The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-05-04
INCIDENTS 0F THE siege
Wire Entanglements, Man in
Armor and the Star Shell.
RUSS ANDlNGENlOUSJAP
Japanese Were Not Accustomed to the
Searchlights and Were Confused
and Blinded by Them-Reaized
Their Safety Lay in Getting
Back to Camp.

tneIr Safety Lay IN getting
Back to Camp.
Among the many contrivances
which contributed to make Port Ar
thur what 1t was, nothing exceeded
in Importance the Russian use of wire
entanglements, writes b. w. Norre-
gard, war correspondent of the Lon
don Daily Mail. The single or double
rows of these entanglements were the
strongest passive defenses of the
forts, and the Japanese tried many
devices to cut their way through At
first they thought to succeed simply
with shears, of which they had
brought $4,000 with them, but the wire
was too strong.
The commonest way was for the
soldiers to creep up after dark, lie on
their backs, and then try to cut the
wires with their shears.
For time another expedient was
more successful. A man would crawl
up during the night and fix ropes to
the tops of some Of the poles, and
then wriggle back again with the ends
of the ropes to the nearest trenches,
where his comrades would tug, with
an 'ichi, nj, san," till the whole ar
rangement came down bodily. But
the Russians soon found out what
was happening, and the next time
the japanese tried the same game
they found that the poles had been
wire-braced and withstood all their
efforts.
OF course, the shell fire destroyed
much of the wire fences, but the Jap.
anese had another way of destroying
them by powder They took long
bamboo poles and filled them with
black, strong, smoke-giving powder.
Then man crept up, placed the pole
under the entanglements, lit fuse,
and so blasted part of the wire.
Sometimes the men would las a last
desperate resort, walk up in broad
daylight have seen it myself before
an attack-protected by one of their
big shields, and quietly set to work to
cut the wire right in front of the de-
tenders. The shields are made of two
onc-Quarter inch iron plates welded to-
gether, and weigh about forty pounds.
One slit at the top is for the eyes
and the bottom slit it where the man
works his shears. The shield reaches
to his knees and is slung from his
shoulders. He can only walk very
slowly, and I do not think he would
have much of chance in race with
a tortoise.
The first man who was sent out was
met by a number Of rife shots. which
hit him right in the chest the bul-
lets did not penetrate the shield, but
the impact, which possessed the force
of a sledgehammer blow, Knocked him
clean over. He was not hurt but got
on his feet again, and the impact of
the bullets made him stop and stag
ger, before he reached the entangle-
ments.
OF the active means of defense the
Russian searcnnghts and machine
guns came in the front rank. They ut
terly blinded and confused the Jap
anese. At one moment the powerful
light was glaring full in their faces,
at the next it was suddenly turned off,
leaving them in complete and battling
darkness.
Then suddenly another light, Of
which the Russians had nine, threw
the Japanese into the fullest relief.
Instantly tremendous fire was
opened up on them from rifles, and
especially, from machine guns, which.
at this range, played havoc with them
on the coverless plain. They could
see nothing, they could do nothing;
death was among them, and they knew
not how to evade it; they were blind
and helpless, and did not know where
they were or where the enemy was.
Everything got mixed up for them.
Even the bravest among them recog.
nized that there was only one thing
to do-get away, away from the
slaughter. away from the cruel light
back to their own camps, back to the
night and the darkness.
A Japanese machine gun attempted
to recover the retreat A star shell
instantly detected it, whereupon o
searchlight was turned upon it and
the Russian quickfrers went up and
commenced their "pom-pom-pom"
against it and put it out of action at
once. It was no use; the attack was
hopelessly broken. The Japanese he
fore the siege were not accustomed to
the searchlights. AS one of their Of.
ficers said to me, gloomily, after the
reverse: "They are the most deadly
weapons we have to face"
At times we could hear a faint
swish in the air when star shell was
fired. A thin, scarcely perceptible
curved line of sparks mounting sky.
ward, rain of white phosphorus
stars sinking slowly, slowly through
the dark, glory Of light, dream OF
beauty, and an excellent means OF
Illuminating, for a few moments, the
underlying country, in way that nc
ten searchlights can do it, because
the light, of an immense intensity
comes from right above, so that there
are no deep shadows; everything is
laid bare, not a man can move or live