had made it's
last unregarded prayer for help, and the
shambles was quiet but CHASTITY field OF
horror
Among the heaps of dead the prince
saw two soldiers, one a Russian and
the other a Japanese, lying locked in a
death embrace The teeth OF the japanese
were sunk in the Russians throat, while
the Russian had forced two OF his fin
gers into the eyesockets Of his antagonist
The prince cied this as merely an Incl
dent denoting the ferocity of the con-
dict at Port Arthur.