Omaha daily bee., 1900-02-09

GIimpScs Of the south African Frncas
Nv the IrMsmr.

~
The country In and around Lad smith rs
a theatcr # hucnan sacrifice, len forler
times, when native savcEery held sway, the
infamous Chief Chuka had his kraal there
ard it was no uncommon thing to have 1000
OF his slaves slaughtered in q day for his
amusement and to satisfy his lust for blood.
civilized operations there differ from savage
methods in the manner Of the killing, not
for amusement, but to appease the appetite
FOR land.
London Truth is authority for the follow
ing incident, which recalls the determination
that often developed between the blue and
the gray in our civil war: "a band OF Boer
ambulance men met after one OF the recent
engagements in South Africa an English
patrol. The Beers were thirsty and asked
the men Of the patrol to give them a little
water. With pleasure they replied, If you
will drink it to the health of the queen,
The Beers, after consulting together, replied
that they had no objection TO drinking to
the health Of the queen, for whom they felt
much respect, provided that they might
add to the toast. and to the destruction o.
Cecil Rhodes as they regarded the latter as
the cause why men who had no ill-feeltng
toward each other were fighting. To this
the patrol willingly assented, and Joined
themselves in the toast thus eNpounded.'
\ correspondent of the London Chronicle
draws this pen picture of a retreat: Soon
after l o'clock up %cantercd the volunteers
Imperial Light Horse and Border Mounted
infantry-and they were sent forward, dis
mounted, TO take the main position In front
and occupy a siege hill on our left. To the
front and left they went gaily on, but they
failed.
AT their approach the rocks we had so
pcrsistently shelled cracked and
from end to end with rifle fire. The Beers
had hidden behind the ridge and now crept
back again. Perhaps no infantry could
have taken that position only from the front.
l watched the volunteers advance upon it
in extended lines across a long green slope,
studded with ant hills. | could see the putfs
of dust where bullets fell thick around their
feet. 1t was an impossible task. Some got
behind a cactus hedge, some lay down and
fired, some hid behind ant-hills or little
banks. Suddenly that moment came when
all is over but the running, The men be-
gan shifting uneasily about. a few turned
round. then more. At first they walked and
kept some sort of line. Then some began
to run. Soon they were all running, isolated
or in groups Cf two or three. And all the
time those puffs of dust and then a man
would spring into the air or spin around
or lust luTtn forward WIN dEIlS Uul-
spread, a mere yellowish heap. hardly to be
distinguished from an ant-hill. l could see
many a poor fellow wandering hither and
thither as though lost. as is common in all
retreats. 4 man would walk sideways. then
run back a little, look around, fall. An
ether came by. The first evidently called
out and the other gave him a hand. Both
stumbled on together, the puffs of dust
splashing round them. Then down they fel!
and were quiet"
CAPTAIN Hensley of the British army, writ
ing OF the first battle on the Tugela river in
Leslie's Weekly, relates this incident: Il
ought to tell you of one magnificent bit of
pluck on the part of the Beers, the most
conspicuous | have seen them show. AS |
told you, our men were under cover behind
the wall and when they climbed over they
had to cross a space of about fifteen yards
before they got under cover of the cliff.
AS they came over the wall eight Beers in
waterproofs, which blew about like flags,
stood up on the sky line, regardless or per-
haps in contempt of our rifle fire (remem-
bering 'S) and fired down at our chaps as
one would at a rabbit boiling down hill.
Five of them went down almost at once.
OF course we had to be cautious for fear of
hitting our own men. but the remaining
three seemed to bear a charmed life; yet
they, too, went down, shot, in time"
In no way is the present state of feeling
in England more plainly shown than by the
attitude of the London comic papers. Before
the outbreak of war and during the early
hostilities the humorous papers discarded all
other matter in favor of the jokes on 'Oom
Paul's whiskeTs'' and the praying proclivi-
ties of the burghers. Now the subject is
hardly touched upon and the only cartoon
found in last weeks papers was one from
London Judy and the joke seems to be on
the English. 1t represents President Kru-
ger and his generals seated around a din
ner table at Ladysmith. Several seats are
vacant. Kruger is looking at the door as If
expecting more arrivals. The cartoon asks:
When Are the Expected Guests to Arrive 2"
It would be useless to send out an arm.
to fight without providing something for the
men to eat. As much as possible is always
obtained on the spot, but in the present
case John Bull has not depended too much
upon South African supplies, The govern
ment placed an order for 5000, 900 cans Of
meat at one time. American meat packers
reaped the benefit of most of this. Two
hundred tons CT tea, a few dozen tons II
cocoa. -four, biscuit and many other things
were also included in England's first grocery
order. The horses have to be taken into
consideration, so fodder. beans and other
necessaries receive attention at the last mo-
ment. Extreme care in placing orders for
supplies has to be exercised. To run short
Of any Of the necessaries in an enemy's
country would be an easy way to assist the
Beers.
The Boer reatment OF war prisoners IS
forcing commentator now even from the
English papers. Here is an instance Of their
humanity. twenty-five wounded officers and
men captured at the Nicholson's Mex dis
aster were handed over unconditionally to
the British medical staff by the Beers. These
men have since recovered and are new pro-
ceeding to the front again.
SOMEWHAT Personal.
There is a suspicion that both parties in
Kentucky would like somebody to help them
let go.
The president of the paper trust lucidly
explains that print paper is higher because
it costs more.