The Washington times., 1905-01-08

Oda put himself at their head and ven
tured along the bed of the moat toward
tic rearmost caponiere. with the idea
of capturing it.
The moat is very long (about one and
a half times the length OF an ocean
liner). SO there was room and time for
adventure in the blackness, sor there
was no moon. and the searchlights were
playing on other parts of the field. this
being too close under the noses of the
Russians for them to operate their
lights to advantage.
Half way down the moat Oda met a
Russian lieutenant and a party, bent
on a similar errand. There the two had
il out. not with bullets in the prescribed
way. but bayonet to bayonct, fist to
fist. and even teeth and claw
Catch-as-Catch-Can.
The two iieutenants grappled. neither
having time to draw sword
Oda and the Russian, locked en-
brace. reeled back and forth falling,
rising, clawing, first one top and
then the other, each losing sight and
control of his men. all of whom were
engaged in similar individual conbats.
The two leaders. grasping for an op-
portunity that each sought, bobbing
against the walls OF the moat, fighting
in this arena, tight for combat. soon to
be metropolis. reached. without know
ing 1t, an embrasure which led to the
rear of the fort and into the gorge.
Tripping over this. not knowing where
they were going. the two plunged head
long down the slope above which
frowned two Russian batteries and be-
yond which rose the great red-capped
skyline of the Cockscomb.
Fell Three Hundred Feet.
More than 800 feet. scratched by the
stones, smashed by tae skale they
slipped and writhed. until they struck
| a tiny plateau half way down the noun
| tain. On this they lodged.
! In the fall Oda had been able TO get
! his right arm free He reached over,
across his enemy's back, and grasped
/ the hilt of his keen. straight samuri
sword. Pulling It half way out of the
scabbard. which was tightly lashed TO
his waist. he saved and pulled until the
| slender tapering steel had gashed
through the Russians clothes, through
! thigh and bone. fu!I to his vertebrae
and his vitals gushed out.
| Late the following night. after the
sun had gone, Oda crawled into. his own
/
His men had been repulsed by a second
party of Russians who had SORTED out
to relieve the first. Still. the japanese
held their two capOnieres at front and
the Russians the two In the rear.
Struggles to Gain Inches.
The Japanese during the two nights
had hastily tossed up approaches anS
had a partially covered way from th'
base of the mountain TO the moat- Thi!
gave them their vital hold on the norti
battery of the Cockscomb-
Yet, so determined was the Russian
defense, so resolute have they been II
holding every inch of ground, that 1t ha
been a full month ana Il half since thel
before the valiant Japanese could tax
the complete fertilization; and whel
the complete fortification IS taken, re
member that 1t Is but one of thre
great batteries which form the series
called East Keekwan, and this itsel
> Is but Il portion of the eastern line O
permanent land defense.
The method of the final taking CT thi
Northeast Keekwan battery further II
lustrates the intricacy and difficulty O
the operations. Inside the fort, beyon
; the parapet, so well protected by IT
dlio CdpOiiicISS, -
earthwork. called the contrascarp.
Men in the Traverses.
: Crossing this. troops that might b
! entirely successful up TO that point
meet n close and unerring fire from me
/ concealed I'm traverses formed OF tim
: balks and sand bags, which lie a fey
: yards beyond
] Then below these traverses are gal
, leries where the garrison lives: and be
low the galleries are the bomb-proof
= protecting the ammunition
D Under the trayerses. covering the gal
leries and bomb-proors. Is heavy ma
sonry frofa two to three feet thick
Then covering the whole is Il pile c
earth two feet thick The original In
a tention was to have on top OF all that
: thick wall of concrete, but this Inter
: tioa has been effected but partially Q
n one of the forts. not the East Keel
| wan.
. All through November the engineer