The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-21


 time to improviss brsastworks which nitimatsly withstood the yapanese TOT months General Kuropatkin's evi- dence was favorable to General stoes- scL
 On another occaaion during the trial December IS. General stoessel was ac- cueed of having shown the wnfte feather under Ire at two dfnerent times. Colonel Curko related two tn- stances in which General stoessei had ordered his stan to scatter under nre. himself heading the dash for shelter
 With the progress of the srial. zen zen the court was excluding witnesses for the defense and otherwise dsscr.mfnat- ing against him. He immediately sent a protest direct to Emperor Nicholas. and as a result. the Emperor sent a personal aide de- camp to attend the trial and furnish . report direct to himself. It was then noticeable mat the judges at once began showing the defense greater consideration tnan heretofore.
 The tr.aI was delayed by the Russian Christmas and New Year holidays, until Februery {. when the final session was held. The judge advocate then de- manded that the court impose the death sentence on Stoessel. Fock and Reiss, on Stoessei as the responsible agent Tor the surrender of the fortress and the cowardiy ending of it's glorious defena and on Fock and Reiss as the men who inspired and abetted him. For General Smirnoff, who was declared guilty of not having taken measures to prevent the surrender the judge advocate ask ed the punishment of Imprisonment at forced labor for four years.
 Tribute to the Brave.
 The fudge advocate paid the highest tribute to the brave defenders of the fortress. several hundred of whom were seated in the court room. He said 1t was necessary to draw . sharp distinc- ton between them and the leaders who had covered their names with shame.
 General Reiss was accused of disre- garding the interests of Russia in the negotiations for the surrender and of exaggerating the dangers of the situa- tion in order further to terrify General Stoessel.
 General Fock was charged with the premature evacuation of important for tihcations in order to impress the gar rison with the necessity for speedy surrender.
 'The accused must receive the most severe penalty provided by law in or der that the principle proclaimed in the time of Nicholas l.. that the Rus sian fiag once hoisted must never be lowered. but be maintained,
 Tn summing up for the defense. Dep uty Syrtlanoff. counsel for General Sto- essel, pleaded for the acquittaI of his client. He said that Russia's general unpreparedness for the conflict with Japan had led to Q series of disasters for which indignant public opinion was now seeking a scapegoat.
 M. SyrtIanon closed his address with the following words:
 General Stoeaael ia an old and in- valid soldier. and ne faces his judges today asking only for Justice."
 The finaI word was given to the accused general. He uttered only a few sentences in firm voice and shoulderad the entire resonsibility for the surrender of Port Arthur. If the court decides the surrender a crime" he concluded. T ask for the death sentence.
 General stoessel returned to St. Pe- tersburg from the Far East in March. 1905. Even then there were rumors that he had not properly defended Port Arthur. Soon after this the matter Of the surrender of the fortress was placed in the hands of 8 military con- mission.
 The Emperor.s Instructions.
 Tn September, 1906, Emperor Nicholas ordered that unIess either unanimously acquitted Or punished by the commits sion. General Stoessel should be re- tried by a supreme court martial and the trial which has just come to an end was the outcome of these instrue- tons. The general resigned from the army. as he preferred 10 face the court in civilian Earb rather than in uniform.
 Antoie Afikhailovitch Stoessei was born in i84s and entered the army in 1884. He comes from a family of mil- itary men. He served with the Bulga- rian militia during the Russo-Turkish war of ls77.7s, end participated in the Chinese expedition of Is0o-19o1.
 He was the first commander to enter Tientsin during the Boxer uprising, and rose to the rank of Major General for dash displayed in the attack on the Chinese capital.
 Stoessel has been a most severe dis ciplinarian. It is related of him that he has sentenced many men to death for infractions of rules. and he Is far from popular in the Russisn army.