The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-29

cars become hopelessly Sentangled to-
gether. jajeit
Tbis is bad enough, but in Kimberley
things are much worse In Johannes
burg q sandstor1h merely blinds you,
stops up your ears and pockets. and
chokes you. In Kimberley it buries you.
The clouds Of dustE are enormous in vol
ume, and a feature which generally ac-'
companies these storms is an epidemic
Of pneumonia, termed 'tdust pneumonia >,
which spreads in the affected districts.
Medical men generally in South Africa
are at variance as to whether the diseas
is caused by the mechanical irritation SET
up by the dust which enters the lungs,
or Is brought on by the cold winds which
come about the same time.
FUTURE OF THE WOUNDED.
An army loses far more of its strength
through its wounded than through its
killed. There are four or five wounded to
one killed, and the dead men give no
trouble, While the wounded require an i'm
mense number of non-combatants to at
tend to them A great many Of the
wounded return to duty; but as a rule
more than half of them take no further
part in the war. Probably the same
thing Is occurring out in Africa now as
occurred in previous wars, for the effects
OF the new weapons do not seem to diff
fer greatly from those of the old. In that
case it is easy to calculate what gen
erals lose by having so many men wound
ed IT they fight battle in which 100
are killed and wounded the probabilities
are that twenty would die on the field
twelve of the wounded would die later
on twenty-one would be invalided home
while forty-seven would return, cured, to
duty These are the averages for big
battles in which there are several thou
sand casualties.
MASSACRE OF sPIoN KoP.
An officer who was present .ands to
To-Day a description of the plateau of
death known as Spion Kop. After de-
scribing the bungling and mismanage-
ment that preceded the disaster, he thus
describes the scene: ''The surface was
lozenge-shaped and rocky, the front
varying from 100 to 40 yards in breadth,
and on this narrow space some $500
troops were huddled together. Two
trenches originally constructed by the
Beers were dug across the center. and
behind these our men attempted to con-
| ceal themselves, often five or ten deep.
The Beers held the far edge of the hill
with very few men-probably not more
than fifty, certainly not hundred, but
hidden behind the crest and protected by
rocks. All efforts to dislodge them proved
unavailing. Our men quailed before their
rapid and accurate fire, and, though call
ed on over and over again by their off,
GERS, they were driven back again and
again.
Meanwhile the Boer artillery had be-
gun to play upon them with q cross fire.
Each trench was enfiladed by guns from
different positions Shells bursting in the
right-hand trench drove a flock of fugi-
tives to the left, only to be hunted from
that by the guns on the other side The
most horrible sights met the eye every
where. Men with half their heads blown
| off, and others without legs or arms and
many disemboweled were seen on all
sides. And in the narrow and crowded
| space one not only saw them, but was
| thrown in contact with them, and was
| even forced to walk among the mangled
bodies. Bullets from the Beer positions
at long ranges ratified over Spion Kep till
| the place became a regular hell on earth
/ All day this lasted; more men, and yet
| more, poured up to reinforce, and to meet
destruction. Just before dark the rifles
| from Potgieter's Hill captured another
point, after some loss on the east side of
| Spion Kop. and established themselves
pretty securely.
If this had been done earlier in the