New-York tribune., 1900-04-29
THE BOFR AND HIS RIFLE.
SHOWED THE LACK OF OLD
TIME SKILL
From The London Globe

From The London Globe
One Of IT. the first things shall learn from the
Southern Africa is that the Beers SKIN as
marksman is thing of the past. It was natural natural
9nRPy eai hs IN ISL ST shoad E h8s
ron b by d the ID ban
spoken with awe of the arms OF the victors-but
unknown to them today and Of this had actual
evidence some time ago. We were camping out in
hills. preferring the shelter of our wagons TO the
Dutch homesteads dotted about the neighboring
grass country, and over night rumor had gone
in the gray dawn the following day, and with
breath of the veldt before sunrise is as that of
actually taking place in the narrow valley beneath
bad 9 % bn IN 0G o
the old school IS an early riser, whatever else he
together dngy tent Others had gone up a fairly
ey ns f5 b a ay ae %F o %
rock that had rolled down-who shall say how
the prospect Of instruction combined with amuse-
ment, so, setting Kaf1r boy to make
from which few fine Strands Of gray smoke We're
Sun SUI curing eur sIraIehI t up mo the sun sun no[h1hg an
after hasty meal trotted over to the impromptu
The. proprietor of the tent was Teuton. and his
ebpter9Ige b due to to Lively belief in the thirst Of
fanneI shirtsleeves rolled to his ample shoulders
drinking booth: arranging tables and trestles.
trundllng suggestive hooking Kegs about, and
Continental brandy behind the counter The while
Pe PH IF M Of tbs his I'd
witness that he was ruined man unless his help,
day rescued him from the disastrous effects of
He and had met before, had to drink
Of his terrible Holland liquor ,marveng as did it
Of such stuff Then trotted up to the the butts with
freshness of an African morning in the air. The
targets were. about the regulation size, while the
nett Nf ma ypTfS nd tic of
well signals showed that those who managed
affairs were dealing with matters they understood;
about score of doppers had come UO n other pS5 com
every point Of the compass They We're p mostly old
fore big towns had grown up in the, twin republics,
and when asked one of them where the young
presently I queried, they win Gomez But the
The tnwn attTsctions are more To ther fancy
This is the whole truth OF the matter, and ,ex-
plains my assertion that Boer shooting has fallen
fat G0fS y e6 ~ho a been last brought up e
saya9ge SOUTH SOU hi mAfrlea and conseq4ently pos
one OF them had known what 1T was to shoot for
R Rs o TO all go 6 ana to Of 5c ed 0 a
was twice as broad a mark as a black buck. But
appeared while the resources Of civilization have
%eaned @ the never gen@eraon @ IN We % nave 70 meet TO-
is pity from most points of view. but il is fact.
and what L saw subsequently confirmed it 10 the
We BEGAN little before alidday by a competi-
no official prize. but every marksm IN dropped
fq to al the @6e fGa fh
backed their r fancy or @ mo the lat
this distance, which, by the way, might he called
the battle range. as it represents that at which
fare, it at the best not more than moderate.
right at the longer distance. while for the re-
mainder bullseyes were few and cutters con-
Then we, now a goodly company, moved closer,
two. three and four hundred yards distance Even
the shortest range the Beers went through ali
the contortons of a crack shot at Bisley, twinng
in the effort , TO steady their rifles Indeed, prop
war behind for him to bolt INTO if
hundred yards, of course they splashed the target
pretty We'll and kept the marker busy; three
bers but nothing was accomplished at either range
which could not have been done by an average
after this long pause nse' followed for luncheon
and mine host of the drinking booth had his turn.
direction, and I had to drink more fiery Whskey
and MUNICH coarse country cheese while the doppers
Cape biscuits on their knees and drinking from
them had come straight from the rvuiefs on the
hills behind They were out for days pleasure
the rolling plains they were spent among and they
gossiped and laughed TO their hearts content for
peonS Which fooWed IS San tbay SAY bo2 i6oat the the com
shot well in the morning-mostly grim old veter-
proof against all that Dop brandy could do
now scored better than previously while those who
There was good deal more chatter more discus
Of the uncheon and that Was an sa RI result tba
afternoon we varied proceedings which had grown
when the shadows of the hills were beginning to-
creep across the veldt and ammunition was getting
the drinking tent finish the German purveyor's
stores divide the prizes and settle wagers, etc