The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-14

All the pains and lahors of a trying cams
pagn, ana they showed Il, 1--WE march
ed and counter-marched and marched
again. said "A private of the LeicesteE
Regiment, as he sat shivering with agua
in his cot land them just the day before
the battle of Glencoe, / fell sick. did
not want to come back, but l had to-
and that was whot all the men said.
Give us half chance" they added,
"aud back we 40 tomorrow" Willing
as the poor fellows may be- they could
not do it. There We're twos and threes
from every conceivable regiment-Hus@
sar, with one spur apiece; Lanccrs in for
age eaps; Borderers and light Infantry
men: men of the Army Service Corps anR
gunners, nearly all of them In khaki and
long coats. And we've nothing bus
what we stand up in" they said
They were very exclusive. The gun4
ners talked with gunners, ana the caval+
rymen to. cavalrymen. They seemed verv
vague about everything; they did not even
know that they were bound for Herbert's
Hospital, Woolwich. They were intense-
ly eager for information they had noe
heard Of Belmont ana Modder river aud
they drank in the details eagerly And
when they went on deck out Of the darta
Of the quarters improvised for them in
the upper hold, one saw how III aud frail
they were Many could not walk, ana
some staggered down che decks lika
drunken men, and nearly all of them seems
ed in dream.
Nearly every climatic complaint they
can nave" said the ships medical officer.
nodding over the taffrail toward the shiv-
ering froup, covering under the lee Of
the ambulance wagons.
There were men suffering from chronic
dysentcry and in evident pain; there werd
men with eyes burning in their heads, and
| hands so white and weak and frail that
they could not move their kilt bagk. Those
with flaming patches in their cheeks and
awful coughs telling pitiful tales of con-
sumption, and men bent to double and
twisted all out Of shape with rheumatism.
Aud there they sat for upward of aI
hour in the drenching rain, shiverng and
coughing in their himsy khaki, and yea
no word Of complaint came from their pal-
lid lips.
Saddest of all were the lunatics, of whom
there were eight. Two of them were In
the padded cells, unshaved and unkempt.
One of them was sane enough TO hide his
face for shame In the padding when othen
men passed by The other sat staring
with mad eyes through the port hole az
the blank dock wall.
In addition to the soldiers were thirty
men Of The Powerful inYalided when she
was still on the China station. And be-
Sides there were many wives and chill
dren of men now in South Africa. They
| heard with frightened eyes Of Lord Me-
| thuen's losses. Some of them had hus-
| Bands in his column.
Several ladies were also on board, the
| wives of officers, and some of them have
come home literally without a penny piece
| in their pockets.
| The two officers who were in charge OF
| the men We're the only wounded on board.
| Capt Forbes OF the Imperial Light Horse
| had his shoulder shattered by a Mauser
bullet at Eandslaagte and even now can
scarcely stand Lieut.. Manley, the other
officer, was struck by a piece of she'll
just as the same action was commence
ing. bui he pluckily put bandage round
| his head and went through the battle.
| i've only a very hazy recollection OF
| the fight" he said 10 a Daily Mail rep
resentative. 81 know my battery shelled
| the Beers. and that they shelled us; that's
all l. can say for certain Where am Z
| going now?" he continued, and craned his
neck TO see round the corner of the patch
he was wearing over his right eye, with
the pathetic action Of a half-blind man.
| why, to Woolwch 70 be certified mt [
am sailing for the front on Saturday, OF
course" and he steadled himself against
| the table with a shaking hand.
A brave idea, but an impossible one.