Delta chief., 1884-08-27
THE WAR CORRESPONDENT.

In the course of a conversation with
- reporter of the Pail Mall Gazette, Mr..
Prior, of the Illustrated London NeWS,
remarked:
1.-The chief source of the expense of
q war correspondent lies not in his sal
arv, but in his outfit and means of loco
motion. You have to supply yourself
with what you need, ard you never can
be sure that either food or drink will be
obtainable at the seat of war. For in
stance, in my last campaign took out
with me to the Sudan no less than G4O
worth of timed goods alone, which /
bought on board the steamer. AS
rule you take out everything that you
can imagine; the more the better-sad-
dlery, clothes, plenty of boots, 4 case or
two of champagne, drawing materials,
of course, and plenty of ready cash. For
accommodation is often very scarce
while campaigning. and has to be paid
for accordingly. By long experience l
have nearly mastered the art of taking
il easy during 4 campaign. In the Zulu
war | Travelled much more comfortably
than any member of the staff, not eX-
cepting Lord Chelmsford. | had then
no fewer than five horses, two in the
shafts of my American wagon, one for
myself ono for my servant, and one
spare horse. l followed the army
through all its marches in my travelling
carriage, and on the eve of the battle OF
Ulundi was the only man who had
tent all the others lay down in the
open. One great difficulty with which
YOU have to contend is the suddenness
Of the notice which you receive before
starting for the seat Of war. Last time
| did not receive twelve hours notice
that | was wanted to go to the Sudan
! telcgraphcd for everything that |
needed; had them sent TO NEE, me at
the station, bade good-by at home, and
then was Off for the Continent before
nightfall. We have got used TO il now,
and live in n STATE of absolute readiness
to 90 anywhere to see anything that
may be going on in any part OF the
world. Correspondents, of course,
carry their lives in their hands. as they
often have TO be in the very thick of the
fight A, Tcb, for instance, / was rep
rimandcd by Admiral Hcweit for being
in the front rank, shoulder TO shoulder
with the Highlanders in the square dur
ing the Arab attack. But these are
things that cannot always be avoided.
At Tamasi Cameron and were in the
thick of it with the Second Brigade
when 1t broke under tho Arab charge;
and il was some time before could cN-
tricatc myself from the thr.ng of re-
treating soldiers, II is not only in ac-
ton that your life is endangered, but
when crossing the country before or
after battle. No correspondent ever
needs to be armed while following a
civilized army, but in savage warfare a
revolver is an Indispensable part Of
every correspondent accoutremclts.
IL is astonishing what n moraliZing in
ilucncc n revolver exercises upon those
who would otherwise think little of
plundoring or staying, as the case may
be. The sight of that handy weapon
cooked ready for use conduces I'M
mensoly to the keeping OF the ten com
mandmenis. Fortunately, | have had
to use il but seldom. The knowledge,
however. that IL was ready 10 hand in
case OF need has prevented the necessi-
ty OF proceeding TO cNtrcmitics both in
North and South Africa.
The best soldiers, in my opinion,
are the Montcncgrins and the men of
Herzegovina. | was sent out in the
early days of the instruction which re-
opened the eastern question. and | was
amazed at the stalwart proportions. he
roic courage. and marvellous military
aptitude of these mountainccrs. They
are without rivals in any part of the
world. After them come the Turks
not the pashes, but the privates. Brave.
patient, kindly, hospitabls, enduring,
they come, think. second among the
warriors Of the world. After the
Turks undoubtedly come the English
but may say that have not seen the
German army in the field.
..Oiliccrs in command of troops have
no objection whatever to war cores
pondents SO long ms victory accom-
panics their arms. but when they are
defeated, then ii is another matter. A
correspondent who tells the truth is n
most unpopular man in the camp, liable
to all manner of imputation upon his
accuracy and even upon his personal
character. But what can n poor cor
respondent doP He wraps up n defeat,
of course. ms carefully rs he can, says
rs little about n rout rs possible, and
ms much rs he can about Il rally. But
still that gives no satisfaction to the
men who find their shortcomings por-
traycd. no matter how tendcrly, in the
sketches or the letters from the front.
1t Is. however, somewhat dangerous TO
quarrel with war correspondents, rs
they can usually pay out their enemies
without much trouble. l remember one
time when l was attached to Mehemct
Ais headquarters in Bulgaria during
the Russo-Iurkis war. The Turkish
censor stopped no fewer than six weeks