The P. & O. S. N. Co.
ANTUNG-PORT ARTHUR
London & Lancashire Fire Ince. Co. Royal Exchange Assce. Corporation Guardian Assurance Co., Ld. Canton Insurance Office, Ld.
China Mutual Life Insurance Co., Ld.
China Sugar Refining Co., Ld.
The Central Agency, Ld., Glasgow
李美 Mei-foo
STANDARD OIL CO. OF NEW YORK
E. T. Hobart, manager
TIRIOLO C. & Co., Merchants
Cesare Tiriolo
Franco De Marchi Gherini
司公木朱江錄鴨
YALU TIMBER COMPANY, THE
M. Nagata, managing director Chien Yung,
do.
683.
YOKOHAMA SPECIE BANK- Yamato-bashi-
kori
H. Hiratsuka, agent
PORT ARTHUR
順旅 Lu-shun
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Port Arthur, at the point of the "Regent's sword, or Liaotung Peninsula, was formerly China's chief naval arsenal, but was captured by the Japanese in the war with China in 1894 and its defences and nilitary works destroyed. In 1898, when Russia obtained a lease of Port Arthur and Talienwan she fortified the former, making it into a great naval and military stronghold.
By the time the war between Russia and Japan broke out, an anchorage for battleships had at great cost been provided in the western harbour, and the hills surrounding the harbour had been so strongly fortified that Port Arthur had come to be regarded as an impregnable fortress. It was on the night of February 8th, 1904, that the Japanese squadron under Admiral Togo made its first attack on Port Artnur and succeeded in inflicting substantial injuries to the Russian ships. But the strength of the land defences and the dangers of a mine-strewn channel prevented the Japanese admiral from following up his success. He resolved, as the next best thing, to block the entrance to the harbour, and in this endeavour several old merchant ships and a few score of heroic lives were sacrificed, but none of the attempts proved entirely successful. It was not until May, 1904, that Port Arthur was beseiged by the Japanese forces under General Nogi, and from then onwards down to the capitulation of the fortress on January 1st, 1905, there were repeated conflicts of a most sanguinary character. When on the 5th December, 1904, the Japanese army, after many unavailing attempts, succeeded at last in capturing 203-Metre Hill they obtained the key to the position. From this point of vantage they bombarded the Russian ships in the harbour, and sank or disabled every one of them early on the 8th of December. Thereafter Erlungshan Fort, Signal Hill and other minor forts were captured, but not without great loss of life on both sides, and General Stoessel, recognising the hopeless- ness of his position, proposed surrender, as before stated, on New Year's Day, 1905. The terms of capitulation allowed officers to bear side-arms and to return home on parole. The prisoners delivered to General Nogi were 878 officers and 23,491 men; about half the number being sick or wounded. General Stoessel decided to give parole and return home, but other prominent generals and one admiral preferred to be sent to Japan as prisoners. The booty delivered included the occupation of 59 permanent forts. 546 guns, including 54 of large calibre, 149 medium and 313 small calibre, 82,670 cannon balls, 30,000 kilos of ammunition, 35,252 rifles, 1,920 horses, four battleships, . not including the Sevastopol, which was sunk, two cruisers, 14 gunboats, and destroyers, 10 steamers, etc., besides 35 small vessels.
Port Arthur (called by the Japanese Riojun), is now the headquarters of the Japanese civil and military administration in the province of Kwantung. The town is divided into two parts, the old and the new. The old or east part is a business town existing from the Chinese régime, and the port admiralty, naval yard, Red Cross hospital, captured arms museum, the fortress commander's office, local civil government office, and the high and district courts, are located there. The new or west part was a poor village