Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1900-01-16

", but their open formation and the i'm
possibility Of distinguishing officers
saved them from the concentrated fire
that had deprived the naval detachment
of their leaders, and little by little, the
thin line Of khaki crawled up to the top.
StorminG the Crest.
1.-The storming line was now so near
the crest that the guns could only be di-
rected upon the Beers enfilading the po-
sitiion from the spurs of the kopje on
the left and almost in calm. Lieut.. 5.
G. Taylor, closely followed by Lieut.
Jones Of the Marines, reached the outer
works Of the Sanger and made their
way over. In the next half minute fifty
men tumbed over and Immediately
rushed forward to clear the position in
the rear. This was, however, stubbornly
held for quarter Of an hour more per-
haps as a screen than anything else, to
cover the retreat of the Beers.
Above, the hilltop was also dripping
with blood; not a bowlder escaped it's
splash of crimson, and the innumerable
splinters and chips of iron stone blocks
indicated the terrific nature of our fire.
Most of the dead or wounded Beers We're
carried off-ifty of the more severely
wounded were found in their hospital, a
quarter of mile away-but here and
there a dead man proved That here the
Transyaal had sent its men down for
the first time to meet the oncoming col
umn."
Blooming Hailstorm of Bullets.
The Daily Telegraph's correspondent
dllates upon the daring of the marines.
THE marines numbered 1881 he writes,
land every man was in the fighting line
four yards apart. Of the total the num-
Der hit was 92-exactly so per cent. Not
particle of cover was to be had, save
three small ant hills, and TIE Beers had
accurately measured the ranges of those
from their position. One gallant fellow,
describing the fire to an officer, said:
Yes, sir; the bullets came middling
thick and while actually making the
ascent he remarked to his next man that
it was like blooming hailstorm.' Each
of the three companies had only one Off
Ger; two Of those were soon his and the
commanding officer shot dead. Ser
geants at once supplied their places and
of these 20 per cent. were hit. -Four
bullets went through the clothes and he'll
met Of one officer and a fifth knocked
away the magazine of his rife That
was 'middling thick as Tommy said"
One detachment Of sixteen marines"
writes the Standards correspondents
who had got around the corner OF the
kOpje away from the others. and were
the order TO clear the kopje. One of the
men shouted: Let's at the devils. and
they rushed to the top, losing ten out Of
their number In the ascent"
Beers Unclean aud Hungry.
Julian Ralph, writing for the Daily
Mail. says: Let me describe the top of
one of the small hills in the Belmont en-
gagement. the one in storming which the
brave GrenadlerS suffered part of their
fearfully heavy loss. On this kopie the
Boer commando had compelled the poorer
men of his commando to live for weeks
l took it that these were men of the serv-
ant and laborer class. Their dead, whose
untidy and neglected bodies | saw seated
as the British bullets and bayonets found
them, confirmed this theory. for they
were poorly clad, unshaven, unclean and
hungry looking. They were of that class
of Boer whom James Bryce describes as
having started at Seventeenth century
standard and deteriorated for 800 wears
| knew when | saw such men among the
dead, the wounded and the prisoners.
how it could be that white men could
misuse the white flag and mock the sa
cred purpose OF the Geneva cross. The
food, the dirt and the extraordinary pro-
fusion of cartridge wrappings were all
mixed together. but the earth and disor-
ger We're not so offensive as the griny,
beastly condition OF the dead
oAhS Az oattIe III AarrIa&Gss
If | could write steadily for a week
tand II there were no such strict censor
ship as letters me-, | could not exhaust
the list of peculiarities, eccentricities.
anomalies and novelties of this war
waged against us by undisciplined force
of rebels who are soldiers by instinct
and farmers or cattle-raiSers for live
llhood. But | could not in all that week
state more astonishing fact that at
some OF these battles the better class of
Beers have come TO battle in their car
riages, like gentlemen driving to the Der
by at home, and having done their best.
nave retired III the same way, leaving
their vassalS to cover their retreat
In lighter strain the Pail Mall Ga
zette's correspondent at Frere camp. UNI
der date OF December described camp
life:
The tediun Of camp life has been
renewed by surprise visits paid to various
Dutch farms whose owners have been
suspected of completely in the rising No
looting was allowed, the orders being
very strict Cn tbs point. Despite, how
ever. the strictness with which these
most necessary orders have been carried
out, the return of some raid;Iy parties
rather resembed Il bor(.-r foray of the
oden time. The verb to commanders
covers multitude of petty larcenies."
Picture of Misery.
From the Ladysmith correspondent CT
the Daily Chronicle comes grim touch
of besieged misery: "Disheveled women
are peering out Of their dcnS in the rocks
and holes in the sand. They crawl in in
the evening lightly shaking the dirt from
their pettcoats and the sand from their
back hair: they rub the childrens faces
round with the tails of their gowns
They tempt scraps of flames to take the
chill off the. yellow water for the chill
dren's tea. After shutdown steady
Scotch drizzle settles down upon u.s."
ROBBED INDIANA BANK.