The record-union., 1896-02-25

LONDON, Feb. 24-A representa-
tive of the United Press obtained to-
day an interview with one of DR.. Jane
sons troopers, who arrived at Plymouth
from Port Natal yesterday morning.
The man, whose name is O'Dea, said
he had spent eight months in the Mata-
beleland as a member of the mounted
police About the end of December he
was in state of convalescence from a
violent attack of fever, his temperature
having at one time been as high as 1O0
degrees. He had been almost without
food or water for q week, and was lying
in his tent in a greatly debilitated con-
ditfon, when a Sergeant came to him
and asked him if he wanted to lose his
place in the mounted troop. O'Dea re-
piled in the negative, whereupon the
Sergeant ordered him to appear on pa
rade with his comrades Immediately
which he did.
Prior to the start of Jameson and his
followers for the Transvaal, which took
place at night, ODea did not hear Dr.
jameson read a letter, as he is alleged
TO have read one, but says he gathered
that the purpose Of the expedition was
to protect the women and children of
johannesburg.
O'Dea belonged to the advance troop.
He did not see DR. Jameson after the
night of their leaving Mafeking, nor
has he seen him to this day. He sup
posed that Jameson rode in the middle
OF the troop. The men hurried forward.
riding at the rate of ten miles an hour.
with not more than five hours rest in
two days. They were sometimes able
tn IF ell al
They had sufficient rations to last them
until the evening of the second day
A party Of fifty Beers met them and
began d desultory fire upon them, 10
which Jameson's followers replied.
They had several skirmishes with Beers
before reaching Krugersdorp, where the
Boers succeeded in enticing them from
the sheltered hillocks into the open
yeldt, while they themselves remained
under cover.
O'Dea expressed his belief that Dr.
Jameson himself hoisted the white flag
Anyway, if he did not personally hoist
it, the flag was raised by his order
When the jameson party surrendered
O'Dea still had ten rounds of ammuni-
tien and many Of the others had not
exhausted their supply.
After the surrender he said the men
were fairly we'll treated They were
taken to Pretoria, where they were cor
raled on the Pretoria race course They
were allowed q loaf of bread and a
quarter of a pound of meal day for
each man. At first ne believed that all
of the officers of the expedition and the
non on-commissioned officers with the rank
and file were to be shot. He heard af-
terward that the Volksraad had a re-
jeCted a proposal to shoot them by a
majority of two. Eventually the men
were taken to Port Natal, where they
were free from the moment they went
on board the Harloch Castle. O'Dea
gave his address as 19S Congress street,
Boston. He said it was his intention
to visit Boston and later to return to
the service OF the British South Africa
Company. In the course of his CONVEX
sation, he alluded to several of his COM
rades, mentioning Cawston of New
York and Morgan of Montana.
Major Collins of the Lancaster regi-
ment, which was brought to England by
the steamship Victoria, which also
brought DR.. Jameson and his officers,
says that Captain Heaney, the Amer
ican who left the Victoria at Port Said,
was informed that upon the arrival of
the steamship at Plymouth he would be
free to disembark, but that he declined
to go England, saying that he preferred
to remain abroad.