Show 0 PORT ARTHUR HAS FALLEN ALLEN NOW IN THE HANDS OF THE LITTLE BROWN MEN amter a heroic defense of many months general stoessel decides to surrender to the gallant besiegers at last port arthur has fallen into the hands of the Japa japanese exhaust ed by months of almost constant fight light ing decimated by disease and casual ties and hopelessly sealed in its rocky fortress the gallant garrison has yielded ta its besiegers and the end is now written to one of the most dra war incidents of modern times at 9 0 clock sunday night general nogi kogl commanding the japanese army of df invasion received from the russian general stoessel a note saying that he found further resistance useless and asking tor for a meeting to arrange terms of capitulation the no e was timple and direct and the japanese general immediately named commis bloness to confer with representatives of the russian commander they met at noon monday to arrange the condl long lions of surrender the nature of the terms agreed upon is not yet known but dispatches from tokio indicate that they will be of the most magnan amous character the emperor of japan himself through the chief of the imperial staff has given public his expression that general stoessel has rendered commendable service to his big country in the midst of difficulties and that it Is his wish that military honors be shown him A dispatch from boklo quotes mill tary opinion as believing that the en tire garrison will be allowed to march out under arms and may be sent to russia on parole late dispatches from japan have shown that the gal lant defense of stoessel and his men has nowhere been given a finer appreciation than in the land of his foes and it is more than likely that japan will embrace the opportunity to show her magnanimity and admiration of the gallantry of port arthur arthurs s defend ers by allowing them all the honors which war permits a victorious army to bestow upon the vanquished the siege and the defense of rus rug sia sias s stronghold in the far east have been marked by bravery gallantry and find desperation unequaled in modern wa tare fare and hardly excelled in mill tary history the story of the operations around port arthur Is one of repeated fight ing both by land and sea of the desperate and thrilling char character acter isolated instances of heroism that would have set the world ringing under less overwhelming circumstances have been dwarfed by the generally mag conduct of both forces by tea ea there have been torpedo boat dashes of superb recklessness and big ships have ploughed through mine fields with heroic disregard to give battle or in wild efforts to escape by land the japanese have hurled themselves against positions declared to be impregnable they have faced and scaled sealed rocky heights crowned with batteries and crowded with de fenders suffering losses that military experts say would have appalled any european army in the doomed fortress its people have lived under a devastating rain of shell and shrapnel on scanty ra eions besieged on every side know ing that hope of succor or escape was vain the garrison has fought with a stubbornness that has evoked the ad mi ration of the world they met the untiring assaults of the japanese with a grim valor that won even the paraiso of their toe foe and the fighting has been waged with a relentlessness that often reed refused truces to bury the dead and collect the wounded over corpse filled trenches men have fought band hand to hand with cold steel and clubbed guns and at short range have hurled at each other hand grenades filled with high explosives what port arthur has cost in bu man life and in money no estimate of even approximate correctness can be made the losses have been appal ling it ha has been reported that in some engagements leading UP to the recent capture of meter hill the attacking force lost as high as 40 per cent ot of the forces engaged while the garrisons losses ol 01 which no word has come must have been frightful the defense of the position which fell to her as a heritage after the chi nese japanese war has cost russia practically her entire fleet in those waters her ships lie from port fort ar thurs inner basin to in korea and along the shantung penin perlin sula battered hulks ot of once proud ves sels or ignominiously dismantled are interned in neutral chinese ports save the three or tour four cruisers and some large craft that lie in the icebound refuge of vladivostok not a warship now flies the russian cross in the waters of the northern orient and japan too has had her losses in fit the he ong drawn out operations mines have struck from admiral to ga gas a fleet list many fine ships and smaller r vessels since the morning of february 8 when he hurled his bl a fleet at the russian ships in port arthur arthurs s roadstead the siege of port arthur properly dates from may 27 when after en the first army landed by the japanese at stoessel waa was forced back from the neck of the Kwan tung peninsula the japanese landing was begun on may 5 and the russian corn coin mander elected to give battle at his northernmost line of defenses the engagement was a severe one and drove the russians back to the first of the main defenses of the position A few days later on may 30 the jap anese occupied dalay dainy and on june 14 1416 16 general Sta kelberg advancing to the relief of the port arthur army was defeated by general general oku at the battles of and telisse with togo s ships lying like watch logs dogs around port arthur arthurs s seaward side and nogi advancing slowly but aelen relentlessly ulessly by land the famous stronghold was under siege and from then on until general stoessel on new years day sought terms of capitula tion the operations have been marked by almost cea seles fighting bombard ments by the fleet alternating with desperate attacks by land or assaults by the combined naval and military forces when stoessel and the remnant of his devoted garrison march out of port arthur the flag of the rising sun will once more float from the ramparts of tho the position japan won when she first sent her new fleet to give battle and drove china from the seas |