The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-06-09

nae sWerv-u between myself and them
~ er nan n had fallen Then they cav
me tal forward In the saddle, and they
knew ! WAS hit. A few strides later one
or hsn had sent a bullet through nv
horses head. and he rolled on top of me.
win Craze over the ris,, h temple es sa5
badly Injured shoulder Truly az The
| shielded me-"
For about a month Mr. Hales was
prisoner In the hands of the Beers. be-
ing moved from laager ~ lager along
the lighting line:
| Every moment of that time was 90
| traught with Interest that I fancy I
picked up more OF the real nature OF the
noers Than should have done under or
dlnsry circumstances in a couple of
years. I was moved from larger to La ger
along their fighting line: saw them AT
WORK with their rifles. saw them come in
h ,r4m more than one tough skirmish,
mem, saw Them when they had triumph
81 ana saw them when they had been
whipped; saw them going 30 their farms
4 70 De welcomed by wife and children: saw
them leaving home with a >wife's sobs in
their ears and children's loving kisses ON
/ their lips. j scw some OF these old gray
Erimly. with knitted brows and ferrsi1
| clenched taWs saw some OF their heard
less boys sobbing their souls out as the
ih blood dyet the African heath. I saw
some passing over the boriar-line which
divides life and death. with a ring of
starn-browed comrades around them.
leaning upon their rifles. while brother
! or a father knelt and pressed the hand
OF him whose feet were on the very
threshold ~ the land beyond the shad-
ows. l saw Others smiling UP into the
faces OF women-the poor pain-dravn
faces OF the dying looking less haggard
and worn than the ansuish-stricken feat
ure- or their wOmsnhood who tneIt To
comtort them In that last awful bour--in
the hour which divides time from eter-
nifty, The sunlight OF lusty life from the
shadows Of unsearchable death. Those
things have seen. and I'm the cars of
English men and women let me say, as
one who knows and fain would speak the
plain, ungilded truth concerning friend
and Zoe. that not alone beneath the Brit
lsh hsgs are heroes found. Not alone at
the breasts OF British matrons are h~nve
men sucked; for. as my soul lfvsth
whs the< their cause BE- just or unjust
whether the right or the wrong OF Ants
vsr be with them-whether the blood Of
the hundred. that have fallen since the
hrrf rifle spoke defiance shall speak for
or AGAINST them at ths Day OF judy
nent-they at least know how TO die
asd when a man has given his life for
the ca1iss he believes In, ne IL proved
worthy even OF his worst enemy's re-
spect And u seems 60 me- that the Brit
deeds. wrought the world over, from
Africa To Iceland. can well AFFORD to hon
Zee OF these rude. untutored tiller. OF
the soil have seen them die"
MFR. Hales thus describes an inoidsnt
which. he says. will stay With me while
memory lasts:
They placed me under a wagon be-
Meath mass OF overhangins rocks for
safety, and there they brought two
wounded men. One was a man OF fifty,
n hard old veteran. With n complexion
az dark as "a New Zealand Maori. The
beard that framed his rugged face was
three-fourths gray: his hands were as
rough and knotted by opsn-sir toll az
the hoof5 or a working steer. He looked
what he was-a Boer of mixed Dutch and
French lineage. Later on I got into con-
versstion with him. and he told me a
good deal OF his life. His father was de-
scendsd from one of the old Dutch fami- !
lies who had emigrated TO South Africa
In search OF religious liberty in the old
days when the country was "a wilderness.
Ills mother had come In an unbroken
line from one OF the noble families of
; rance who fled from home IA tie days
Of the terrible persecution OF the HUI |
guenots. lie himself had been many |
things-hunter; trader. farmer and fight
tiver, and he had fought against our
people. The younger man was his son, |
n tall. fair fellow, scarcely more than a |
stripping. and ! had no need 10 he a
prophet TO tell that his very hours were
numbered Both men had been wounded |
by one OF our shells. and Il was pitiful |
To wstch them as they lay side by side, |
the elder holding the hand OF the younger |
In loving clasp, whibs with his other |
hand he stroked the boyfsh face with |
RssturS that we're infinitely pathetic. |
Just as the stars were coming out that |
night between the clouds that fOated |
over VA. the Boer boy sobbed his young /
life out, ana all through the long watc 1es |
of that mournful darkness the father tay |
with his dear laddie's hand in his. The |
pain OF his own wounds must have been !
dreadful. but heard no moan OF an |
Rul-h from his lips. When at the dawn |
ing they came 10 take tho dead boy |
from the living man, the stern old war
riOr simply pressed his srizsled lips to !
the cold face. and then turned his gray |
beard to the hard earth and made no
further sign"
OF the Beer hospital at Blosmfontein.
to which he va aftervsrd taken. he
writes
The Beers have made most exssllsnt
provision for the treatment of wounded
after battle. All that science can do 10
done. Their medical men fight AS hard
20 save "A British life, or a British limb. |
as medical men In England would battle !
TO save life or limb of n private person. !
A, the BIoemfontein Hospital everything !
IL as near perfection from "a medical and
surgical point as any sane man can hope |
10 see. M IL an extensive institution. one |
end In set apart for the Bosr wounded. |
the other for the British. NO difference
Is made between the two In regard 10
accommodation, food, medicai attend
ance. nursing. or visiting.
Mr.. Hales made u his business 20 get
about among the private soldiers, TO aues-
ton them concerning their treatment by
the Beers. and In every solitary instance
they declared that they had been grandly
cared for;
Not by the hospital nurses only. not
bv the officials alone, but by the very
men whom they were fighting. Our Tom !
mics are not the men TO waste praise !
ON any men unless 10 IL we'll deserved, but
this liz Just about how Tommy surns up
the situation: The Boer In q rough
looking beggar in the field; e don't wear
no uniform. nd e don't know enough
about soldiers drill to keep himself
warm. but e can fight I'm is own bloom
IN style. which Amt our style. IL ed
ceme out on the veldt nd tight us our
way we'd lick i'm every time, but when
N comes 90 fghtin' In the ppjes, why,
the Boer II u dandy, nd III the rest OF
Europe don't think so. only let 'em have
~ try at i'm nd see. But when e. has
rhot you % acts axe blessed Christian.
md bears no malice. 'E's like bloom
In south Sea cocoanut, not much TO
look at outside. but white md sweet IN
side when yer know i'm. It's when
you're wounded nd n prisoner that you
get "a chance to know I'm. Seer And
Tommy II about correct In his Judg-