The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-13

Was Dripping With Blood.
Correspondence Of the Associated Press.)
London, Jan British war CORES
pondents are pouring in through mails
columns Of descriptions of operations
in South Africa. Those recently print
ed refer chiefly to the battles of Gras
Pan and Modder river, for it is yet too
early for the publication Of fuller ac-
counts of Buffers defeat at CoIenso.
The Times correspondent at Modder
river has written q graphic account of
the long fierce battle that takes its
name from the place.
For the whole Of the day" he
writes, "the guards brigade lay on the
open veldt in a heat that was actually
40 degrees IN the shade at midday.
While the left flank had not been idle
and after the general had personally
led them TO the summit of slight rise
that commanded the only possible
means Of crossing the river-the dam
that had been built 10 turn the Modder
river into an ornamental water for the
p.cnios Of Kimberley eNcursonists-
they moved in echelon towards the edge
of the river bank on the enemy's ex-
IRENE left.
Act of Great Daring.
"That 1t could even be attempted to
cross the river sliding sideways through
the rush of the water over the paddles
of a rickety iron bar one by one
clinging to the short Supports in full
view Of the opposite shores. was an
act of reckless heroism against which
even the wary Cronje ha6 not provided
This. however, is what was actually
done ana it would be difficult to find
a parallel for the stubborn pluck Of
the men who accompanied Colonel Bar
ter across the geo yards of dam and
weir.
lone by one some 100 OF them crossed
Then a detachment of the Royal engi-
neers, showing how well they could
take their part in the forefront of the
fighting line. followed them: after that
some more of the Yorkshire infantry.
Little by little the force was collected
which cleared several Of the nearest
houses on the right and effected an oc-
cupauon Of an irrigation patch from
which they were never dislodged.
Fought For Thirteen Hours.
ITO fight fer thirteen hours is an or
deal which in ordinary warfare would
be a terrible strain but out on the tree
lesss shadeless veldt~with the theTmOm-
etec AZ the degree above mentioned the
exhaustion suffered by our men was so
great that In hundreds If cases, men
and officers alike slept as they lay in
the scrub. careless OF shell 81 rifle fire.
To provide them food vas impossible.
to bring q water cart on the field, as
The C0ldstream guards found by bitter
experience, was only tempting men 10
expose themselves 10 death, rushing
for the water al all hazards and leav-
81 rrafr of
by the nine or ten inch growth Of mi
mesa scrub.
EARLY in the afternoon the general
was shot through the thigh and for
some time the two brigades, y the alb
sence of orders, were compelled to act
Independently Of the other, thu only
communication being a warning to the
Ninth brigade not to fire upon the first
of which there was some danger.
shrewdness of the Beers.
"The magnificent manner in which
the Beers had realized ana augmented
the strength of the position. the sue
cess with which they had kept their
works and disposition secret until the
crucial moment, the feint on the ex-
IRENE right by which they drew off the
entire artillery strength of our force
from their position and -he astonishing
accuracy Of their picked shots at the
longest ranges. should all be remem-
bered to the credit Of their generals.
But ct was in the material which
formed the commando that they Iall-
ed. They could not do more than they
actually did with the men under their
command. Already lealousies had
sprung up between the generals, the
men accused each other Of cowardice
and the threat Of physical force had.
II runors We're true, to be held ever
them more than once.
The Ona-pOunG maxim gun was the
most effective weapon used by the
Beers The five or siX-pound shots
fired liz one second while the gun was
traverscd had more moral effect than
The steady discharge Of shrapcel or the
ordinary lifteen-pouuder a. half min
ute intervals. One man not far
from me had both thighs blown of as
he sat. By one Of these little shells
landing on the ground between them,
but there Is no question that the neral
effect was as a rule greater than The
practical results
A Bong Bong-Bongf Gun.
NO gun was more cordially disliked
by our men than this new weapon, that
was usually christened 'bong-bOng-
bong the patent Of which in 1892 was
offered 10 and declined b. our gov
eminent
OF the lessons 70 be learned from
Modder river this correspondent says;
1T would be impossible in any future
war fer the officers to retain their
swords. and il win be worth while for
the war office to construct some light
carDine that may be carried by them
instead Of the weighty rife served out
TO the men"
The scene after the battle is thus
described by the same writer: Most
people who have stayed at Kimberley,
know of MOdder river az a recreation
ground. only thinking OF il, in fact
much as London regards Maidenhead.
Never has it been anything but a friv-
oiOus little patch in the heart of the
veldt. The punishment for It's giddi-
ness has been sudden and extraordi-
nary.
Modder River Deserted.
The place is deserted, the walls and
roofs perforated like a cOliander. the
water churned and befouled by 10000
animals, rolls over and over the dead
that were huTriedly thrown into its
edayipg hollows with a weight attached
that mas III many cases proved lnSJiil-
Client Ine bridge lies on its MINED
piers. twisted length of scrap iron
ana the dead horses fill every nook IN
the riverside woods
The chapel with its little wooden
cross near the river stood ia the thick
Of the tght and now lies a crumbling
mass Of adobe walls, with its shattered
earthen altar and most OF its seats
There p TO square rood within TINS
extinct paradise that does not bear VII
ness Of the fearful effect OF modern
weapons"
The aonduct Of the marines naval br.-
Tade al Gras Pan is a source OF usfeau-
1B5s praise from all correspondents. Ihe