The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-04

ticular group, near a kraal, whose range
had, been carefully noted, and the. great
guns were sloyly brought to bear on the
unsuspecting target. looked through
the spyglass at the tiny picture-three
dirty beehiVes for the kraal, long
breastwork of newly thrown up earth, six
or seven miniature men gathered into
little bunch, two others skylarlking on the
grass behind the trench, apparently en-
gagged in a boxing match. Then I turned
to the guns. A naval officer craned along
the seventeen-foot BARREL peering
through the telescope sights. Another
was pencling some calculations as to
wind and light and other intricate details.
The crew stood attentive1y around.
FIRST SHOT FIRED.
cat last all was done. 1 looked back
to the enemy. The group was still In
tact, the boxers were still playing
around: one had pushed the other down.
A solitary horseman had also come into
the picture and was riding slowly across.
The desire of murder rose in my heart.
Now for bag. Bang! jumped at least
foot, disarranging the telescope, but
the shell was kissing and roaring its way
through nearly five miles Of air. i found
the kraal again, the group still there,
but all motionless and alert, like startled
rabbits. Then they began to bob into
the earth one after the other. Suddenly,
in the middle of the kraal, there appeared
a huge flash, billowy bale of smoke and
clouds of dust.
Bang! I jumped again. The second
gun had fired. But before this shell could
reach the trenches dozen little figures
scampered away, scattering in all direc-
tons Evidently the first had not been
| without effect. But when I turned the
| glass to another part Of the defense the
Beers were working away stolidly, and
| only those near the explosion showed any
sign of disturbance
.'The parchment continued for half
an hour, the shells being flung sometimes
into the trenches, sometimes among the
| houses Of Colenso, and with marvellous
| accuracy At last the guns were charged
| up again in their tarpaulins, the crowd Of
military inspectors broke up and dis
persed amid the tents and 1t soon be-
came night
GLOOMY FOR LADYSMITH.
Mr.. Churchill gives rather dismal
forecast Of the future that confronts the
Ladysmith force.
"Ladysmith has steed two months
siege and bombardment. Food and am
munition stores are dwindling. Disease
is again increasing. The strain on the
garrison has been, in spite of their pluck
| and stamina, a severe one. How long
| can they hold out? 1t is difficult to say
precisely. because after the ordinary ra-
| lions are exhausted determined men will
| eat horses, and rats and beetles, and such
| like odds and ends, and so continue the
| defense. But another month must be
| the limit CT their endurance, and then,
| If no help comes, Sir George White will
have to shoot off all his ammunition,
blow up all his heavy guns, burn all wag-
ons and equipment, and sally out with
his whole force in a fierce endeavor to
escape southwark. Perhaps half might
succeed in reaching our lines, but the
rest, less the, killed and wounded, would
be sent to occupy the new camp at Wa
| terfall, which has already been laid out
such Is the intelligent anticipation Of
| the enemy-for their accommodation"
SIMPLE TRUTH.
An officer who took part in the battle
| Of Colenso writes:
CAT the start shell from our own
artillery, with a. fuse badly timed, burst
in the middle Of my company, wounding
| about five men. I. was knocked down
] by the explosion, and a portion Of the