Arizona republican., 1905-01-04
PHOENIX. ARIz, JANUARY 4, 1905.
stoessel, the Victorious.

What was the good of the prolonged struggle against the inevitable? !? Months ago the ultimate reduction of the beleaguered fortress was seen to be a certainty, and it may seem logi- cal to conclude that General Stoessel. in making such a desperate and dog ged resistence, was uselessly sacriflc- ing his brave soldiers. This, indeed. was the view of General Nogi, when. as long ago as August, he requested the Russian commander to surrender and avoid a useless, waste of life.
 But while his own stubbornness and determination to fight as long as he could maintain the struggle was an important factor, of course, and com mander of different temperament doubtless would have yielded long ago, the fact is that Stoessers tenacity in holding on was of the highest service to his country. Kuropatkin and the Russian army in Manchuria have the Port Arthur garrison to thank for the drawn battles of Liao Yang and Sbakhe river. It was due to Stoes- sers heroic resistance that Japan was nble to gain no decided advantage III the land campaign. and that Russla has this entire winter in which to pro- vide Kuropatkin with achievements
 Tn neither of his great battles with Ovama did Kuropatkin have to exceed ooo OOO men available for his fighting lines. and the Japanese armies unoer Kuroki. Nodzu and Oku aggregated little more than the Russian strength. Japan was handicapped by the neces- sity of detaching 100000 of her best soldiers for the siege of Port Arthur. Had General Nogrs great besieging army been released, even as late as two months ago. it would have been hurried to the reinforcement of the northern armies 200 miles away and Kuropatkin would have been over whelmed and crushed.
 It is true that the armies confront ing each other on the Shakhe went into winter quarters several weeks ago. and there was little reason to fear that the Japanese would undertake win ter campaign, even if reinforced by inc Port Arthur army, but the Rus sians have learned that the Jap can not be measured by any ordinary standard. and they could not be sure that Oyama, if reinforced by Nogi, would not hazard a forward campaign i'm the rigors of a Manchurian winter Nor is it a certainty now that tke Jap anese will remain altogether quiescent until spring. But Kuropatkin has had an opportunity to fortify his positions he has evaded defeat in two pitched battles, and for all practical purposes he has gained a year, because of Stoes- sePs bulldog defense of Port Arthur.
 Furthermore, after the situation for Kuropatkin had been saved, and after it was clear that the success of the besieging army was matter of but a few weeks at most, Stoessel hoped that by holding out he could get relief from the Baltic fleet. Without news from the outside world, he thought that Admiral. Rojestvensky was due to ar rive in the Yellow sea early in Decem- her. and he was hoping from day to udY IO near lAldt N4AC PcAiANSC had been destroyed, and was hoping to see the Russian fleet steaming in to the harbor, loaded with men and guns to help him repel Nogi-
 Whatever the result of the war may be, it is safe to predict that Stoessel will never be displaced as Russia's heroic figure.
 The world will now be greedy for :. knowledge of the unique defender of Port Arthur. No foreigner of note is less known in the United States, for he was unheard of in this country be- fore he was cooped up and made re- sponsible for the defense of Russia's eastern stror ghold. Americans. how ever knowing what fight he put up, will picture him as a second Grant; and that, it seems, is just what he is. Hector Fuller the war correspondent of the Indianapolis News. is the only American who has seen Stoessel since the siege began. Fuller was deter mined to get into Port Arthur, and in June last he sailed for that place from Chefoo in a Chinese sampan. Dodging through the cordon of Japanese ships, he landed on the southern shore of the Liaotung peninsula, and made his way to the outer defenses of Port Arthur. There he was promptly arrested as a spy. He was blindfolded and conduct ed into the town and thrown into jail. He demanded to see General Stoessel. and was taken before the general. He established his identity. and was per-