Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-02-15
TALES FROM THE FRONT
Incidents of the War In South
Africa.
QUICK ACTION OF A SERGEANT.

OF Dom 'aul's PeOpIe-StOr.n MT La
dysmIth Novel Way of Catching
BOer Scouts.
Events in the South African war are
Interestingly described i'll the follow
ing accounts taken from The West
minister Gazette:
The son of Mr.. L. Lunn of Kirkgate.
Wakefield, writes as follows:
Il was in company with 4 sergeant
in charge of some wounded Boer priS-
oners. One of these was lying on 4
stretcher and was being carried in
when he whipped out revolver and
aimed at an officer near. The sergeant
was carrying his gun on his shoulder
with the barrel in front of him. He
quickly dashed the revolver out of the
Beers hand. dubbed his own rifle as
he would n striking hammer and dash
ed the prisoners brains out where he
lay. He was not satisfied with one
blow, but had three. and beat the
mans head to pulp. The captain
did not see what the prisoner had
done. so ordered the sergeant's arrest.
\ comrade slipped out of the march
ing line. and. 0Sking to be excused.
said he thought the sergeant's cir
cumstances needed some explanation.
and told the captain how things stood.
The captain gave the order for the
sergeant'S release. congratulating him
and thanking him for saving his life"
The same writer continues:
Il saw Il lancer who pitied an old
Boer because of his gray hair and
whiSkerS. The lancer said that when
he pushed him out of the way he could
not give him the thrust because ut the
moment he thought of his old father
Well. the lancer got five yards or so
oast him. when the old boy aimed and
ited ut his preserver. but the bullet
missed. y conrade. who saw the act.
rode back and thrust the Boer through
the heart with his lance. giving him Il
second thrust to make sure"
Mr.. j. II. Lucas. mining engineer.
who has been Il resident in the Trans
vaal for some years, writes as to the
Boer character:
The average Boer is lazy. dirty, ig
norant slave driver. He is considered
very Industrious and thrifty. My
knowledge of the BOerS-and it is not
meager one-does not bear out this
idea. Few sons of the SOIL as they
like to call themselves In the Trans
Vaal, Will accept work in Il mine. be-
come tradeSmen or mechanics or accept
any work as wage earnerS. No; they
prefer to lie and loaf about on the
farms, mills etc. and as Il consequence
they are fast being pushed out by 9th
er nationalities. even coolies. who rent
or buy the farms and work them as
they ought to be worked. The Boer
hates progress and civilization. and
since the discovery of the goldtelds
and the influx of foreign capital his.
only ambition has been to keep the uit-
lander at work. but to fleece him for all
that is possible"
Mr.. Dick keenan,, a Llanelly man,
has written home as follows:
You can't believe how happy l was
fighting against the Beers. | felt as if
l were in a football match. There was
an officer n yard away from me who
was shot right through the back He
then got up and galloped toward the
Beers, killing three of them, after
which he rode back to us and laid
down. and he had to be carried to the
/ suppose you saw in the
papers about Belmont. That is a little
village we took. | was out riding for
pleasure here one day when l heard Il
shot from the top of hill. and two or
three Beers galloped toward me. They
could not get near me, however, and
at once reported the occurrence to an
officer. He took about 80 men with
him and went out and killed the Beers"
Writes a private of Sir George
Whites force:
For all the dirty, filthy holes, com
mend me to ysmith-nothing but
dust storms, day in and day out. In
fact ate more dust than rations. The
last night we lay there was q beauty
We struck camp in the afternoon, biv-
ouacked out at night. About p. III.
the wind seemed to collect to give us a
parting salute. 1t blew something aw-
full the whole night through. Roofs |
were blown off houses All the tins !
had been collected and placed in stacks. |
These commenced to have a race across |
The camping ground in the night. chas- !
ed by helmets, boots and light articles |
IF clothing, with heavier articles. such |
is blankets, waterproof sheets etc. in |
the rear. In fact. it sounded as If the |
nights jollificatiOn at our expense"
The greatest bravery was shown at |
by the officers and men
If the Royal Army Medical corps The
London Telegraph relates two or three
special cases:
''CartersOn, attached to the Seaforth
went into action with the
and dressed the wounds Of
several men In the fighting line En-
'Ore went within 800 yards of the en-
my and brought back n wounded man,
although a heavy fire was directed on
aim by the Beers.
Private f. Dunn OF the Grenadier !
guards, writing from Orange river,
avs:
The prisoners seemed struck with
IS. They thought we were lot OF
,oys and did not want to fight and