There is staying in Shanghai a gentleman who has considerable interests "in Port Arthur, where he has resided for the last three years, who left there with his wife and family rather more than a fortnight azo, and Who has as late information about the real condition of the port as anyone. In an interview, which he courteously accorded a representative of this paper yesterday, the gentleman stated at the beginning that though a Britisher, he had many Russi friends and that his sympathies were with the Russians in the war. He added the belief that the Russians would be victorious and possibly in a shorter time than is thought.
Port Arthur itself has suffered, he saxs. comparatively little from the successive bam-hardments. "This is partly due to the fact that a large percentage of the shells thrown in by the Japanese fleet have failed to explode. Many of them appear to be armour-piercing shells and require some massive resistance to cause them to explode. Tu the new town, moreover, the houses are ye scattered and at the distance from which the Japanese have to fire they cannot aim with any certainty: in fact ther might go_on for months without inflicting any serious damage. This scattered character of the new town would make a general conflagation highly improbable.
As retards the fleet ain, the injury. in this contleman's esti tion. has been aerated.
The Retvizan was taken well Hire horbont and she will be repaired tly to be able to put to sea inn few months. The other shins are also being re-noired, and, as soon og they are ft. it is quite likely that an attempt will be made to. win hack the mastery of the sea. There is ample anchorage in the western basin for the whole of the fleet and all except the very larvest {battleships can be dry-docked in the exist-me dock. For the Retvizan a mud dock is tudor construction.
and men were ashore st the opera on was quite untrue that mast of the officers night of the 8th of February. A toe of oticers were the guests al a. name. doy north in honour of Admiral Stark's wife. but the majority were on duty as usual. The torpedo attack was undoubtedly a sur-
When the first bombardment began next dhy, Viceroy Alexeieff's first care was to get
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