The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-08

julian Ralph. The American newspaper
man. who is well known 10 the small army
of Washington correspondents. and who
represented the London Daily Mail" dur
ing the greater part of the South African
war, has furnished to his paper a graphic
description Of modern warfare. He writes:
What is a modern bGttle-how does 1t
look and sound7
Really. the field of operations is so ex
tensive and the range of modern guns is
so great that battle conditions have al
tered until there is no logger any general
clash Of battle or even any possibility
OF grasping or viewing an engagement from
airy single point There is 10 great re-
sounding noise in war nowadays- You hear
one OF our big guns loosed three miles over
on the right. and another one two miles on
the left II you are near one it makes a
tremendous noise, yet have net heard one
explosion as loud as a good, strong clap
OF thunder. You hear the guns Of the
enemy cough far in front OF you. and their
shells burst within your lines with near.
er, louder sound-but not really great or
deafening noise, by any means. Our guns
create almost no smoke though our lyd-
dite shells throw up clouds of dust and
smoke where they fall. miles away. Be
cause the Beers are using old-fashioned
powder in their cannons there is a small
white cloud wherever one is fired and a
squirt Of red sand where their shells dig
into the veldt- The smoke Of war. there
fore. and the so-called 'rosr Of battle are
both occasional. scattered, ineonsid-
cradle.
The rifle firing has been the principal
feature OF our battles 1t sounds. as l
wrote once before, like the frying Of fat.
or like the cracking and swapping OF green
wood In a bonfire. II you are within two
miles CT the front you are apt 20 be under
nre, and then you hear the music CT the
individual bullets. Their song is like the
magnihed note of a moSQuito-'Z-z-z-
z-z they go over your head: 'z-Z-z-
z-p' they finish as they bury themselves
in the ground. This is a sound only TO be
heard when the bullets are very close,
You kick up your heels and run hundred.
or even fifty. yards. and you hear nothing
but the general crackle Of rife FIRE in and
before the trenches. The 'Putt-putt' (or
Vickers- NordenfeldD gun is able 70 inter
est you al e distance OF three miles Its
explosions are best described by the nick
name given TO the gun by one regiment
The blooming dOOr-knOcker. Its bullets
or shells are as big as the bowl OF a large
air with a terrible sound, exploding when
they strike. The firing OF the gun was
heard all over the largest of our battle
fields, and the explosions Of the shells
sound long way, because they are apt 10
take place on the quiet outer edge OF the
field The whizz that even these missiles
make in flying. however. is like the wills
pered answers Of a maid in love-only 10
Be heard by the favored individual who IA
especially addressed
In word there is not much noise In
modern battles. These individual sounds
OF which speak are rot loud enough TO
blend. The browning, all-pervading noises
are those CT the guns and Of the rifle FIRE,
and on the vast veldt. spread over a dou-
bic line of five to seven miles. in Length.
only those that are very near are very
loud.
The bravery OF our stretcher bearers i.
as much beyond question as IL is beyond
praise. When all Of US lesser and INNS
date historians of the moment have told
Of the yalor OF all the generals eolonels,
majors. captains, and 'Tommies' of the
army. we shall still have. in common jus
tice to describe how the ehapIains, doc
tors. and stretcher bearers 20 IN and out
OF the most hellish fEe-nOt once or twice.
but all through every battle.
1t is just without the range Of FIRE that
you see and realize the horrors OF war Il
Is lEeE6 lQdl the hOluQc1 Crawl ana stag
ger by you; it Is there that they spend
their final output OF energy and fall down
10 lie until assistance comes: IL IS there
that you see the stretchers laden with
their mangled freight. and the sound OF es
bearing the wounded on their hacks and
in their arms. Better yet-if so cheerful
a phrase is permissible IN such a case-tu
know the brutality and woe OF war hap
pen upon a kopIe that has Just been storm
ed or trench that has been carried. Go
to such a place today, twenty centuries
after Christ came with His message Of
peace on earth and good viii TO men, and
behold what you shall see.
Here said ! TO q photographer in such
a place. think il was BelmOut-'snap this
| scene. Look at the wounded all over the
ground. Quick Out with your camera
ble!'
AS you please I said, but it's what
the public wants
"You read in the writings of those who
know nothing OF war about the writings
Of the wounded and the groaning on the
| battlefield. There is no writing. and the
| groans are few and faint, There was one
man who was simply chewed up by shell
at Magersfontein, and hts sufferings must
have been awful. He kept crying. Doc
| tor. can't you do anythingT Another
begged to he killed and the first wounded
man saw in the war kept saying. in ever
so low voice. oh, dear, dear, deari Oh,
| dear. dear, dcarr But there is much less
| groaning than you would imagIne-very lit
| tie, in fact. Two things are 50 common
| with the wounded as to be almost like
| rules Of behavior: First, they all beg for
| water Git used to be cigarettes that they
| asked for on the Turkish side in the Lass
war in Europe). and next they seem al
ways to be made gentle by their wounds
| Men Of the toughest speech. profane By
second nature. cease to offend when striek-
Ell down.
Well. mate says one whose leg is
shattered, you never know when your
turn Will come, do you?
~And another simply cries, Job. dearI'
Nov and then you. hear( For Gods
sake, get me taken to an ambulance but
no profanity is intended there,
"I have had half dozen msn describe
| how IL feels to be wounded. All who had
| bones shattered by expanding bullets used
] nearly the same language to describe the
| sensation
You feel they said, exactly as Il you
| had received a powerful shock from an
| electric battery. and then comes blow as
| II your foot Tor arm, or whatever part il
| may bel was crushed by 2 stroke with a
| tremendous mallet-' II Is much the same
| in lesser degree il the bone is struck by
MauseT bullet; but if the smooth. slender.
| clean little shot merely pieTces the flesh. a
burning or singing sensation is the IT,
| Simultaneous result.
| Lying six hours in the broiiing sun
| was pretty bad said one whose arm bone
4 ch Cd tb,fF he