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Show : BIG STORES ' OF COAL' IMIGfr FAIL - . : INTO HANDS OF VICTORS; WATCH lEPT ; Mm RUSSIAN WAlHIPS: AT GEEFOO Prisoners Taken at Port Arthur Ar-thur Number 25,000; Of 35,000 Inhabitants of Gity 20,000 Areick. BULLETIN. TOKIO, Jan. Gen. Nogi reports to the army department that on Jan-vary Jan-vary 3 the commissioners of both Japanese and Russian armies concluded their conference, and that from the morning of January 4 the actual transfer trans-fer of war materials at Fort Arthur as property of the Japanese Government Govern-ment commenced. ' . . . J ' BULLETIN. TOKIO, Jan. 4. The Japanese captured 25,000 prisoners at Fort Arthur. Ar-thur. The total number of inhabitants is 35,000, of whom 20,000 are sick. BULLETIN. B ATA VIA, Island of Java, Jan. 4. A Dutch vessel which arrived here today, reports that she met four Japanese warships off the east coast of Sumatra January 3. . v ; . V '. BULLETIN. . TOXXO. Jan. 4. The Emperor of- Bussia has cabled to Gen. Stoeesel, -" y. saying'' that the giving of their parole or the alternative of imprisonment is optional with the officers. ' '. - i returning- : Immediately with others. They have been In and out of the harbor har-bor Intermittently ever since. Disarmament Proceeds. Tonicbt all the Russian destroyers withdrew to the south side of the harbor har-bor where they probably wtll remain until their disarmament Is complete. Japanese Consul Mliouno Inspected the Russian vessels during the day and pronounced the progress made in their disarmament satisfactory. Booty at Port Arthur. It la said that the booty which fell into the hands of the Japanese at Port Arthur amounted only n -.80,000 tons of coal and two months' rations of rice. Of 270 officers of tbe Russian navy at Port Arthur at the beginning: of the war 180 have been killed or wounded, many of them while doing; duty in the forts. RUSSIAN PAPERS BITTERLY ASSAIL THE HOME GOVERNMENT ST. PETERSBURG, Jan. 4. The press here contains absolutely no additional addi-tional news of the war, but the papers with one accord praise the "heroic work of the Port. Arthur garrison and say its record furnishes an object lesson to both Russia and Japan. After paying a tribute to the defenders, defend-ers, 'the Novoe Vremya says: 'The unpreparedness of the fortress, reads as a leBSon on what Russia must do and how she must change her raeth-.oda. raeth-.oda. to. achteWlctory. It -also shows" Japan what she has undertaken, when such enormous losses are entailed in I capturing even a small, empty-handed garrison driven to the last ditch. Russia Rus-sia has had eleven months of hard but valuable experience in the art of war under the new conditions Imposed by modern technical requirements. It has been costly training, but it will be valuable." val-uable." In an even more strongly worded article, ar-ticle, the Russ says: "Had the Japanese been able to cut off the last train which reached Port Arthur the blockade would have found the fortress even worse prepared. Well may those few remaining heroes say: " TVe have done our duty, but you. Oh, people of St. Petersburg and of Russia, have you done all you could and should have done? " The Russ concludes: "Russia cannot afford to quit during a losing fight. The time has now come for every one to put a shoulder to the wheel and redeem our prestige In the Far East." The paper bluntly attributes to the effect ef-fect of the muzzling regime under the late Minister of the Interior Von Plehve the fact that the nation was not fully warned beforehand of the real conditions condi-tions to be faced at the opening of the war. One of the most serious features of Port Arthur's fall, according to the Novosti, Is the effect upon the already questionable neutrality of the Chinese. Loss of prestige In the eyes of the Orientals, says the paper, is much more serious than the strategical value of the fortress. Fort Arthur Key to Peace. TOKIO. Jan. 4.-9 a. m. The Jill. In ii.- . the assumption that the resisting power ' of the pqsitipn .was at an end-. , ,i - r - Calculated on a Month. Though the Japanese hoped for the surrender of the fortress, they expected expect-ed that another month would be necessary neces-sary to reduce It becaupe of the evident inUntlon of the garrison to fight to th bitter end. It pas been evident since the capture of 203 Meter hill, the destruction of the fleet and the awful manner In which the forts guarding the western half of the eastern fortified ridge had been captured by means of the explosion of dynamite mines, that the fighting ardor ar-dor of tbe garrison was dampened and that the hopelessness of the Russian position had robbed them of their dogged determination to resist every Inch of the advance of the besiegers. This hopelessness was evidenced in the weakness of the opposition to the rapid advance of the Japanese on the west flank since the fleet was destroyed. Slaughter at Sungshu. The tremendous effect of the explosions explo-sions which wrecked Sungshu mountain moun-tain fort, the last of the forts guarding the main defenses of the eastern fortified forti-fied ridge, in which half of the defenders defend-ers were killed and the remainder entombed en-tombed or made prisoners, completed the disorganization of the defense. The subsequent spirited assault by the Japanese upon principal line of outer fortifications and the higher hills of the fortified ridge Immediately after the capture of Sungshu mountain fort was met with feeble opposition, and the night of January 1 saw the besiegers in possession of the upper line of the fortified ridge from east Keekwan mountain to the western extremity. Had the garrison fought as It had previously pre-viously done, this would have at least taken days to accomplish and would have cost many lives. Intimation of Surrender. The first definite intimation of the Russian Intention to