Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1900-01-11
The Boer War.

Those clownish Boer farmers con
tinue to make the Wanted British reg
ulars ''look like thirty cents" Do the
best they can, the latter cannot make
particle of Roadway, and every
change that comes is rather for the
worse tn IN better. 1t is indeed a rev.
citation that nobody expected. While
it was known that the Beers were
brave and would fight to the last ditch,
no one gave them credit for anything
like the degree of skill they have
shown from the first. Their long
whiskered, patriarchal leaders have
just made monkeys OF the gaudy and
be-medalled British generals, Sirs,
Lords and whatnot. Their campaign
has been conducted with a skill that
has not been surpassed since the early
years of the century. They have never
been lacking in courage, but they have
not depended on that alone. Their
scheme from the start has been one of
eonsummate generalship, most sue
cessfully carried out.
To begin with, the Beers were much
better provided and prepared for war
than anybody supposed, They evil
IDENTIFY took the jameson raid as a
warning, and ever since have been in
dustrious, and withal quiet, in prepar-
ing for what their sharp foresight told
them was inevitable. The best mod |
ern artillery, the most effective small !
arm and great stores Of munitions
were secretly brought in. The British,
who supposed they had the best equip
ment in the world, have been sur
prised to find their guns so inferior to
their enemy's that they have scarcely |
been able to answer effectively, and |
have been repeatedly shelled out of
strong positions. This alone, as war
fare is now conducted, is a tremen-
dous handicap that must someway be
overcome.
Then, contrary to the British ex-
pectation, the Beers did not wait I'M
til they were beset by overwhelming
force before striking. They took the
offensive themselves early, as soon as
it was clear that war was bound to !
come. While most of the British
forces were on the way, the Beers
threw themselves into British territory
and carried the scene as far as posi-
BILE from their own borders. They |
selected the sections in which it was
easiest for them to operate ana most !
difficult for their foe. They cooped /
Gen. Whites ten thousand men up in
Ladysmith, after inhieting severe
losses on it. Leaving force enough to
beset him, they pushed on until they |
found very strong natural position to |
defend at the Tugela river, which they
fortified, and awaited the coming of |
Buffers big force which was intended /
to relieve Ladysmith. 1t has invari-
ably happened that the British have
played right into their enemy's hands,
and they did so here. They picked out
the strongest position the Beers had
and rushed on it. One great trouble
with the Englishman is that he doesn't
know what war is. He thinks it is
mere courage. If an enemy has pre-
pared for him at a certain place, that
is the point which he considers he is
in honor bound to attack, in ordet to
vindicate himself. To outfank or L
otherwise manuever so as to compel
the enemy to retire is in his opinion a
sort of mean advantage to take. SO
he stands up in solid formation and
glories in being made target Tor
she'll and rifle ball in the hope that in
The end he may ride rough-shod over
the toe and make due reprisal. This
IS magnificent, but it is not war. es-
pecially at this day, when long-range
guns begin their deadly work as far
away as the best field glass can reach