The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-01-09

cries FOR dolly from a prattlIng mite who
i may hersnlf be fatheFlesE or motherIess
! to-m0rrow- We think as little az possible
! OF SUCH things. putting them from Us
| Win the light comment that they happen
/ daily elsewhere than in besieged towns.
/ ana making the best We can OF a melan-
l chOly situation
TunneiinE At Iady.mifh.
The Imperial LlPht Horse have anus ID
| themselves az Labyrinth By constructing
tunnels to the river bank. connecting DARK
| caves, IN which whole regiments migh' be
/ hidden knowledge Of mining j. some
times useful. though there be no precious
! metal 10 be dug out. In these caves the
men fird relief from the burning sun.
Looking out over the smiling plain
that stretches 10 the southeast % the
town writes the Standards representa-
tive - Ladysniih on November 10. 1T Is
hard to realize that We are in the midst
% war. There is not Bocr In sight. 4
great mystery OF peace has fallen On the
land that serene tranquility which fills
the air and clothes The sunIit hills carries
one back 10 some remote English village
on a Sabbath morning The scene. too. IS
homeiile-level reaches OF meadow. on
which cattle are grazing, prosperous
fGrmsteads dottlng over the green plain
A put % smoke. followed eight seconds
lated by an angry rush OF air and a deaf
eniHg crash. recalls one TO the acJualties
of the moment On the spurs Of those
tawny hills that appear not a mile away
are twenty-five guns. and the enemy lie
concealed along the ridges and among TIE
patches Of green bush which clOJhe the
ravincs and kopjes. We have dally-al-
most hourly--reminders Of their presence.
The officer who ascends in the balloon re-
ports that they are thick on all sides
and cannot number fewer than 1000 or
5000
The same correspondent. describing the
Tepulse on the Prince Of Wales birthday
says. AT noon. when the enemy had
fallen back on their laager. q royal sa-
iute % twenty-onc guns was fred by the
naval brigade. Capt. Lambton was re-
solved that the salute should be effective
One shot Silenced the ImsulWani gun for
the day, while another fell into JoLbaTts
camp and-accOrding 10 a cOOlie, who eS
capped in the COnfuslOn-killed twenty-five
men II must be many years since the
national anthem was sung 10 the accom-
paCiment of shrdpnei and ninety-foIT-
pound steel shells shrieking through tire
air"
Hardest of the Century,"
OF the hard fight at Modder River the
Globe correspondent says: ION the plain
were numerous white crosses, which We
subsequently, discovered were marked
ranges set ont by the Beers previously
TIE fighting line on both sides extended
six miles, and there was an incessant
fusillade and clnnonade for twelve solid
hours. The BOeTs were never seen by
us none of the officers and men 10 whom
] have spoken since saw a Boer. 1t is
certainly marvellous how they always
manage to hide themselves.
The heat yesterday was terrific: no
wind; a hot. blazing sun all day We
were all done and literally parched: our
only refreshment during the twelve hours
was water heated by the sun in our
water bottles"
OF the same battle the Daily News
correspondent writes: THE historian who
writes truthful story Of the battle of
Modder River Will have a strange story
10 tell, if all one hears is gospel Stories
OF guides who reported MOdder River to
DC held by GO Beers: Of a regiment sent
TO clear them out and finding l2OOO; of
regiments thanking the enemy's position.
and within few hundred yards of his
guns having TO retire because they were
7il'lI'd ~ li4tlI OWL dfllitfN. MOuQeF
River was an Alma. 1t was a soldiers
hght. Grit, dOggedness, and pride of
caste made us masters of the trenches
For sixteen hours the battle ragged. For
sixteen hours on a plain as bare of cover
as the dome OF St Paurs the infantry
advanced by short Tushes in the swelter-
ing heat, 10 shoot and get shot. For six
teen hours the artillery, innocent of that
shelter which tacticians in books lay
down as absolutely necessary, pounded
away at their invisible foe. The wounded
fell out and were in most cases left, for
the stretcher-bearers did not dare to en-
jar the zone of fire. Each wounded man
was made a mark for the enemys rifle
men. The wounded men were useful for
the ROers-they took sighting shots at
them and got the range perfectly"
Among the many criticisms of British
artillery none has attracted more atten-
ton than that written on November Il at
Ladysmith by the Standards war CORE
spOndent. There is q. frankness in il
which doubtless would never have passed
the censor. yet its detail and the evident
knowledge of the writer upon artillery
matters stamp it with undenidbe truth.
however unpleasant reading IL makes for
the British public. Summing up, this cor
respondent says;
OuImaIched at Long Range.