The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-02-23
SIEGE or KIMBERLEY
HOW THE LONG ISOLATED iNHA6-
fTANTS HAVE SUFFERED.

Horsenesh the Daily Diet For Two
Months-PeOpIe Danced aud sang
with Joy When French Rode into
the Town.
4 dispatch to London from Modder
River says that when General French
force got to within eight miles OF htm-
berley the garrison there photographers
thar the Beers were Smelling the town.
| In reply to this the garrison received .
message that French was coming 10 their
! feief Pho besieged thought that this
was Boer ruse and photographed the
query. what regimentT' The reply they
received removed all suspicion.
Accounts of the privations Of those
| who were besieged In Kimberley are
coming in. Numbers of the people are
now tiocking to the ModdeF River camp.
! The women and children are weak from
| their sufferings during the siege, which.
according to The Chronicles correspond
ent. rivaled that of Paris. For 90 days
horSehesh was the daily diet Of the in
habitants of the town. ALI meal had
been consumed. and the horses were
! starving. Those which, died from starva-
ton were seized and deyourcd by the
| Kaffirs.
| 1t was after the Beers Brought up their
| 100 FOUNDER that the siege became worst.
| This gun had range of eight miles, and
| il was placed at Kamfersdam, four
miles distant. 1t pounded with segment
| and shiapncf shell daily. Women and
children were killed in this ugly lombard
ment, even tho~e living in excavations
| falling in heaps. These burrows afford
ed security against ordinary artillery.
hut not against the 100 FOUNDER.
Consequently most of the women and
children, by Cecil Rhodes order, We're
sent down into the mines and distributed
along the various levels. Many saw
| the sun on Friday for the first time In
weeks. They came to the surface pale
and weird. looking like inhabitants of
another world Nevertheless it was this
residence in the mine workings that pre-
vented IL heavy loss of life.
The DE Beers company did everything
i'm it's power for the noncombatants. Mr..
Rhodes personally rendered Invaluable
help. Indeed. but for his encouragement
and infectious good spirits it is doubtful
whether the town would have held out so
long.
A truly remarkable achievement was
the manufacture of the % FOUNDER gln
known as Long Cecil" It's maker was
am American named George Labram.
He was recently killed by a shell from
the Beers big gun, which burst i'm Ills
room in the Grand hotel. Long Cecil
was rified. and it fired either shrapnef or
common shells. 1t was simply Invaluable
in helping to keep the Beers at IL dis
lance.
1t is easy to realize that the GORE
spondents do not eXaggerate when they
say that General French's arrival drew
forth wild demonstrations and rejoicings
from the inhabitants and that they sang
and danced in Il delrium OF joy for half
an hour before General French entered
the town near the Premier mine. The
relief was mot expected the people NOT
having even heard of the British adj
vance. AZ signaler saw the columns on
the move aud recognized it as being Brit
ish. Tile enemy's forces were melting
away and General French'Ss cavalry
were coming up extended along II front of
ten miles,. MIR. Rhodes rode out of the
town. but went 10 the wrong flank, thus
missing General French as he entered
On Friday the British horses were
nearly dead from the effects of their ter
rble march. but Notwithstanding this
General French marched north i'll the di-
rection of Dronfield. hoping to capture
the big Boer gun that had so harassed
Kimberley. bat he did not succeed.
The engineers repaired the railway.
and the first train from the south entered
the town on Monday evening.