The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-04-07
SOUTH AFRICAN WAR INCIDENTS

SOUTH AFRICAN WAR INCIDENTS.
Mr.. NJ. n. Adcock, Of Charlton
Kings, suburb of Cheltenham, has
:; received letter from his
800 "A .s' sno" son, sapper of the Royal
'"''"- ~ Engineers, with the Kim.
berley relief column, in which the
writer says.
I witnessed one of the most horrible
scenes that ever lad could witness
last night. About eight o'clock some
officers of the Army Medical Corps
came along, and asked for volunteers
to bury the dead. About twenty of
US turned out and went. We had to
walk about mile to the place. At
last the officers took off their caps as
sentry challenged us to halt. Well,
we passed all right, and then sight
which I cannot describe or ever forget
met my gaze-rows upon rows of dead.
Well, the first grave we dug was about
thirty feet long and three feet deep,
and-would you believe tive put
fifty-three Scotsmen. into it--thirty-
four of the Black Watch alone. It
was something horrible, and every
man of us was crying all the time we
worked; and when, after we had placed
them all in, the burial service was CO.
ing on before we covered them over,
three or four tainted, while the others
cried so loudly that you could hardly
hear the minister. After the bagpipes
had played the Dead March We COW
cred them ver, and started on an
other grave, when some of our gallant
sailors came and relieved us, and we
all went back to our train crying.
A letter from corporal in the Sec
ond Northumberland Fusiliers gives
some graphic details
Ine ,. rae o. in regard to the disaster
:''' ''; at Stromberg. He says:
"On the night of the ninth our
regiment, the Royal Irish Rifles, two
batteries of artillery. and the mounted
infantry proceeded from Peters Krall
to Moltsno, a distance of ten miles.
When we arrived it was about nine
o'clock, and then we all formed M
and General Gatacre informed us that
he was going to do night attack on
the Beers position at Stromberg, and
that there was to be no firing and no
shouting. and to use the bayonet
only. We started off at ten o'clock to
march thirteen miles to Stromberg,
where we hoped to. arrive about two
o'clock in the morning; we kept
all night, but never got
there. 1t was broad daylight when
we were at the foot of some high. in
accessible rocks, when the guide we
had, turned to the General and, point
ing to the top of The rocks, said, There
is your position, and there is your
ehamy,' aud Immediately started to
gallop off; but before he had gone two
yards General Gatacre shot him twice
through the body, saying, Man, you
have done me, but you are the first 10
60 Those are the exact words that |
we're said, because we were told by
The Generals orderly. When the
General saw how we were trapped he
cried like child. and said, ooh, my |
poor boys, what have I done?' so
he Generals aide de camp told an
officer. "-'ft
r. s:.s,.. .., -, -
The Cape Town correspondent of
he London Times, says:
"In view of the ex-
r., air don plans. aggerated ideas cur
rent that the Beers
nave been largely helped by foreign
military advisers, it is worth while quot
ng the statement of gentleman who
las just arrived from Delagoa Bay.
she says that the Beers are at a
4ss to know what to do, and that the
Idvice rendered them, being based
,pon opposing ideas Of tactics, is val
,eless, and only leads, when adopted,
o loss of life. 1t appears that during
General Joubert's illness General
Schalk Burger wired to DR.. Leyds to
end men able to shoot straight and
xperts to make explosives and to
FORK mines, but not useless advisers.
'From what. I saw myself of the
Soer forces at the outbreak of the war.
know that the Beers have aprofound
istrust aud contempt for European
Military methods, and, with the ex-
option of Commandant Albrecht,
hey have practically no foreign Of
GERS, even in the artillery.
h"The Transvaalers, however, ac-
that they have learned.
Beful tactical devices from the Fres
Eaters. especially in making entrench'
tents in least-expected places, and
the foot of kopjes instead of only
n ridges" Il
The MR., a Russophile newspaper,
ublishes letter from Bulgarian :
=. 49, - : u ,.,:,s ex.ofiicer now serv-
Of ths r,v1i:, in the Transvaal
+ army:
am nows in 5the entrenchments of
ne Boer army before Ladysmith. -.
had company of 10 soldiers in-
'usted to me, aud as pioneer officer,
~ task is very important. Bearded,
talwart, hardy fellows are these
'oers. Good people! but how ter
IDLY they hate the English! We never
ated'tde Turks SO much. All OF them
re; good shots, good horsemen, and
God Christians. Those of them who