The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1907-08-22

Greensboro Industrial News
1t is difficult sometimes for a man
to know who are his friends and
who are his enemies.
Some little time ago General
Stoessel, in command OF the Russian
garrison OF Port Arthur, made what
the world then regarded as a most
heroic defense against the inva ding
Japanese army under Nogi. Finally,
however, after numerous reverses,
after his garrison had been reduced
by half and those remaining had
been brought to the verge OF starva-
tion, the Russian commander sur
rendered.
The world at large looked upon
this defense of the Russian "Gibralter
of the East" as the one bright spot
in an otherwise disgraceful chapter
OF Russian history, but the Russian
government for some reason not
fully disclosed, chose to regard it
otherwise, and after hesitating and
delaying for all these years, has final.
ly ordered General Stoessel to appear
for trial before a courtmartial upon
the charge OF having unnecessarily
surrendered the fortress.
In the face of this ingratitude on
the part OF his own government the
Russian general has, however, found
a friend and admirer in an unex-
pected quarter.
This new-found friend is Captain
Tsunoda, now military attache to
the japanese embassy at Paris, who
has an intimate personal knowledge
of what actually took place at Port
Arthur, having, as a member OF Gen
eral Nogi's staff, been the officer
through whom was conducted the ne
gotiations that finally resulted in
the surrender. In an open letter
this former foe comes to the rescue OF
StoessePs reputation and holds him
free from all blame in the matter.
By the press dispatches from Paris
this decidedly remarkable letter is
thus described:
The japanese attache in his letter
painted q pitiable picture of the con-
ditiOns prevailing in. the fortress,
which he was the first to enter. All
proper food was exhausted and the
10000 Russians under arms were, he
said, in no condition to fight. "The
key to the fortress" Captain Tsuno-
da added, twas. gone when 1908
Metre Hill was captured, and the
fortress was at the mercy of the JAP
anese February l, 1905, when they
took the summit of Wang Tai. Gen.
eral Stoessel might have held out for
a fortnight longer, but the result
would have been difficult to distin-
guish combatants from non-combat-
ants" In conclusion Captain Tsu-
noda said:
"If others forget it, we remember that
Port Arthur cost US 60, 900 lives by gun
fire alone. We dug forty kilometers OF
parallels and expended 100000
rounds OF ammunition. European his
tory chronicles the glorious capitulation
of Port Arthur, and it is so considered in
Japan. That is why the Emperor Of
Japan ordered General Nogi to treat
Stoessel with all the honore due
to q gallant soldier. His own country
should treat him likewise"
But this letter, while highly credit
able to it's author, is not so remarka-
BILE after all, for it is a generally rec
ognized fact that brave foes who
have faced each other on the battle
field are far more prone than their
non-combatant countrymen to be-
come friends when the smoke OF bat
tie has cleared away.
For, as Rudyard Kipling so strong
y puts it:
%, East il East and West 10 West, and
never the tw ain shall meet,
Till earth and sky stand presently at Gods
great judgment seat:
But there il neither East nor West, border
nor breed nor birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
though they come from the ends OF
the earth"