Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-10
BUTCHER THE BOERS
LanCers Massacre Kneeling, Praying, Dis
armed Men at Eandslaagte.
ENGLISH SHOW NO MERCY TO ENEMIES
Atrocities Are Revealed by Private Letters
Received from Soldiers,
WAR OFFICE ISSUES CENSORSHIP ORDER
Charges of Looting and Robbery Also Made
Against the Lanoen.
WAR OFFICE ISSUES CENSORSHIP ORDER
TAKE VALUABLEs OFF THEIR PRISONERS
Only Qualification offered for the
SnynEerY of British Soldiers is
Alleged Bocr Abuse of the
White Flag.

Copyright, 1899, by Press Publishing Coz
LONDON, Dec. 9.-(New York World
Cablegram Special Telegram.l - Grave
charges of brutality have been made against
tho British troops since the opening of the
war in South Africa, but these were either
fatty denied or excused as retaliation for
alleged abuse of the white flag. The Beers
deny the latter accusation or that they have
fired on ambulances,
At Elandslaagte, the only fight in the
present war where the Beers really were
routed, Boer ambulance was found to have
seventy-two bullet holes in it.
The Beers again were charged with firing
on an ambulance during the British retire
ment, after Rietfontein. Mellon Prior,
noted war correspondent has sent a real
istic picture of an incident from which IL
appears that British ambulances and ammu-
milton wagons wero mixed up in the same
column which, seems to account for the
Beers Smelling it.
Now. however, private letters from officers
and men of the British forces published
here are corroborating unwittingly the Boer
charges already denied
j. H. Fox, an outlander now at Ladysmith,
writes:
1T was sight to see the Lancers charge.
When they got within 100 yards the Beers
threw up their arms and begged for mercy.
They jumped off their horses and got on
their knees and prayed for mercy.
One lancer says
'One Boer begged me very hard to spare
him, but my reply was: You d -.
Here's your mercy. l shot him dead and
did not take the trouble to lance him. No
doubt you will think this cruel, but If you
had seen as much Of them as l have you
would not. l saw plenty in johannesburg
before tho war began"
Not man was killed in Johannesburg be-
fore the war. Even all the serious charges
OF ill-treatment on investigation proved to
be false.
Private l.. Thompson of the First battalion
OF the Kings Royal Rifles, describ9y the
fight at Glencoe where General Symons
was mortally wounded. paints an even more
awful picture Ho writes:
After the British troops had received the
order to fix bayonets,' with a wild cheer we
were amongst them. Bayonets went to
work and heads were smashed like pump
kine. They Che Boers) were speechless with
terror. When they saw the line of cold
steel coming at them they threw down their
arms and fled in confusion. only to be cut
up into travellers samples when they
reaCneu lne DOltOm ny OuT cavalry.
Henry Burgess, the fireman on a British
armored train, describing Elandslaagte
says:
"Once the bayonet charge of the Devons
and Gordons began the Dutchmen fled pre-
cpitously. Meanwhile the Lancers had
been creeping up behind and as the Beers
reached the bottom the Lancers charged
them at full gallop. The panlc-stricken
Beers threw down their rifles and attempted
to escape, but it was utterly useless, for
with shouts of 'Majuba' the Lancers were
upon them and the awful work commenced.
Very few Beers escaped"
Enticc Beers 10 Death.
Drummer Hearn of Colonel BadenPow
ellis Light Horse regiment, describing the
first engagement at Mafeking, tells how
the Beers were enticed out into a field sown
with mines which were exploded:
1--WE cleared the remainder at the point
of our bayonets," he writes. "It was really I
fine fun. You should have seen what fuss
the Beers made about being pricked. l !
touched one and he jumped for yards. They
don't like cold steel We showed them no
mercy. But 1t was only what they de- !
served for what they have done TO us be- !
fore"
A private in the Kings Rifles, writing of
Elandslaagte, says:
1T was a great but terrible sight to see
those horsemen hew their way through the !
Beers. Three times they rode right through |
cutting, slashing, hacking. Some of the |
Beers died in a praying attitude Many |
flung down their arms as soon as they saw |
the fash OF the lances, clasping their hands |
above their heads and begging for mercy |
But they had shown no mercy to us and this |
was our revenge"
There are also charges of looting and rob-
berry made against British soldiers who took |
all the valuables off their prisoners while, on |
the other side, English correspondents Mr. |
Stevenson among others, testify that the I,
Beers took nothing from their prisoners but |
treated them with the utmost kindness.
The only Justification OF this savagery at
tempted here is alleged Beer abuse of the
white fae, but that has been explained in
every case, except one. Indeed the white
faG justification patiently is unfounded, for
eeveral correspondents agree that the Lam
GERS, who massacred the kneeling, crouch
ine, dsarmed Beers at ElandsIaagte were
shouting; "Wipe out Majuba" Remember
Majuba!'
Tho indscretion shown by private SOL
ders and even officers in revealing these
atrocities has caused the war office to is
suo an order that a censorship be estab- |
liehed over the soldiers correspondence
from tho front.
The soldiers, judging from the manifesto |
tions of public sentiment before leaving
England fancied that such outrages would
exa2tly suit the lingo humor OF the moment,
but though jingoes hero evidently sympa-
thize with the idea calmly promulgated by
the Natal Witness, the leading Natal paper, /
that determination Of the Beers is the only
real solution OF the TTansvaal difficulty, |
they dare not provoke the disgust Of the
civilized world by saying so.
BishoD Entertaining the Nobility.
Copyright. 1899, by Press Publishing Coz |
AArLAA- IAnn Y. }. !