The Irish standard., 1900-04-21
have to rot on the open veldt, I sup

you take us for savages" he asked.
Rest easy; your friend will get de-
cent burial. What was his rank?' War
correspondent 'And your own?' War
correspondent also. My papers are in
my pocket somewhere Sir said the
Boer leader, you dress exactly like two
British officers; you ride out with a
fighting party; you try to ride off at
gallop under the very muzzlcs OF our
rifles when we tell you to surrender.
You can blame no one but yourself for
this days work 4 blame no mar; ]
played the game and am paying the
penalty"
Mr.. Hales adds: Il have made it my
business to get about among the private
soldiers to question them concerning the
treatment they have received since the
moment the Mauser rifles tulnblcd them
over, and l say cmphatically that in
every instance our countrymen declare
they have been grandly treated. Not
by the hospital nurses only; not by the
officials alone, but by the very men
whom they were fighting"
Frederic Villiers, the we'll known war
correspondent, writing from Durham,
Natal, to the St. Louis Globe Demo-
crat, says in part:
This war has lately developed new
type of journalism, which, as member
OF the older school of war corrcspon-
dents, l much deplorc. For it is diff
cult matter to keep pace with certain
up-todatc members of the profession
now in South Africa. First of all, there
is the Snapshot under fire" photogra-
pher, who thought in this campaign,
owing to the accurate shooting of the
Beers, would not last long; but lie is
still as bold and rampant as ever. l
was admiring the pluck and reckless
ness OF a colleague i'll taking snapshots
under bullet fire OF the foe, especially
one OF his pictures representing sec
ton of the Dublin Fusileers at the battle
Of Colcnso. The men were blazing
away into space from behind rocks and
powders. l was wondering how on
earth the intrepid artist could get sucl,
good results under such exciting cir
cumstanccs--thc exact focus, distance,
and above all the sun in the right place,
while the Beers were no doubt blazing
away at him and his camera, and prob
ably the soldiers around him, trying to
nurse cover, cursing and swearing at the
artist who was drawing, by his bold atti-
tudc, an extra hail OF nickel bullets.
Eventually OH arriving in Natal from
whence most OF these lovely pictures
come, | received a sad shock regarding
some OF the snapshots in question. |
was speaking to a young officer OF the
Dubs about them, when he laughingly
told Inc that the author of these works
OF art had asked him to pose a number
Of his men at Frcrc as artists models
behind ridge OF rocks, and to his sur-
prise, they came out as the "Dubs under
fire at the famous battle OF Coenso,
taken by our special artist under fire."
This "Ecroic" war artist is even sur-
passed in audacity by war corrcspon-
dent who has lately enlightened his
readers with a word-picturc Of the battle
OF Magersfontein. But that this article
appeared in a scdatc London daily, and
was copied in the colonial papers here
as written by master hand, would not
trouble to refer to it. One cannot help
admiring the sangfroid audacity OF the
writer; he does not for a moment hest
tate in his wild career, but lets his
imagination run riot through two COL
umns Of the most soul-stirring blood
and thunder or, as Mr.. Atkins probably
would say, tommy-rot. At the outset
this correspondent starts in with most
fragrant inaccuracy; for instance, he
writes: "At every point OF vantage
Cronjc, with consummate gcneralship,
had posted his artillery" "At the bot
tom OF the l<opjc, right under the muz-
zlcs OF his guns"
Now, as fact, Cronjc had no artil-
lery at Magcrsfontcin during that ia
nous battle. At $50 in the evening
after the fight the enemy opened fire
from solitary gun which they had just
brought up to the center OF the position.
Then this correspondent romps on:
The Bocr forces were estimated at
from $1,000 to 10000 men," Not for
moment did any sane man that day ad-
NIT that there were more than 5000 of
the enemy. In speaking of the Guards
this same correspondent says: "They
got within hitting distance of the foe,
swept through brisket and breast bone.
out OF their trenches the Guardsmen
turned the Beers as men in English
harvest fields toss the hay when the
rcapers' scythcs have whitened the corn
fields" He does not say, and wisely,
where this heroic assault happened.
Then follows this imaginary picture of
Cronje: "Cronjc knew the mettc of our
men, and an ironical laugh played
around his iron mouth, and still he
stayed within his native fortress. But
death sat ever at his elbow, for our gun
ners dropped the lyddite shell and the
bowling shrapncl q wonder if the writ