PORT ARTHUR A GREAT FORTRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 262, 29 October 1908, Page 3

PORT ARTHUR A GREAT FORTRESS.

JAPANESE OUTSTRIP EARLIER RUSSIAN ACHIEVEMENT.

A Russian correspondent in the great apanese fortress of Port Arthur, wiio eerns to be particularly observant, says hat Port Arthur and Dalny have hanged very much since the war. Un* ler Russian rule, Port Arthur was an uternational town, full of life, and after he Japanese came into possession of it t promised to be even livelier thau ever, .he roads were repaired, the quays relewed, the water supply hnrjved, Japnese and Chinese Tnerohau'., began to sstablish themselVes in lh ■ town, ami msiness houses began to be built. But suddenly something happened. Ul at once Tort Arthur became a city »f the dead. Business men quietly abauloned their shops; -builders left their incompleted -buildings, ail 1 from that; lime up to the present no private indi- j T idual has begun any new buildings in ?ort Arthur. The great supplies of pro- j rwions a lid other goods were sent back | o Japan or into other parts of Man-! ihuria. But none except the Japanese' cnew what was the word that had gone forth', |

The relations of the Japanese authorities towards the Chinese are very severe. All Russians and Chinese are registered, and are looked after very carefully. Notices have been issued to the effect that any Chinese round within any of the prohibited areas around the forts will be dealt with evei'v severely. Chinese seen in- New Town after 8 p.m. are arrested and fined.

The whole fortress is being reconstructed mi a tit'W and unknown plan. The fortifications are being extended beyond their old limits, and the laborers and overseers are selected with the greatest care. The old redoubts are not destroyed, but all usefiu material in them has been moved to other sites. 11l the construction of the fortifications 'great attention has been paid to the selection of the test positions whence a plunging fire can be concentrated 011 the passages through the hills in front, and in order to attain this end constant practice firing is carried on. The landward 'side fe protected by long-range guns 'mounted in excellent forts. At one point alone there are 120 guns. On the seaward side rows of guns are visible—'many of these guns were taken from the Russians. Trial firing is carried 011 more and more frequently at night with the lieip of reflectors, and to assist the gunners a whole series of signal stations has been erected <lll the hills. At the bottom of both harbors, and 'out along the sea coast up to a distance 'of two miles from the fortress, some teort of work is'being carried 011; perhaps mines are being laid. All the way to Mukden strategic positions aire being selected and prepared, 'and strategic roads are being run through the mountains. As for Dalny, it is strongly fortified on the landward-side, the entire environs of the village of Loukku having been converted into fortress "positions," and guns have 'been mounted there. On ! the seaward side Dalny is more weakly fortified, tut oil the who'e it is vavy touch more strongly defended than .when the Russians were in possession of it. The enormous barracks in Port Arthur and Dalny are full of troops, and great stores of grain, fodder, beans, etc., have been collected. There lias lately appeared in Dalny a peculiar four-wheeled "cast-iron platform for carrying field■guns of the laTgest Calibre.