The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-01-09
4 BULLER's TASK.
Its Terrible Din Pointed Out By q
General of Our Civil War.

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Its Terrible Dirncul,ies Pointed Out BY .
General OF Our Civil War.
To THE EDITOR OF The svy-Sir. Prophecy
IL ALWAYS unsate-prophecy in military matters
a. well IA oth,rs 7, IL we'll 10 keen In mind
the maxim "nevsr pronhesv until you're car.
tain, :" I, ia ou,,e nossible Inn, before this Gan
reach Won the question a, Gan Rnller,s Man ~
cam naien and his success or failure NAV h.vs
become history Tho nroblem before him "a m
releve the garrison ~ Iadvsnitb He ia now
Jan a n, Cbieyslsv ,walve miles south a,
Iadvsmitb with ths Tu,a,a R,v.r-now ssId
% he nj aood-in his front
The Roar ,osition sx,enas along IN, r,d,o nj,
chain NJ hills naralIsi wIth ,ha north hanL -,
the river from Snrin vfe,d ahovs tbo forts q,
Little Tueela on the west Oefp IN the WAGON
bridge on the We.nsn road On the east frioh,I
a distance Of mora ,hnp sixta.n mi,ss Tba
Beers have Ind mora than two months 4,
which To ,borouub,v intrench th,s nos,,ion
They have n connsc,ad nv r,,I-c,,r,ed .rount
Lad mith-dire with the Tronsvnal Thai,
base Of supplies. Tint thew are not witbou,
engineering ability tho British have learned u,
their sorrow AZ Magersfontein and AT Colenso.
They arc on ground with which they AR,
thoroughly familiar. The bridges not already
DESTROYED are doubtless mined. ready 10 Ia
| blown up by electric contact at the proper mo.
ment. The bridges must be counted out.
The drifts or fords are few and far between
| and difficult at the best. l, is alleged that they
are obstructcd with barbed. wire entangle.
| ments. which will make the passage under .
heavy nre practically i'm possible. Besides, it
| may DO counted on as morally certain that
every ford is comm andei by rapid.fre and
machine guns and concentric rifle fire. which
| would approximately annihilate any column
that might attempt to cross against such OBJ
~stacles.
In this war the character ~ the Beers Ia n
be taken into the account They are Of the
sturdiest stock that history records. They are
tho children 81 a heroic race. They are not
easily stampeded. Their fathers fought the
warlikc Kaf1is and Zulus, sometimes atty to
one-even at greater oids-and behind their
wagon kraals beat them ~. They are a little
nation o. marksmen. They thoroughly appre-
ciate the difference between accurately aimed
! and unnamed Are. They shoot TO hit. They do
not waste lead. They are all horsemen. Their
hardy little horses. ready saddled. wait behind
the hills back Of the Tugela 10 carry the com
mandos in the least possible time to tho
threatened point. They move undercover,w hile
their antagonists must come out into the open.
Thus far. the Bocr artillery has shown itself
equal 10 tnat OF me Britlsn or superior 10 II In
power. and nearly or quite equal in accuracy.
According to all accounts, they arc well equip
ped with Maxim machine guns and Maxim
Nordenfelt gu lex fires. The Maxim automatic
gun rifle calibre) is good for 800 shots per
minute, while the Ih.inch Maxim (37 milli-
metre) is good for $50 shots per minute. The
Boer sharpshootcrs-they are all sharpshooters
are armed with the brcec h-loadine magazine
Mauser or Martini. eoual in all resnects IN tba
British arms. With these rifles the cool
headed Beers can send at least ten well-aimed
shots into the enemy in a minute so long as
the cartridge belt holds out.
Talk about the British bayonet," cold STEEL
&C.! Before the fire Of such a line OF sharn-
shooters and machine guns the bravest column
Of troops that ever marched would be piled In
winirows. AS we're the dervisheso OF the Kalifa
at Omdurman.
Mr.. Julian Ralph declared that at Modder