The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1900-01-17

ly, but their open formation and the i'm
possibility Of distinguishing officers
saved them from the concentrated fire
that had deprived the naval detachment
of their leaders, and little by little, the
thin line of khaki crawled up to the top.
Storming the Crest.
''The storming line was now so near
the crest that the guns could only be di-
rected upon the Beers enfilading the po-
sitiion from the spurs of the kopje on
the left and almost in a calm. Lieut.. S.
c. Taylor, closely followed by Lieut..
Jones Of the Marines, reached the outer
works OF the Sanger and made their
way over. In the next half minute fifty
men rtumbled over and Immediately
rushed forward to clear the position in
the rear. This was, however, stubbornly
held for quarter Of an hour, more per-
haps as screen than anything else, to
cover the retreat of the Beers.
above, the hilltop was also dripping
with blood; not a bowlder escaped it's
splash of crimson, and the innumerable
spllnters and chips of iron stone blocks
indicated the terrific nature OF our fire.
Most of the dead or wounded Beers were
carried off-ffty of the more severely
wounded were found in their hospital,
quarter of mile away-but here and
there dead man proved that here the
TranSvaal had sent it's men down for
the first time to meet the oncoming col
umn."
Blooming Hailstorm of Bullets.
The Daily Telegraph's correspondent
dllates upon the daring Of the marines.
The marines numbered 1S3," he writes,
land every man was in the fighting line,
n nj thn al a M
Der hit was 92-exactly so per cent. Not
a particle of cover was to be had, save
three small ant hills, and the Beers had
accurately measured the ranges of those
from their position. One gallant fellow,
describing the fire to an officer, said
Yes, sir; the bullets came middling
thick, and while actually making the
ascent he remarked to his next man that
it was like blooming hailstorm.' Each
of the three companies had only one Off
Ger; two of those were soon hi5 and the
commanding officer shot dead Ser
geants at once supplied their places and
Of these 70 per cent. We're hit. Four
bullets went through the clothes and he'll
met of one officer and a fifth. knocked
away the magazine of his rife. That
was 'middling thick as Tommy said''
!, Zone detachment of sixteen marines"
writes the Standards correspondent,
who had got around the corner of the
kopje away from the. others, and were
without an officer, We're not certain about
the order to; clear the kopje. One of the
men shouted: Let's at the devils, and
they rushed to the top, losing ten out of
their number In the ascent"
Beers Unclean aud Hungry.
Julian Ralph, writing for the Daily
Mail, says: Let me describe the top of
one of the small hills in the Belmont en-
gagelnent, the one in storming which the
brave .Grenadiers suffered part of their
f6earfully heavy loss. On this kopje the
Boer commando had compelled the poorer
men of his commando to live for weeks
L took it that these were men Of the sery-
ant and laborer class. Their dead. whose
untidy and neglected bodies l saw seated
as the British bullets and bayonets found
them, confirmed this theory, for they
We're poorly clad, unshaven, unclean and
hungry looking. They were of that class
of Boer whom James Bryce describes as
having started at Seventeenth century
standard and deteriorated for 300 years.
knew when | saw such men among the
dead, the wounded and the prisoners,
how 1t could be that white men could
misuse the white flag and mock the sa-
cred purpose of the Geneva cross The
1000, the dirt and the extraordinary pro-
fusion OF cartridge wrappings were all
mixed together, but the earth and disor-
der were not SO offensive as the grimy,
beastly condition of the dead
Come to Battle in Carriages.
IF / could write steadily for week
land II there were no such strict censor
ship as letters mel, | could not exhaust
the list OF peculiarities, eccentricities,
anomalies and novelties of this war
waged against us by undisciplined force
of rebels who are soldiers by instinct
and farmers or cattle-raisers for live
fihood. But [ could not in all that week
state more astonishing fact that at
some, OF these battles the better class of
Beers. have come to battle in their car
rlages,. like gentlemen driving to the Der
by at home. and, having done their best.
have retired in the same way, leaving |
their vassalS to cover their retreat
In lighter strain the Pail Mall Ga |
zette's correspondent at Frere camp. un- |
der date OF December described camp |
life.4a..,s...,s-e
THE tedium of camp life has heen
relieved iby surprise visits paid TO various
Dutch farms whose owners have been
suspected of completely in the rising No |
looting was allowed. the orders being
very strict en- tbs point. Despite, how |
ever. the strictness with which these
most necessary orders have been carried !
out. the return of some raiai.ig parties !
rather resembled a borGrf foray of the |
olden time. The verb to commander |
covers multitude of petty larcenies'
A Picture of Mieery.
From the Ladysmith correspondent OF
the Daily Chronicle comes a grim touch |
of besieged misery: 'Disheveled women
are peering out of their dens in the rocks |
and holes in the sand. They crawl in in |
the evening lightly shaking the dirt from
their petticoats and the sand from their
back hair: they rub the children's faces
round with the tails of their gowns
They tempt scraps of flames to take the
chill off the yellow water for the chill |
dren's tea After srndown steady |
Scotch drizzle settles down upon us.
ROBBED INDIANA BANK.