The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-12-23
THE VICTORIA CROSS.

EF'rom the st. Louis Post-Dispatch.1
1t is probable that of the 10000 men
who have sailed during the last month
from England for South Africa there
is hardly a single officer or soldier who
does not look forward to returning home
with that little bronze badge known as
the Victoria cross pinned upon his
breast. 1t is a distinction that is with
in the reach of every member of the
entire force, from the divisional gen
erals down to the smallest bdgler or
drummer boy, and there is not one of
them who would not infinitely prefer it
to any form of prom OtiOn. For its pos
session indicates that it's owner is in
every sense of the word a hero, the
cross being conferred only for some sig
nal act of altogether exceptional bra
very, parta1ing Of the character of he
rOlSm. 1t was founded at the time of
the Crimean war, and among those
whose breasts it adOrns are generals
such as Sir Redvers Butler, who com
mandS in chief in South Africa Field
Marshal Lord Roberts and plain, orCli-
nary prfvateS in the army. In fact, at
least so per cent of the 200 Victoria
cross men won the distinction as pri-
Yates or nOn-cOmmissiOned officers of
the army and as common sailors in the
navy.
Sir Redvers Butler for instance. re-
ceived his Victoria cross for riding back
three times in one day in the face of a
holly pursuing foe to rescue wounded
comrades and soldiers. Lord William
Beresford, who is married to an Ameri-
can 1aQN, the WIDOWED MRS. hammers
ley of New York, received it for feats
of a. similar character. Gen. Sir Evelyn
Wood got it in India for advancing I'M
der a heavy fire along narrow cause
way to place a bag of gunpOwder
against the gate of city which the
English were to storm during the NUT
my, while at least two midshipmen re-
ceiVed the cross for picking up bombs
from the decks of their vessels during
the Crimean war and throwing them
overheard before the sizzling fuse had
time to explode the shell and carry
death and destruction to all around it.
In the case of military men the rib
bon is of red, while in the navy the rib
bon is blue. The metal of which the
cross is made is of that same kind of
bronze that so years ago was used for
field guns. The cross is of the style
known as Maltese; has the royal crown
SurmOunted by the lion in the center
and underneath a scroll bearing the in
ScriptiOn, For valOr." It is hung sus-
pended by a ''V'' ring to a bar on the
reverse side of which the rank and
name of the recipient is engraved, while
on the cross itself are inscribed the
name and date of the action in which
the honor was won.
Any additional act of bravery which
would have won the Victoria cross for
its holder had he not already possessed
it is signalized by a bar or CLASH being
added to the ribbon just above the bar
from which the cross is suspended The
cross carries with it a pension of $50 q
year, and an additional S25 is given for
each bar To the best of my knowledge
there is no Victoria cross man who can
boast of an additional bar to his cross.
1t must be thoroughly understood
that the feats Of bravery for which the
cross is conferred must have been per-
formed in war time, and to all intents
and purposes under the fire of the enc
my Acts of bravery in times of peace
do not receive any such recognition and
although Admiral Lord Charles Beres-
ford has on several occasions risked his
life at sea by diving overheard from a
snip to save fellow officers and sailors
from drowning, yet he has never re-
celved the Victoria cross, which, as sta
ted above, was granted to his brother
Bill for rescuing one wounded troop
er under fire.