The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-07
PEN PICTURES OF WAR.

What a Battle is Like Under Modern
Conditione-Gr Realities and Shock
ing Scenes
One of our war correspondents, In the
course of a private letter. to a friend,
gives some vivid pictures CT the rnali-
ties of war under modern conditions:
AS regards my own feelings in a
fight it is very hard to describe; ! know
when the thing is all over and | am all
right l feel much happier. Any man
who has been in a modern fight, where
men are being knocked over all around,
and says he likes it. is liar. In former
days it must have been different The
enemy could be SEEN the smoke could
be seen, and rifles had to be reloaded
after every shot. At 1000 yards you
were In comparative safety The infan-
| try, after receiving one volley, could
| charge, knowing that until the enemy
| had loaded again each man was prac-
tically cafe.
Nowadays that is all changed.
Nothing is seen, no man, no smoke. The
only thing seen is the dust thrown up
by the bullets, like a. rainstorm on the
surface of a lake, the artillery throw
contrast to this IS the noise, which Is
internal; with occasional lulls 1T
sounds as If million kettledrums
were being played-a constant tra-ra-
ra-ra, with the boom, boom OF the big
guns and the harsher sound OF the
pumping of the Maxims, Maxim Nord-
enfeldts, and machine guns in general.
The discord is appalling, as every gun
has a different sound, and each shell
going through the air huns or whistles
according to its breed. After time
you can tell what Is coming, or, II 1T is
one Of your own, what Is going.
THE most terrifying Of the enemy's
guns is a sort Of Hotchkiss, which
fires about five rounds at a time and
throws one-pound shell, which bursts.
You are safe nowhere, as a bullet, fired
at an object at 800 yeards, which miss
es hits and kills at 1000 or 5000. 1t
practically means with these rifles that
bullet is never spent until 1t hits
something and remains there. When
bullet strikes, you hear nothing; 1t
goes right through man and probably
travels on another 1000 yards You
hear a grunt or a gurgle, and the man
collapees and doubles up; sometimes IL
hit In the arm or leg he spins around
and falls, and probably gets up again,
as it Is only the shock which knocks
him down, and ,he hardly feels the bull
let At Modder river I went down with
three guns of the Eighteenth Battery to
within 1900 yards, and saw five men
go over. one after the other, but only
one killed.
THE worst thing is bullet wound
in the stomach below the navel, which |
is mortal The pain is excruciating,
and they howl like a shot hare; 1t
sounds like child screaming, and is
horrible. But you see such a lot of
beastly sights and hear such lot of
heartrending sounds that you become |
found a wounded Boer at Magersfontein
who was shot--evldently while lying
down--through the top of the head |
above the right. ear; the bullet had !
travelled through his head and out at |
the back Of his jaw on the left side. |
1t had then broken his collar bone and |
taken a turn, travelled round his ribs,
and out at his side. He was not pref
ty to look at, but did not seem much |
he explained to me the couree of the
bullet Some Of the recoveries are per-
fectly marvellous. I suppose after the
thing is over the doctors will publish
some of the, extraordinary cases which
have passed through their hands,
London News