A group of Japanese army telegraphers

The telegraph played a very important part in the siege of Port Arthur. Not only was the headquarters of the commander-in-chief connected with every part of the long line of the besieging forces that extended fifteen miles around Port Arthur, but as soon as a new parallel fifty yards nearer the enemy was dug, every angle of it was at once made a telephone and telegraph station, where an officer with his field glass on the hyposcope watched the enemy and communicated instantly with his superior. Little bands of uniformed men, carrying bamboo poles and light wire frames on transport carts, and armed with saws and shovels, were everywhere. The officer in the middle of our group of telegraphers is Major Yamaguchi, and the American by his side is Richard Barry. The white band on his left arm marks him a friendly foreigner, lest an ignorant Japanese might mistake him for a Russian.Original format: 1 photomechanical print on stereo card : halftone, stereograph, color ; 9 x 18 c