THE CONDUCT OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 232, 5 October 1904, Page 2

THE CONDUCT OF RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.

WcH-authentieatud instances of shocking atrocities perpetrated by Russian soldiers are com ng to light. On April 26th, during the operations preparatory to crossing the Ya-lu, three men of the Fourth Regiment of the Japanese Guards fell into the hands of the Russians. Two days later the corpse of one of these men, Watanabe Tatsuhro, was found entangled in the houghs of a tree overhanging the river. , The flesh hod been partially torn from the face, tho stomach cut O pon, and the legs hacked to pieces, in a letter written on May 25th, describing an incident of the last offensive return of tin, iiussians at Homutang in the rear of the Kiulien position, Major Fujicm said :—"The enemy returning i.ci\nnced our our prostrate compiles. lbs nipo with their bayonets, his officers with their pistols, stabbed <r shot every one of the bodies that showed any sign of life." AssiVii'i.-j Surgeon Kato, addressing Col incl'

Matsukawa in a. letter da'cd Mas' 11th, said :—"The wounded mid the prisoners were profoundly gratified i to find that Japan adhered strictly to the terms of tho Red Cross Con- , vention. As for the Russian troops, , however, they cut off the ears of our wounded, filled their mouths with sund, und slashed them to death. We found the corpses of thou; who had been thus treated, and Uie specfacle filled us with indignation. Nevertheless we are determined under ' all circumstances to persevere in extending civilised treatment to the enemy's wounded, and not to fail in any point of international ethics. In the battle of the Y'a-lu, a. first-class private, Horio Zeuroku, wh 0 ltad been shot in the head, und was endeavouring to bandage his wound, observed two companies of Russians advance to occupy a position which, having been previously held by the Japanese, was strewn with dead and dying. The Russian soldiers bayoneted every wounded Japanese Soldier. This savage work went on steadily and systematically, and, as the Russians upproachod the spot where Horio lay the horror of a similar fate gave him strength to fly, and he succeeded in escaping among a shower of bullets. Shigemat.su Togo, a first-class private of the 24th Regiment of Infantry, was amongst those engaged in the Homutang light on May Ist. A bullet pierced his right arm, and at the same time a comrade who fought by his side w a s struck down. The two men set about bandaging each other's wounds, when a Russian officer, accompanied by a soldier, approached and stall' bed them both. Shigematsu's comrade died at once, but as Bhigematsu still moved the two Russians returned and stabbed him again. When the mam was ultimately brought into hospital he had, in addition to the bullet wound in his arm, three slabs in the chest and one in the stomach, but he survived. Yamashita Shotaro, who belonged to the fifth company of the 24th Regiment, came o ut of the Homutang fight with nine wounds and a shattered face. Only one of these wounds, a bullet through the thigh, was received in fair combat. The rest befel him in this way. While he and some ten of his eomrade.i, all wounded, were bandaging each other, as Japanese soldiers are taught to do, the Russians ran up and began to stab the helpless men in a ruthless manner. Not content with mere thrusts, they tw|isted their weapons in their wounds. Yamashita. was stabbed eight times, and lost Consciousness. Prior t 0 the capture of Kin-chau in Liao-tung the Japanese sent out two reconnoitring parties, one under an officer, the other under a non-comnussionod olhcer. Several nun of the latter party, attempting to enter the town, fell into t.h.' enemy's hands. When Kin-chau was occupied on the following day the corpses of the non-commissioned officer and his men were found. Thoy had been partially flayed, their noses a::d ears cut off, and their flesh sliced away." 'Jany other instances of conduct sfmilar to the above have been related'. In nearly every case it is the suinc shocking story Iterated and reiterated.

ON THE FOURTH PAGE, Oakura. Literature. Baby linguist. Bridal Tragedy Burned as a Witch. Lady in an Airship. The Marvels of Liquid Air. Fortune Gained by Chance.