The Irish standard., 1905-01-07
FALL OF PORT ARTHUR.

FALL OF PORT ARTHUR.
At last, after siege of eleven
months, Port Arthur has surrendered.
1t fell of exhaustion; not only cNhaus,
ton of ammunition but of men. Gen.
Stoessel and the gallant band who has
for so many months fought against
terrible odds, lose none of their fame
through this surrender Exhausted by
constant and fierce fighting, disease
and hunger, and hopelessly shut out
from all aid they We're forced at last
to surrender to overwhelming odds.
This is the end of the greatest siege Of
all time 1t cannot be compared to
other sieges because at no other siege
was the same kind of artillery used.
Never before did an army possess the
artillery and explosives that We're used
by the japanese in the siege of this
fort. Other sieges have lasted longer,
and couple have held out until aid
reached the beleaguered garrison, but
the inevitable result of a siege is the
surrender through exhaustion and star
walton of the defenders. The siege Of
Troy in the seventh century 3. c.,
lasted ten years, but eventually fell to
the attacking Greeks. Constantinople
in 1913 fell before the Turks in less
than two months. Sebastopol in 1854
surrendered to the English and French
at the end of eleven months. Vicks-
burg stood for thirteen months. Metz
fell to the Germans in two months
Strasburg in one month and Paris IN
four months. 1t is probable that one
days cannonading with such eXplo-
sives as Gen. Nogi used against Port
Arthur would have ended the siege of
Sehastopol or Vicksburg. 1t has cost
Japan an army Of $4,000 men and Il
budget of 1.OOO.OOO dollars to reduce
the fortress of Port Arthur. OF the
$4,000 Russians who retired into the
fort to defend it, only 5000 We're left
in the forts on the day of surrender,
there being 1900 in the hospitals and
the remainder were dead. Even these
5000 men were unfit to fight, having
lost control of themselves and their
senses through starvation and loss of
sleep. For months they We're COM
PEELED to fight night and day, the small
number rendering it impossible for
them to get sufficient sleep. Even at
that, if the ammunition had been suf-
icient. Port Arthur could have held
out indefinitely. For the last sixty
days the defenders had been compelled
to repulse the attacks of the Japanese
with the bayonet, there being no am
munition with which to reply to their
bombardments. The ferocious courage
of the Japanese made further resist
ance impossible. 1t was under these
conditions that the old veteran Stoessel
reluctantly consented to send note to
the victorious Japanese in which he
said. 81 have eight thousand men in
the forts and six thousand Of these are
able to fight If you do not accept my
proposal these men will die fighting,
but it will cost you three times their
number to kill thcm."
In two particulars it must be adj
mitted that the Russians are superior
to the Japanese; first, in the logged
manner in which they fight in trenches,
and second, in direct personal en-
counters with the bayonets. In this
last particular, the last two months
has shown that one Russian was able
to handle three Japanese. The Japan
csc are the superiors of the Russians
in mobility and in artillery fire. The
fall of Port Arthur was 4 fOregOne
conclusion. Exhaustion is bound to
follow where there is a lack Of food
and ammunition supply. All the Japan
csc had to do was to sit down and
wait, and Port Arthur would have to
succumb although it would have held
a much longer time in this way. 1t
was the artillery fire and the lack of
ammunition on the part Of theRussians
to reply thereto that caused General
Stoessel to surrender at this time. 1t
was impossible to hold it longer by
means of the bayonct. because where
Il man fell there was no other one to
take his place. and so the garrison was
gradually worn out. The fall of Port
Arthur will have no great effect upon
the war. 1t has been anticipated for
months. Its only result will be to
release one hundred thousand men
who We're investing this fortress. and
they will now be ut liberty to aid Mar
shall Oyamu in the North against Cen
eral Kuropatkin. 1t may result also in
the Russian squadron which is now on
it's way to the far East being recalled
For those who admire feats of arms.
Port Arthur will furnish sufficient
food both on the part of the besiegers
and the besieged. General Stoessel
will be recognized in history as the
bravest and most skillful defender of
siege that ever lived up to the pres
ent time. The Japanese on their part
will be credited with CARRYING on the
most remarkable and incessant artill-
cry fire that the world has ever known
The prOliabil is that one of the