The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-01-18
Did Not Dissent from Last
Council of War.
HAD NO HOPE OF RELIEF
Shells from Japanese Howitzers
Destroyed Stores and
Ammunition Depots

LONDON, Jan. 1S.-A Nagasaki dis
patch says that General Stoessel. who
left that port yesterday with his fam
lily for Odessa. when interviewed be-
fore his departure. said:
'The capitulation of Port Arthur oc-
curing on New Years day was merely
a coincidence. The loss of Two Hun
dred and Three Meter hill and the sub
sequent capture of forts. combined
with the deadly craftsmanship with
the terrible eleven inch shells the de-
pressing effect Of the death Of General
kondratenko and the fearful increase
of scurvy, really fixed the time Of cap
itulation. 1t is quite untrue that | dis
scented from the unanimous decision of
the final council of war. Our final
urgent requests for relief were never
answered. As regards parole. dis
tinctly discouraged any concerted ac.
ton. Every officer decided for himself
Generally commanding officers stuck
with their men and chose imprison.
.ment. Most of the naval officers also
chose captivity, many probably being
influenced by the fear of impending
court martial"
There were actually surrendered at
Port Arthur between nine and ten thou
sand soldiers and sailors. of whom
many were unfit for duty. The sick
and wounded numbered 10000. Fifty
per cent of the officers of the garrison
were killed. and only % probably per
cent went through the siege unscath-
ed.
The fortress could have held out for
some time longer but for the fire of
the japanese eleven inch howitzers,
which destroyed the food depots. the
workshops and the ammunition stores
and made the repair of the defensive
works impossible
Interviews with other Russian of
ficers revealed great bitterness against
and denunciations of Admiral Alex
eieff for his failure to properly fortify
Port Arthur and "his cowardly flight"
by the last train from the fortress.
They say the torpedo boat destroyers
that escaped before the surrender car
ried all the regimental and naval colors
to Chefu. The junior officers denounce
the incapacity and folly of the govern
ment in entering upon the war and
declare that all the men who return TO
Russia from Port Arthur are revou-
tionists in spirit. These opinions were
openly expressed in the presence of
General Stoessel, who remarked: Let
them talk. They have earned the right
to think as they please by Drawing I'M
told deaths for our country"
A Mukden report details an attempt
Of strong japanese detachment of
Infantry, cavalry and artillery to cut
off the column of General Mischtschen-
kos cavalry as the latter retired north.
ward
The Japanese under cover of a mist
the Russians. A battle en-
sued, the Russian artillery with the
column infiicting heavy losses on the
Japanese at short range and then re-
firing. The Russian losses were five
'fticers and forty men killed or wound
3D.
The Russian protest against the i'm
'utation that General Mischtschenkos
cavalry violated Chinese neutrality,
wen if-of which there Is at present no
crossed the Lao river
ibove Newchwang, claiming that a
small strip on the west bank is dis
dnetly reserved as included in the
Iphere of hostilities.