The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1905-06-01
DRESSED IN BESTTODIE
How Japanese Soldiers Prepared
For a Desperate Enterprise.
INCIDENT OF Port ARTHUR SIEGE

"Details OF the NaPtuTc auO w 'op"
ton of North Cockscomb Hill Fort
Through the Daring Work Of JnD-
anese Ensineers-Some Sacrificed
Their Ltves-Crawlins on Stomachs
and Fetxnins Death to Fool Enemy.
The London Times publishes the fol-
lowing account written by a japanese
engineer officer Of the preaching Of the
desenses Of North Keekwanshan{C Cocks
comb Hill fort at Port Arthur.
1T was thus that the capture was an
nounced by the Official Gazette of the
north fort Of Cockscomb bill, which
was the beginning Of the series Of de-
structons and captures Of important
stongholds Of the Russians at Port Ar
thur: On the 9th Of October, IN the
thirty seventh year Of Mei5i, part OF
the walls Of North Cockscomb Hill fort
was blown up by our working party,
and the infantry assaulted successfully
and occupied the fort securely by the
28th.'
.'on that day at about R:so p. m. the
working party In the right wing of the
mine gallery came across an opening
measuring about ten centtmeters by
ten centtmeters, from which issued
strong smell Of coal tar. The discovery
was made thirtytwo meters from the
entrance Of the gallery leading In from
the sixth parallel. After examination
we concluded that we bad fallen In
with the enemy's countermining tun-
mel We found it necessary to locate
and, If possible, remove the explosive
material set for out destruction. This
work was intrusted to party Of six
men, volunteers from the imperial en-
gineer battalion ON the spot-Sergeant
Katsugi Mitani, Corporal Tamejiro Ia
kahashi, First Class Privates Tomoichi
Hor., Kinzo Furusawa, Toshiro Kawa-
bata and Second Class Private Asataro
Matsushita- They understood the des-
perate nature Of the enterprise full
well, and, wishing to die decently, as
the gentlemen soldiers Of Japan should,
they dressed in their best and went-to
their certain death.
at 1s0 exactly the sound Of vio-
lent explosion rent the air, and the
comrades anxiously waiting at the
mouth Of the gallery were assailed by
pebbles, shingles and debris. Mitani.
Takahashi and Furusawa were pulled
out Of the crater by means Of the ropes
which were tied to their ankles for this
purpose, all severely wounded, While
the rest sacrificed their lives at the al
tar Of patriotism and duty:
1.-The quantity Of the dynamite used
was unnecessarily large and the force
Of the explosion 80 great that 1t utter
" demolished our mine gallery. But
at the same time It split the ground to
such an extent that the outer surface
Of the wall became detached from the
natural soil, enabling US to determine
the nature Of it. The wall appeared
to be about three meters thick, Of con-
crete tarred over on the outside and
covered with tarpaulin sheets. This
method Of construction is proof
against almost any caliber Of mobile
siege guns.
1--WE at once organized party for
the purpose Of blowing up the exposed
wall. Sergeant Ida, with two first
class privates Of engineers, crawled
up over the edge Of the crater into the
ditch for the purposes Of reconnois-
sance, returning safely with a salts
factory report Then Sergeant Okura
was sent with gun cotton in sand bags
along with Corporals Horikawa, Flu
kunaga and Private Muzuki. They
daringiy advanced right up to the foot
Of the wall, crawling on their stom-
achs very slowly and lying down at
every few PAGES, feigning death. They
placed and fired the gun cotton. The
explosion tore the wall OF the ground,
leaving a gap Of four centimeters be-
tween. The Russians took not the
slightest notice Of it. Perhaps they
imagined that to be an impact Of a
Japanese she'll We again inserted
large QudA4ly VI S0A SSSSoA oAAeAS& wv
wall and exploded It This made a
hole, but not sufficiently large for our
assaultng party to enter.
$50 the persistent engineers deter
mined upon the third attempt They
shot down several Of the Russians who
looked wonderingly out Of the rent
The third attempt was entirely success
full. This time the explosion Of the
gun cotton tore hole In the solid
masonry Of concrete about one meter
in height and one and half meters
wide. Through this aperture twelve
grenades were thrown In, and under
the cover Of the smoke and confusion
party Of infantry numbering not
more than half company fled tn and
occupied the part Of the underground
chamber; the other part still remained
in the possession Of the enemy. The
japanese and Russian combatants
were separated only by the thin khaki
colored wall Of sand bags between.
ave slowly and steadily advanced,