The Globe-republican., 1905-01-12
Thought kuropatkin Was Coming With
Army Relief.
THE CHINESE SPIES DID II.
Was Amazed When laps Informed
Him That kuropatkin Had Been
Defeated and Was on the Shakhe--
StoesseI Ready to Retire.

ShSSSSSf 'tSNty w 'NNhi"
Headquarters Third Japanese Army,
at Port Arthur, Jan. ., via Tientsln,
Jan. 11.--Captaln Tsunoda, the Jap
anese staff officer who was sent to
Port Arthur to inform General Stoes-
sci Of the contents Of the message OF
The emperor Of Japan, saying that the
garrison should be treated with the
greatest consideration, says.
General Stoessel's first inquiry
was about the whereabouts Of Gener-
al Kuropatkin, said ! did not know
exactly, but understood he was some
Where about Mukden.
General Stoessel remarked that he
had last heard from General k'lropat
kin October 6, saying he would come
to relieve Port Arthur soon, Gener'
al Stoessel added that he had sent
out Chinese spies, who returned and
reported that General Kuropatkln
with a relieving army was at Kin
chou, twenty miles north OF Port Ar
thur. General Stoessel was plainly
incredulous at my statement, that
General Kuropatkin had been defeat
cd and driven back toward Mukden,
50 ! produced maps, showed him the
position Of the two armies near the
Shakhe river and gave Stoessel de-
tails of Kuropatkin's defeat with the
loss Of 10000 to $4,000 men, at which
the Russian general expressed amaze
ment and quickly remarked that he
had been misled.
General St0esSel then asKed
where the Baltic fleet was, and told
him that some Of the ships had not
passed the Cape Of Good Hope,
with a hopeless expression, Gen
oral St0essel said:
Nov, that Port Arthur has fall
len, there Is no use for The fleet com
ing any farther
q then asked General Stoossel
what had caused the most damage tC
The garrison during tho siege, and he
replied:
"YOur 11-inch hOwitzers. After
they arrived our defense works be
came useless
General Stoessel then pointed ouI
that he and Admiral Alexieff had
been through the Boxer trouble AMI
had seen the work Of the japanese
army. General Stoessel also said hi
had been associated with the Japan
csc Generals Yamaguchi and Fuku
sbima at that time and expressed TIKI
opinion that the Russian and japan
csc forces nd borne the lions share Of
the work. Since then he had high
Idea Of the organization and fight
Ing qualities Of the japanese army.
"The real cause Of the war was, II
General Stoossel's opinion, the ignor
ance of the Russian people Of The
fighting qualities Of tho Japanese
The first attack On Port Arthur IL
February by the Japanese fleet was
a tremendous surprise The forts, hi
explained, were only partly garrisone(
by 1000 troops.
AT this point General stoessel sale
nc had always opposed the scheme O.
Governor Sakharoff, OF Port Dalny
in spending money in building u
Port Dalny instead Of finishing The
dofenses Of Port Arthur. Sakharoff
who was an engineer officer, died o
dysentery during the siege.
Continuing General Stoessel prals
cd the ingenuity, pluck and patience
Of the Japanese infantry, especially II
making siege parallels and trenches
TO the forts.
referring to the artillery, Gener
al Stoessel said that at first he dlt
not think the artillery practice good
but he Was soon compelled 10 recog
nise how good 1t was. General Kon
dratenko and a colonel Of engineer
(Irman), General Stoessel pointed
out, were killed in North Keekwer
fort by q Japanese shell just prior tt
The explosion Of December IL. Gen
oral Stoessel felt their loss greatly as
Kondratenko was a clever engineer
General Stoessel further said he
Ind served his emperor in three
wars, and he had been thrice wound
ed, first in the Russo'Turkish war
second in the Boxer trouble and THIRD
at Port Arthur. Now he felt he ha(
earned the right to return to Russif
TO live in his old age with his family
The general added that he was TAX
jng home with him five children o
officers who had been killed durlnt
the siege.
After his conference with Genera
Nogi, General Stoossel expressed
qualification at meeting so pleasan
a gentleman. He had not expected
the considerable treatment accorded tt
him. General Nogi appeared to Gen
eral Stoessel as an old friend rathel
than as tho commander Of an army
which had forced him to surrender,
Suffering From Cancer.