The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1905-01-17
PORT ARTHUR SEIGE.
Courage and Ingenuity of Foes a
Notable Feature.
New York Tim es.

New OIk liHeS.
All things considered. the seige OF
Port Arthur must be set down as one
OF the most remarkable in history.
1t will be thus regarded on account
Of its duration, the loss OF Lie in
volved, the courage, pertiaacity and
ingenuity displayed by the opposed
forces
Seiges Of fortified strongholds al
ways have formed important an. coil-
spicuous features Of the struggle be-
tween warring nations, and some of
the most interesting passages IN re-
corded history refer to events of that
kind. But as human inventlveness
has produced successive improve
ments in all fighting machinery
whether employed for defense or at
tack. so the correspondingly increas-
ed difficulty Of investing and subject
ing fortified place has tended 10
decrease the number Of seiges.
As late as the middle OF the eigh-
teenth century the estimated aver
age number OF seiges in a campaign
exceeded the number Of battles by
far. In the early part of the last
century the relation in frequency be-
tween seiges and battles was as 16 to
100, and the tendency continues in
the same direction.
It is also safe to say that, as a
rule, beleaguered places cannot hold
out as they once did before thesad-
vent of the rapid firing gun, the CO.
lessal pieces of modern heavy artil-
lery and the high power explosive.
It is not expected that the record Of a
Gibraltar, which: withstood all efforts
Of determined ard ingenious enemy
for more than three years, will ever
be equa1ed again. If, however, not
only time but conditions be borne in
mind. the months of resistance Of
fered by General Stoessel must be
said to equal a period of two or three
times as long in the days Of less per-
fected military art.
Even Gibraltar would have Sue
cumbed had its governor had to con-
tend with the means employed for
the reduction of Port Arthur and the
utter disregard of death displayed by
the Japanese Scanning the records
of the achievements credited to Cen
eral Nogi and the assaulting army, it
seems only fair to conclude that be-
fore their impetuous onslaught Sew
astopol would have had to fall in
couple of months, and Plevna would
have been made brief incident OF
the campaign. Nevertheless these
three famous seiges form, together
with Grant and Sherman's reduction
of Vicksburg, the most fitting prece-
dents the past has to offer. =.
The longest seige that history men
tions is that to which the Palestine
civ of Azoth or Ashdod was subject
ed BY the Egyptian Psammetlchus
the Powerful in the sixth century be-
fore Christ. Herodotus. relates that
it lasted twenty-nine years, that OF
Troy, by the allied Greek forces,
seems brief in comparison, accord
inc to Homer. 1t lasted ten years
to accomplish the destruction Of Car
thage. The first seige OF Jerusalem
bv Nebuchadnezzar, lasted one year,
five months and seven days.
General Elliott and his $500 Brit
ish troops held Gibraltar against the
allied French and Spanish forces un-
der the DUO de Crillon for three
wears. seven months, and twelve days.
During that time. however. he was
twice REINFORCED. Constantlnople
fell under the attacks of the French
men after an investment of only fifty
three days. It took Grant nearly
fourteen months to subdue Vlcks-
burg the final storning of that place
being only the climax of campaign
on land and water that has much IN
common with the one conducted by
General No2i AGAINST Port Arthur.