Evening journal., 1905-03-10

the hospital at Dainy. to which the
prisoners were taken"
How did you prote selves
from the rain Of shellsT
I'VE had bombproofa made OF steel
rails, and these were some protection
against the six inch shells, but when
the eleven inch shells began to pour
down upon US our bombproofs might
just as well have been made OF card
bonrd for all the good they did. Under-
ground burrows might have been pro
lection, but there was no opportunity
to use them, for every available man
was needed to repel the attacks of the
enemy. The japanese soon got the
range and sent their shells with deadly
precision wherever they would reach
the most men. They had long before
wrecked the town with their lombard
ment, and in the latter months they
aimed at the men. We grew callous.
The incessant shrielxing Of sheils over
and about one has its terrora at FIRST,
but one soon grows used to even this.
and we ceased to pay attention to
them.
Port Arthur is the first city IL the
history Of the world that was ever
/ bombarded by eleven inch guns. When
the first Of these giant shells fell among
us we thought it had been thrown from
a warship. but when they followed one
after another with perfect precision
and aim we knew that no ship had fred
them, for such accuracy of aim is i'm
possible from floating battery. These
shells wrought carnage IN our ranks.
The number of them the Japanese
threw was stupendous. know that
on one day 500 fell. which is an aver.
age Of more than one every two min
utes.
THE noise OF such constant cannonad-
ing day and night and the necessity Of
being ever on the alert and OF taking
your turn on the firing line or the ad-
vanced posts had a fearful effect upon
our nerves, and it is a wonder we were
not all maniacs before the capitulation.
We became so accustomed, however,
to having the din OF battle in our ears
that on one day--I think It was Jan. p
when the Japanese fired no shells at
us we were dazed by the silence. We
kept putting our hands to our ears as
II we were deaf. You know how after
a long journey by rail, with the rattle
OF the wheels constantly IN your ears,
when you reach, your destination you
continue to hear the rattle Of the
wheels. You know how you feel the
motion Of ship after you step ashore.
Well, It was a sensation not unlike
that The roar was in our ears, though
mufied. even after the bombardment
bad ceased"
"And then there was the noise OF
your own guns" remarked the re-
porter.
'Our own gunsT replied Captain
SAKE. They did not count, for we
had no ammunition to fire except
what the japanese sent us and did
not explode. The lighting was fierce,
but on our side 1t was all at close
range. The enemy were so close to
us that we could hear them cough
and sneeze. 1t was no use to FIRE
rides at them; they were too near.
] Our men threw hand grenades and
fought them back with the bayonet.
They had only twelve feet to leap to
be inside, our Notifications, but for
months we held them back by sheer
force OF fighting, and they never were
able to make that twelve foot leap"
And what Of General Stoessel, about
whom his subordinates express such
varied opinionsT
"A grand man, a noble manr' cried
Captain SAKE, his eyes glowing with
enthusiasm. HE shared all the hard
ships Of his men; be asked no one to
/ 60 into any peril where he would not
go himself; he inspired us all with his
! heroism. General Kondratchenko was
as brave and as loyal, but no more so.
He was Stoessers right arm through
out the siege. They worked and
fought together, and when Kon-
dratchenko fell hero perished."
rs there any man who can be sin
gled out as the hero OF Port Arthur"
Every man who was through the
siege proved himself a hero; none more
than another. Such hardships. such
] wounds, such scenes Of ghastly horror,
such fighting endured so long with such
splendid fortitude, entitle every man
OF the thousands who defended Port
Arthur to the laurels Of hero. Stoes-
sci surrendered because there was
nothing else to do. To have resisted
further would have meant a wanton
sacrifice Of life, for the soldiers were
/ dying by thousands Of starvation, dis
ease and wounds. We had no ammuni-
ton left to fight with and no food left
to sustain us. The Japanese had beaten
us back inch by inch. and no human
/ power could prevent them from cap
turing the city. Therefore capitulation
was all that was left for US. We had
made as good a fight as men could
have made, and there would have been
no sense in lighting against the inevita-
BILE. We who were with the general,
working under his orders and seeing
his conduct, know he is a hero"
At this point party Of ladies, arriv-
Ing to take Captain SAKE to an enter
tainment brought the interview to a
sudden close.
Wireless Telegraphy on Land.
J The largest gtaffon for racaixrfno ana