Omaha daily bee., 1907-12-11

ST. PETERSBURG. Dec. 10.--Before a
brilliant assemblage Of his old comrades in
arms. General Stoessel was today placed
on trial to answer with his life and reputa-
tion Tor the loss Of Port Arthur on Jam
uary l. 1905. and I'm irm tones and with
confident manner the general pleaded not
guilty 10 the charge of needlessly sur
rendering the fortress and thereby hpmili-
ating the Russian army
The trial took place In the auditorium of
the army and navy club. The room re-
sembled more social gathering OF officers
OF high rank than the scene OF a court
martial. Among the Judges, spectators and
witnesses were General Kouropatkin, Gem
eral Lineviteh, General Rennenkampf, Vice
Admiral Wren and scores of other prom
inent leaders in the Russo-Japanese war.
There were also present 200 officers and
soldiers who had been at Port Arthur and
who today were clad In their full dress uni
forms blazing with stars and decorations.
General Stoessel alone was in civilian at
tire, and this made him conspicuous. He
wore proudly around his neck the Gordon
OF the military order Of st. George. which
was conferred upon him by the emperor
during the siege, and on his breast was
pinned the cross OF George III, awarded for
conspicuous bravery IN frontier fighting.
This same coveted decoration was worn
by many OF the witnesses and spectators.
Empty sleeves ard crutches. especially
among the men who had been at Port Ar
thur, showed that many of them had seen
hard service during the war
The other accused officers, Generals Fock.
Reiss and smirnoff, came 10 the court clad
IN their uniforms. General smirnoff. who
is a bitter enemy OF General Stoessei,
ostentatiously seated himself as far away
as possible from the central figure of the
proceedings.
The court was convoked by Vice Admiral
Doubasoff. He declared IL to be the duty
OF the court to proceed with the trial
of the four officers charged with the re-
sponsibility of srrendering the fortress on
terms dishonorable 70 the garrison and
humiliation OF the prestige OF Russia, He
.theit called tha roh Of 900 witnesses. in
cluding General Kouropathin and Vice Adj
miral Wren, Several Of the witnesses were
absent. but the court decided TO proceed
wish the trial The entire afternoon was
taken up with the reading of the voumin-
Gus indictment.
One or two Incidents showed the atti-
tude OF tho court to be unfavorable to
stoesseL His personal request that two
additional witnesses be called in was dis
missed without ceremony. One of these
witnesses. Or. RoEanoff, who was chief of
the Red Cross within the fortress. at the
preliminary hearing testifying that at tho
time Of the surrender General stoessel had
only 5000 abie-bodied men to defend the
hundreds OF miles of fOrtfcations and
that the cold winds at the time made It
difhcult for tho soldiers even to hold their
rides. General Maiden, the other witness
excluded. Is the author OF a deposition
similar to that OF DR. Rozanoff. The gem
eral commanded the firing line at Port
Arthur. The correspondent of the Asso-
ciated Press spoke with witnesses OF all
ranks They declared the trial to be an
insult TO General stoessel and to his army.
A prominent colonel said:
'1f stoessel is guilty we all are guilty"