PORT ARTHUR.

Manawatu Herald, 4 June 1904, Page 2

PORT ARTHUR.

Niuobwang advices state that Port Arthur is short of food; that the Chinese are dying of starvation; that the hospitals are overcrowded ; and that the dead are buried outside the town unceremoniously. A Chefoo telegram states the Japanese have occupied Motienling heights, about 80 miles from Liaojang. Harbin is preparing for a siege. Heavy guns from Kronstadt and other fortresses are being sent to assist in tbe defence. The Japanese discovered and destroyed a system of land mines extending several miles from the Port Arthur forts. Siege artillery has been landed at Kincbau, also a battalion of sappers with a balloon. An unconfirmed telegram has reached Rome stating that General Kuropatkin completely defeated Gen, Simatsi, with heavy losses of guns and men. Russian accounts of tbe engage ment at Vogengau state that it was fought in a severe thunderstorm." The Japanese cavalry showed superb daring, but were no match for the Cossack Lancers. Tbe Japanese lost two hundred, while tbe Cossacks had seventeen killed and twenty-three wounded. St. Petersburg telegrams assert that the Czar has ordered General Stoessil to destroy the forts, the fleet, and the principal buildings if capture is inevitable.