The Saint Paul globe., 1900-04-22
AFRICAN WAR STORIES.

CRONJES REARGUARD ACTION.
The fierce rearguard action of Feb. Is
with Cronje, under Kitchener during
which the Canadians suffered so severely,
is fully described by THE Times corre-
spondent at Paardeberg, who, after say
ing that the Canadians specially showed
magnificent and almost reckless cour-
age" writes:
When once the battle had begun. It was
almost entirely soldiers and regimental
offlcers' battle. And the way the soldiers
fought reflects the greatest credit on
them: Exhausted by weeks marching
and hghting, many of them without food
or drink since the previous afternoon,
their steadfness and courage could hardly
be surpassed. Perhaps the most reckless
bravery was shown by the Welsh, the
CornWalis and the Canadians, but all the
regiments behaved splendidIy and it
would be inVtdious to distinguish specially
any single one. The heaviness of the
the eVenness with which the casualties
We're distributed bear witness to the
bravery displayed equally by every bat
Idiloh OF the Two divisions engaged One
cause OF the heaviness of the casualty LIST
was the extreme th1rStiness of the men
VINO Wnen they got near the river bank
dOl1l 6ouIo NOT De prevented from rushing
Ing regardless of the fire poured into
lnem. BY nightfall we held the whole
RIVER river on both sides, except a stretch Of
INTO. which Cronjes whole force is now
cooped up, and from which it cannot nos
SloIy escape unless relieved nv very
dnfshTe Us IqTce. Hls position is in a way very
u1elShslole, being, in fact, one enornous
shelter trench, with numerons cross
tfenches. and a supply of wafer r,,nnines
IhrouSh 1t. 1t would be dificuIt - +oi-e
h h,,t pg rs, STORM without very heavy loss;
,t oul any attempt to escape from it WouId
1dedil that the Beers would have to ~
tempt TO cross open ground enclosed 80.
a complete circle by vastly sunerfor tor
IN BESIEGED MAFEKING
Writing Jan. 20, after the first 100 dave
OF siege had been completed. the same
correspondent says:
we nave now begun to prepare for an
raoet rIloetnl5e M soJourn in Mafeking, and al
Iir;s9 most al food stuffs beyond a few lux
tary authorities. Although we have
enough FOOD to last several months This
Li pirecautlon is necessary, as when the
Saeg befoya IS ,rIi ra1Sea many weeks must elapse
Elson mas been put upon scale of ra
duced rations-one-h pound Of broad
ad9l,4i ana onie-half pound of meat day. The
reuucuon In bread took place in tIe early
part or the year. while the orders in re-
iatlon to the meat supply were issued
curing this week. Matches and milk are
prohibited from public sale. and the Ia+-
est order prevents the shops from omen
ing, All supplies of biscuits. tea and
sugar-preseryes also-have been com
mandeered. 1t is perhaps difficult to de-
fne precisely what in the present clrcum-
Stances stance; are luxuries. but, lest there
should pc any doubt upon the point, the
price OF every variety of domestibie has
eeen e6enkannar inflated to an abnormal value The
and indeed anybody who can find any
possible excuse for doing SO, have trebied
the price OF their goods, pleading that the
imitation Is due to the Siege
Lady Sarah Wilson, also shut up in
Mafeking, writing to "The Daily Mail,''
gives the woman's point of view. as fol-
lows:
There is something very cowardly in
the the fairly ", regular evening shell from the
at sundown and fired off between 5 and a.
m. or even later, oyer a partially sleep
ing town. very early hours being kept
here, when the Beers must know men
and women may be killed indiscriminate-
ly. For this last shot wearied women and
children generally wait before leaving
their shelters and seeking their beds IN
their various homes. but sometimes, as q