Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1900-03-16
AFRICAN WAR INCIDENTS
Account Of an Escape From
Ladysmith.
EXPERIENCES OF AN EEGLIsHNAy.

One of Reuters CorrespondestsT Telis
OF His Adventure. ON the Way ia
Durbsn-How lie Swan the Tsseis.
hop.
Mr. Hutton un. uf Reuters war cor
i,.>pondcuts. has arrived here, having
,scapcd from I.adysmith. which he len
on the luih inst. writes the London
Times correspondent AT Durham under
date OF Feb. IA. lie gives the follow.
ing account OF his experiences;
After the failure Of General Buffers
third attempt Ia reach I.adysnith |
determined to endeayor to effect my
escape. Having got the necessary per
mission from General White. | set ont
on foot at half past : in the evening ef
Feb. To- accompanied by nati"e
guide, bound for Chieveley. We got
along without difficulty until We reach.
ed a point two miles east OF the base ~
CRsar's camp, where we came across
a Boer picket, to which We got tI0
near. They challenged. and we prompt
ly fell on our Si0machs behind soile
biz rocks Three bullets Immediately
came whistling through the air, but
fortunately above our heads, We lay
quiet for 80 minutes and then cautiors
" Crawled on our hands and kuees FOR
over half a mile, expecting every mo-
ment to he followed by q volley of
Mauser bullets. But all was quiet
save for the distant hum OF converse.
ton. which could he heard in the still.
ness Of the night proceeding from the
direction of the eneIny's lines. At last
we rose and made for Peters station
over most terrible country. up and
down tremendously steep hills covered
with stanrs. We kept closely to the
katfir paths. Our progress was nalu-
rally slow. At . o'clock we reached
Peters station, where there were two
Boer camps. Here we had most anx.
ious time. We We're again challenged
and again had to crawl over rocks and
stones for more than q mile until we
were uiiIlt tltal VI lnt tIt1ilt
I'VE had now reached slightly better
country. though thickly studded with
thorn bushes, and made good progress.
At q O'Clock we arrived al a friendly
kaffir's hut, two miles from the tn
gela, completely exhausted, having
/ era awled and walked a distance of -
miles. Here lay hidden inside the
| hut the whole Of Sunday. as the Beers
could be seen in small bodies patr0lling
| the plain tie Dugh which had passed
/ the previous night | left the hut at
/ I o'clock on Sunday evening and ar.
! rived at a friendly kraal on the banks
| Of the Tugela. where i was told that
| it was not safe to go on. as the Dutch.
men had been inQuirng farther up the
/ river for the Englishman who had left
| Ladysmith. | remained concealed in
side Kaffir hut for "A hours. by
peeping through the door | could see
the enemy shooting buck on an ada.
cent hill. To make matters still worse,
three OF them rode straight for the
kraal where | was hiding. My native
guide rushed into the hut and covered
me up with blankets, and there ! lay
Beers asking for me. They stopped
outside the hut and demanded milk,
which they got. They then rode quiet
ly away.
AT o'clock on Monday night |
crept silently down to the Tugels. and,
| with tbn hnln of small hnn1la pf
rushes twisted together into a shape
somewhat resembling that of torle-
do, swan across the river. After dress
ing, again moved on through swampy
ground swarming with snakes and
other reptiles until big hill overlook
ing the Tugela was reached. Once on
the top | could see in the bright moon.
light. away in the distance, hill over.
looking our destination. From kraal
to kraal we travelled. continually hav.
ing 10 take long circuitous routes to
avoid the enemy. When day broke. it
was a great relief to see the guide
point to hill and say: There Is
Chievelty. Shall be there in three
hours | arrived at Chieveley at {
O'Clock on the morning Of the 18Th,
After reporting myself to Colonel
Saudhach and Ma jor Jones of the intel,
ligence department, took the 10
o'clock train for Durham"
Winston Churchill relates the follow
ing incident in the London Morning
Post:
The day before the attack on Spiou
toon bridge. | heard my name called
and saw the CHEEKY face' Of boy
lad known at Harrow, a smart, clean
looking youEg gentleman, quite the
right material for irregular horse. He
had just arrived and pushed his way
to get Il job. This morning they told
the that an unauthorized press CORE
spondent had been found among the
killed on the summit. At least they
thought at first it was a press CORE
spondent. for no one seemed to know
forward on his rife. dead, A broker
pair Of tieldglasses. shattered by the
, same shell that had killed their owner
bore the name Of 'McCorQnodale.' The
name and the fact flew together iu m,
mind. 1t was the last joined subalterr
of Thorneycroft's mounted infantry
joined in the evening shot at dawn,
Poor, gallant young Englishman
He had soon got his job The grea
sacrifice had been, required OF th'
queens latest recruit
Io0EInu Rack ward