Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-01-18


York World:
There are no bands of music in the
boer armies. The farmer soldiers of
the two republics make or receive
charges in silence, their minds intent
upon aim and upon strategy. If it is
charge, they advance in a scattered
and what seems to be a confused man
ner In reality it is only the beers
natural order, in which they fight
best.
A retreat looks like a rout, because
each man tries to save himself as
quickly as possible. A rout is almost
impossible, because the farmers do not
understand how to lose their heads"
They scatter, and when a place of
safety has been reached come together
again, as if nothing had happened.
While they have no martial music
in the ordinary sense, they have mar
tial music of the most impressive kind
in the extraordinary sense. Each
night before turning in" and each
morning before breakfast, and also
before going into battle, if there is
heads uncovered join in singing Old
Hundred Each note is prolonged and
the effect is solemn and even awful,
SO much of resolution, of stern and
relentless resolve do they put into
the singing.
The two strongest points about this
practically uniformed and strangely
organized boer army are both individu-
al-the individual ability of the boer
at strategy and his individual ability
as sharpshooter.
The favorite topic of conversation
among the beers has always been
how best to meet the British when
they come to destroy the republics,
how to fight the great defensive war
which every boer has felt sure would
inevitably come. The plans that are
being carried out and will be carried
out are the result of years upon years
of study of the situation by the bur-
ghers of all ranks, consulting together
upon the stoops of their matched
houses of evenings. The boer is a
natural strategist, willy, crafty hard to
corner, quick to seize the slightest ad-
vantage, quick to see advantage when
even trained soldiers of other nations
would fail to see it.
1t is a mistake to suppose that the
J beers have deteriorated in marksman-
ship. The English have got that i'm
preston from a superficial observa-
ton of the beers of the large towns.
The villagers and farmers are as sure
OF shot as Of old.
With a smooth bore gun boer shot
Sir George W. Colley through the
head in the Majuba hill fight at 1,4OO
/ wards. With one of the new guns
General Symons was shot in the beers
new target-the stomach-at far
longer range. I have seen a girl
bring down bird on the wing at 400
yards.
If Sir Redvers Butler shows himself
at 1000 yards, his fate is hardly doubt
full: for the special sharpshooters OF
the beers are now armed with the
sporting Mannlicher, and they can,
with their knowledge of air currents,
hit small object almost every time
at 1880 yards.
President Kruger has been buying
these arms in large quantities ever
since the Jameson raid and the practl-
cal failure of the British to punish the
raiders. General Joubert took me into
a storehouse at Pretoria filled with
thousands of these rifles. Isn't 1t a
beauty?" he said picking up one OF
them and patting it affectionately. At
20 yards it will shoot through %
inches of pine"
The Mannlicher bullet travels with
velocity of 1000 feet a second. At
1000 yards it will pierce two inches OF
solid ash and three inches of pine. At
600 wards the bullet, if it does not
fiatten, will bore a hole right through
a bone without splitting. This rifle
has a barrel 80 inches long and weighs
pounds It's caliber is 80. 1t is hair
triggered. has a pistol grip, and the
boer carries it slung over his shoulder
by a strap.
In the last two years the countrymen
have been putting away the old
smoothbore and providing themselves
with the Mauser and the Mannllcner.
For killing game they use bullet OF
which the lead point is exposed, so
that it "mushrooms" when it strikes.
On entering the bullet expands and
tears an ugly hole. If it strikes side
wise the effect is horrible.
General Joubert assured me that
these bullets would not be used against
the English, unless the latter employed
their barbarous dum-dum.
If the British try to go up into the
republics by way Of Natal they must
traverse the Drakensburg mountains
the only great range in south AFRICA
The peaks of these mountains rise as
high as 1000 feet. The way through
the range is a tortuous course along
steep cliffs and above yawning preel-
pieces Every few hundred yards there
is an irnpregnable position.
The evaporation of the lowlands con-
denses there and gives plenty OF water
for force intrenched high among
the rocks. Forage, too, is plenty. A
few men can hold out indefinitely and
unlegs the British take heavy artil-