surrender came at 4 o'clock In the afternoon of January 1, when the Russian envoys approached the Japanese lines south of the village of Shulshiylng. They were met by a Japanese staff officer, to whom they delivered the letter from Gen. Stoessel to Gen. Nogl asking to have a time for parley arranged. In this letter, as already known. Gen. Stoessel admitted the helplessness of further continuing the struggle and that he was prepared to surrender In order to save the lives of the remnant of the brave garrison which had fought so long and so well, provided suitable terms could be arranged. He asked for a conference to settle these terms. HEADQUARTERS OF THE. JAPA-.KESE JAPA-.KESE THIRD ARMT AT.POP.'Jr ' ItttC-'JaiC 5," vta"virKeToo, 'Jan.'" 41 (Censored) The flag of the Rising Sun' floats tonight over the captured citadel of Port Arthur. When the news of the surrender of the fortress reached the soldiers yesterday, yester-day, leaping from mouth to mouth, the Japanese drew close to their late enemies ene-mies and fraternized freely with them. Great Choruses of "Banzals." With nightfall came great bonfires, rising in the Japanese camp like a blazing blaz-ing halo, while great choruses . of "Banzals" echoed through the hills. The entire garrison and all the non-combatants non-combatants will march out of the city January 6 to the village of Yahuthwel, near the shores of Pigeon bay, from which place the Russian officers will be transported to Dalny and thence to wherever they may desire. The prisoners of war will be detained at the Russian barracks in the village until they can be transferred to Dalny. Conference Was Long, i The conference between the Russian end Japanese commissioners at which the terms of surrender were arranged took place at the village of Shuishiying at 1 o'clock yesterday (Monday) afternoon after-noon and lasted until 8 o'clock tonight (Tuesday). The Russian commissioners were Chief of Staff Reise. Surgeon-General Ballaschoff, Col. Vostook and two other staff officers, with two interpreters. The Japanese commissioners were Maj.-Gen. Maj.-Gen. IJichl, chief of staff; Maj. Yama- oka. Dr. Arfga and two others, staff ' officers, with two Interpreters. .Lost 50,000 Men. Thus has Japan won the great Russian Rus-sian stronghold In the Far East after a five months' Siege, in which she lost over 50,000 soldiers, who were put out of action in the most sanguinary and desperate des-perate fighting the world has ever seen. Though the intimation that the Russians Rus-sians were willing to surrender was known to the officers of the Japanese staff on the afternoon of January 1, it was not generally known to the hundred hun-dred thousand of the Investing army until yesterday (Monday). Surprised the Japs. The surrender of the fortress at the present time came as a surprise even to the Japanese, as the desperate determination deter-mination and courage of the Russians, even in the last assaults, indicated that the struggle would be one to the bitter . end. It was well known to the Japanese that the destruction of the forts guard- discussing the capture of Port Arthur, reviews the price paid in lives and says: "We ought to keep Port Arthur In our hands so long as our Empire exists. ex-ists. Port Arthur is the key to peace in the Far East, and it Is our duty to keep the key In our hands." Declared Prisoners of War. TOKIO, Jan. 4. Commander Pelem and a Lieutenant of the Russian torpedo-boat destroyer Rastoronpy, who were captured on board the British eteamer Nlgretla and taken on board of her to Sasebo, have confessed their Identity before the naval court there. Heretofore they posed as German supercargoes, su-percargoes, but when confronted with the results of the Japanese Investigations Investiga-tions at Shanghai, concealment was impossible. They have been declared prisoners of war. New Russian Loan. BERLIN, Jan. 4. The prospectus of the new Russian loan of $81,000,000 will be Issued tomorrow or Friday. Subscription Sub-scription lists will .be opened In Germany, Ger-many, Russia and Holland January 12. The price of the issue In Germany will be 85. Maj. -Gen. LJichl, with a large escort, left the Japanese headquarters at 11 o'clock Monday morning and rode to the appointed place. Shortly before 1 o'clock the Russian commissioners arrived, ar-rived, accompanied by a cavalry escort. The conference took place with few preliminaries at the village of Shulshi-ying Shulshi-ying at 1 o'clock yesterday (Monday) afternoon and lasted until 8 o'clock at night. 25,000 PRISONERS TAKEN BY JAPANESE IN CAPTURED CITY . CHEFOO, Jan. 4. The protected cruiser crui-ser Akltsushlma, four torpedo-boat destroyers de-stroyers and two torpedo boats constituted consti-tuted today's Japanese guard off this port. The destroyers w;hlch . guarded the Russian flotilla last night went out at the expiration of twenty-tour hours, Ing the main defenses of the western half of tbe eastern fortified ridge made the investment of the city upon the east only a matter of a short time, de-Fpite de-Fpite tbe. strongest efforts of the defenders, de-fenders, and also Insured the segregation segrega-tion of the forts further east upon the ridge Advance Was Steady. The steady advance of the besiegers upon the west flank, since the capture of 203 Meter hill, up the valley from the shores of Pigeon bay to the outskirts of the new town enabled them, with the capture of the north Taiyankow fort, to close in upon the city from the west and to segregate the Chair hill forts so that they could be dealt with in detail. It was evident, therefore, that despite the most determined opposition the In-- In-- vesting army could in a week or ten days closely Invest and dominate Port Arthur City, the center of the whole rystem of defense, so that the powerful forts both east and west would be isolated. iso-lated. This fact, however, did not warrant --.' ' - '. ' .' - ., - ' ' 4 |