New-York tribune., 1900-08-05
r. Fl. DAVIS ON BOER WAR
CORRESPONDENT COULDN'T STAND ENG
LIsH CENSORSHIP.
THINKs TIE BRITISH STILL HAVE THEIR
HANDS FUGL-A STORY ABOUT POL
soNED" RULLETs. IN WHICH
CONSUL. HAY FIGURES.


Richard Harding Davis returned yesterday rom
the Transvaa, whore for two months ne "ds -
the midst Of hostilities newspaper correspond
ent He made the return trip on the American
liner Ncw-York. When he came ashore re saiu
to Tribune reporter:
Some of the British say that am are renegade .ss,
went over to the Beers after had endured Eng
Sh b censorship et sf Ims he BRUSH M is best given
following bit of history: In one OF tGs f ,t REI
ish to Pretoria a detachment Of Ensiisln soldiers
a slight f6g atfoat and when these men returned
to the main column their comrades nistoon tne4, 4,
was simply ant the result Of bad generaship Ac-
Gordng Iy a wrote eTred rne said that the English
troops had through mistake shot down their own WI
and said thai he could not pass IT,
.Trns nes Iss sSTS Sbe answer but cannot pass
it You must say instead that I 59e puf, hsd tsst
to-tseth talk with the man. and nnaHy got the
This was only one instance And. for fact. as
long as stayed with the British could not a,Ig geg
them haggled or wholly cut 10 pieces
THOSE POISONED" BULLETS.
There was a funny story running through the the
British lines one day about BSer 9srDaIlTnl, aha
picturesque well as a diplomatic role IN II;
their bullets with kind of grease prevent them
splitting in The barrel; after a certain uIIe
that some British soldiers chanced to find a few
bullets from the Boer rifles without using sai sur,
they thought that the bullets were poisoned WIN I'm
Beers were such bsrbarians as to use poisoned
bullets
to come into one of the British tents when such
ProiectiIe long time and smeIed it carefully. he
Why, these fell by mistake into a pudding
Ihey are only havored with wlnterSreeh, anq 90
SAYING he licked or the green with Una aPpaFent res
! have no fault to find with the English hospital
Siderable compliant iSi On the contrary. thought
that the organization OF the English Army espe-
exceptionally good As soon as man dropped ne
off to a hospital in only a few minutes.
As for the organization Of the Boer. army, why,
they felt like it, and then it was only bravery that
they were opposed by several times their own mum
ber, they were simply overpowered with the
of Joubert by death. the Boer army was pruned Of
right for times of peace. but they too old
slow footed and slow minded for war; The COM
timber ! speak now Of De Wet and Botha;; General
power to inspire his troops with his own courage
Botha is also excellent general
considerable Jealousy between the oficers which
initiates greatly against the success OF the army;
throughout by Europeans. There are few French
their Presence there was Of no great importance
The Beers under them do not half the time obey
their orders.
SAYS ENGLISH HAVE PLENTY TO DO.
The English at the present time have all they
can do TO hold their own in the Transvaal Cen
eraI Roberts is at Pretoria with eight thousand
and 1t takes most of his waking hours to keep
The whole situation closely resembles what would
happen if the English should take Albany with
a few thousand troops and all the people OF New
York. having taken refuge IN the AdfrOndackS,
should make daily sorties TO the southwark and
tear up the tracks of the New-York Central and
West Shore railroads.
ter fixed to-day than they were in the beginning.
They have provisions to last them for the next
years. and plenty of fresh air and exercise. They
can keep the British guessing all the time IN the
mean while. Yes sir England needs all the troops
she has in Africa for the squabble there. She is
afraid to transfer single soldier from the Trans
Vaa TO China.
I am sorry my English friends have taken such
aversion to me; very sorry Consequently l
have made attempt to try to solicit return
OF their favor In this connection might say that
my name proposed for membership in
the Garrick Ciub, OF London. The friend who had
submitted my name, however, came to me and
about among the members and perhaps
would not find my surroundings among them
excessively congenial. Accordingly, asked that
my name be dropped, and II was
left South Africa June and landed al Naples.
AS a consequence of the exposure 1 endured while
IN South Africa. found myself suffering severely
the bath Aix-les-Bains. From there went to
Paris and took the ship at Cherbourg- Now,
didn't avoid going to London because feared crtti
cold shoulder blanket. II
had left an old coat in London I would have gone
over and got II. As II was, there need for
to go to London, and didn't.
Mr. Davis started the Fall River Line last
night for Marion. Mass. He said he might 60 later
TO China but what he wanted at present was a
rest He accompanied by his wife and his
father.