The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1905-01-06
Port Arthur's Long, Bloody Siege

According 10 auNlceS from loklo
inder date OF January 3D., the Rus
sian forces under General Stoessel
Port Arthur surrendered
to General Nogi commander OF
the japanese besieglng army ut
/ 30 O'Clock on the ID. The Jap
anese army entered the city on the
Attn.
The siege and defense of Rus
sias stronghold in the far East
have been marked by bravery, gal
lantry and desperation unequaled
in modern warfare and hardly cX.
ccled in military history.
The story Of operations around
Port Arthur is one of repeated
fighting, both by land sea, of the
most desperate aud thrilling chnr-
actcr. Isolated instances of hero.
ism that would have set the world
ringing under less overwhelming
circumstances have been dwarfed
by the generally magnificent con
duet Of both forces
BY sea there have been torpedo.
boat dashcs of superb recklessnrsS,
and big ships have pl0ughcd
through mine fields with heroic
disregard to give battle or in wild
Efforts TO escape.
By land the Japanese have hurI-
ed themselves against positions de.
clared to be imprcguable They
have faced and scaled rocky hcighs
crowned with batteries and crowd
ed with defenders. suffering losses
that military experts say would
have appalled, any European army.
In the doomed fortress its people
have lived under a devastating rain
of shell and shrapneI On scanty
rations, bcsicgcd on every side
knowing that hope of Succor or es.
cape was vain, the garrison has
fought with a stubborness that haF
evoked the admiration Of the world.
They met the untlrlng assaults OF
the japanese with n grim valor ttlat
won even the praise OF their foe,
and the fighting has been wagrd
with "reminiscences that often re-
fused uuccs to bury the dead and
collect the wounded.
over corpsc-lllcd trenches men
have fought hand to hand will
cold steel and dubbed guns, and At
short range have hurled at cacl
other hand grenadcs filled viii
dynamite.
The whole story is one of IN.
duunted courage and sublime bray
cry. What Port Arthur has cost
in human life and in money no cs'
innate of even approximate cor
rrctue>s can be made. The lossct
have been appalling
It has been reported that ii
some engagements leading up tC
the recent capture of 2O3- Meter
| Hill the attacking force lost II,
high rs 10 per cent o, the force cn.
gagged, while the garrison 5 losses,
Of which no word has come, must
have been frightful.
The defense of the position which
was left TO her as n heritage nftcl
the ChinrSc-Japaucac War, ha,
cost Russia practically her entire
fleet IN those waters. Her ships lie
from Port Artur's inner basin t.
ChrmuIpo in Korea, and along the
Shuntung Peninsula, battered hulk.
once proud vessels, or ignominous.
! ly dISmautled are informed in nou-
trail Chinese harhOrs. Save tie
three or four cruisers and some
lesser craft that lie in the iceboumd
refuge of NIadiyOsrok, not war
ship now flies the Russian cross in
waters OF the Northern Orient.
And Japan, too, has had her
losses in long drawn-out opera.
tons. Mines have struck from
Admiral Togo's fleet list many fine
ships and smaller vessels since the
morning of February $, when he
hurled his fleet mt the Russian
ships il Port Arthur's roadstcad
-RcpubIic.
SOUTHEAST NEWS.