Evening journal., 1900-03-14
WAR PEN PICTURES
WHAT A BATTLE IS LIKE UNDER
MODERN CONDITIONS.
Grim Realities and Shocking Scenes
Nothing is Seen, No Men, No Smoke
The Noise Is Internationally
Sights and Awful Sounds.

The Noise Is Internationally
Sights and Awful Sounds.
One of our war correspondents, In
the course OF a private letter to
friend, gives some vivid pictures or
the realities of war under modern
conditions:
"As regards my own feelings In a
fight Il Is very hard to describes;
know when the thing Is all over and /
am all right | feel much happier Any
man who has been in a modern fight,
where men are being Knocked over all
around. and says he likes IT, Is a liar
In former days II must have been DIFF
ferent. The enemy could be seen. the
smoke could be seen. and rifles had
to be reloaded after every shot. Al
1000 yards you We're ia comparative
safety. The infantry, after receiving
one volley, could charge knowing
that until the enemy had loaded
again each man was practically safe.
Nowadays that Is all changed.
Nothing is seen. no man, no smoke.
The only thing seen Is the dust
thrown up by the bullets. like rain
storm on the surface Of q lake. the
artillery throwing shells. and the
the noise. which is Internal: with oc-
casional lulls Il sounds as If a million
kettledrums were being played-a con
stant tra-ra-ra, with the boom. boom
| of the big guns and the harsher sound
| OF the pumping of the Maxims, Max
| im-Nordenfeldts, and machine guns IN
general The discord is appalling, as
| every gun has different sound and
each shell going through the air hums
or whistles according TO its breed. Al.
ter a time you can tell what Is com
ing. or If tits one of your own. what
is going.
"The most terrifying of the enemy's
guns Is sort OF Hotchkiss which
fires about i've rounds at time and
throws one-pound shell. which
bursts. You are safe nowhere. as a
bullet, fired at an object at 800 yards
which missed hits and kills at 200
or 5000. II practically means with
these rides that n bullet Is never
spent until It hits something and re-.
mains there. When a bullet strikes,
You hear nothingi 1t goes right
through man and probably travell
on another 1000 yards You hear q
grunt or a gurgle, and the man col.
lapses and doubles up; sometimes IL
| ill III iHt arm VI Ath h' SPINS Ai0hAN'
and falls, and probably gets up again
as II Is only the shock which knocks
him down, and he hardly feels thp
bullet At Modder river | went down
with three guns OF the Eighteenth
Battery TO within 130O yards ant
saw five men go over. one after the
, other, but only one killed.
''The worst thing is a bullet wount
In the stomach below the navel whicl
, is mortal The pain is excruclatinp
and they howl like shot hare; /
sounds like child screaming. and /
horrible. But you see such lot o
beastly sights and hear such lot o
heartrendlng sounds that you becom
J. accustomed to them and callous
J. found a wounded BOer at Magersfon
g tein who was shot-eyidently Will
% lying down-through the top OF th
= head above the right ear; the bulle
J. had travelled through his head andou
u at the back Of his jaw on the left side
,, 1t had then broken his collar bone an
u taken a turn. travelled round his rib
? aud out at his side. He was not prett
to look at, but did not seem much tn
worse, and while l gave him waite
q he explained TO me the course Of tn
/ bullet Some Of the rec0veries are pei
p fectly marvellous. / suppose after tn
thing Is over the doctors will publis
= some Of the extraordinary cases whic
, have passed through their hands. -
y London News.