The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-01-14


s,,ond Lieutenant C. E. Kinahan of the
os,,I irish Fusiliers, writing to his faith
Mr. q P. Kinahan, Bagshott, from
sto,tsmodel Schulz, Pretoria, says
eve we're all taken prisoners, together
u-4,b Inc Gloucester Regiment and a bat
r. Of mountain artillery, which ac-
,,,rt. for us being in Pretoria SO soon.
W. went out at night to occupy hill
.h+ in the midst of the enemy in order
. nrotect Whites flank for an intended
crack next day Everybody knew that
d, he able to relieve us he would have
90 me- entirely successful, and from what
a.. hear he was not AS We were going
m me nil in the dark a small party OF
ro4rs dashed through our ammunition
r,,,tse causing them to stampede. By
his move we lost all our mules 600, and
with mem all our ammunition and artil-
larv We started fighting at a. M,
and in few hours time the Beers were
drinr on us from all four sides, until by
. o'clock. they were firing at about 200
cards range and doing fearful execution.
Van don know what it means shooting
al = Boer; he is behind a rock and all
,,,,, can ever see is his rife sticking out.
For the last hour of the fight had rifle
and ammunition which l took from d
daad man. and blazed away for all | was
worth Then we fixed bayonets and pre-
psred for a rush when the cease fire
sounded. We were all then taken pris-
oners. except two officers killed and eight
wounded and marched to the Boer dagger,
and sent off that night to a station twen-
" miles distant in wagons. While we
we're in the laager they treated us eX-
,.emey well and gave us food and to-
bacco All you read about the Beers in
ENGLAND is absolutely untrue; they are
most kind to the wounded and prisoners,
looking after them as well as their own
wounded, and anything they've got they
will give you if you ask them, even If
they deprive themselves. We came up
to Pretoria in first-class sleeping carriages
and the way they treated US was most
considerable, feeding us and giving us cot
fec every time we stopped. The day we
arrived we took quarters en- the race
i course but we have been moved into
fine brick building, with baths, electric
light etc They provide us with every
4 thing from clothes down to tooth brushes.
4 They also feed us, and we are constantly
getting presents of vegetables and cigars
from private people. In fact, we can
+ have everything we like except our lib
i erty: for some reason or other they won't
h a, present give us parole, and we are sur
4 rounded by sentries. There are close upon
fifty officers in this building, and they
\ have got any number of wounded ones in
different places. They say they won't ex
change the officers at any price
A letter, dated Nov. %, received from
Alexander and Robert Carlyle, Argyll and
4 sutherland Highlanders, addressed to
their father in Dumfries regarding the
battle of Modder river, says:
. Bullets and shells were falling among
us and going over our heads in hundreds,
A IL began at a. M, and it was between
S and 9 p. m. before it finished, and it
A never slackened one moment. The Beers
had a s lendid position and trenches, and
4 if our troops had been in them an enemy
would never have got within a thousand
+ Yards The Beers lost heavily and we are
bUryins their horses lying in the river and
4 on its banks in hundreds. We have been
over two days without food and on foot
all the time We are lying in a farm and
have nothing for it but to steal whatever
4 We can lay hands upon. 1 caught a hen
and Bob got potatoes in a field, and these
\ are being cooked in an old can. The rest
ar killing pigs, goats or anything"
The writer's have been missing since the
Magersfontein battle.
From Reynolds Newspaper
A letter has been received from Gunner
Alfred Beadnall of Scarborough of the
4 SiEty-secon1 b. r. f. A, dated from
Oranga river, Nov. -, in which he says:
How [ often wish never had enlisted,
what with the hardships, such as half
starved, and we have not had over five
hours sleep at time. Perhaps We have
just got our topcoats on the ground and
tried 10 catch a few minutes wink when
those d Beers have come lodging
about, when we have had to stand to our
asrr hon ut
stretch, without anything to eat l am
JUS about sick of this life. l often wish |
vas back at Mr. -.
You could hardly realize what an aw-
iul scene a battlefield is. some poor fell
10" asking you for a drink as you pass
nm Perhaps some will never ask for wa
Ter any more. The most painful thing to
see was a Dutch spy who was caught,
ana he was tried and sentenced to be
SAot and the poor fellow was marched to
"'s ms own grave, and when he had fin
Eaed 1t he was stood over it and then
WE'VE soldiers marched out and had to
llck up a rifle out of a group of twelve.
ihere We're six of these loaded and six I'M
ioaaea so none of them knew who shot
nm and the poor chap never said a word;
was all over in a few minutes.
We're just about to eat our humble
o7 (which is a hard biscuit and a drop
" Wa'e) when the alarm sounded and we
Went into action, and we had not been
o'' "oout twenty minutes when there was
w. officer out of the northumberland Flu
.ieIS shot through the heart and another
h'' shot and died in the saddle and three
No.e wounded. That was on Friday
uso' and We buried them on Saturday
with military honors. Things are
~ Near out here. We pay'4l2d a pint for
"'r' ana we can only get two pints a day,
80 you can rest contented that we don't
S.' drunk We had a very bad time of Il
a. sea. We lost nearly forty' horses aud
W. nave had ten die out here; so we did
H'' no so we'll | shall be thankful when
-eO INTO barracks, if ever we do so, az
'Hau have a bed to sleep on. Ii will
gul'e a change from sleeping on the
." pare ground and only your topccat
" cover you from the wind and rain. |
r"'9e you have been scanning The pa
every night to see if you could see
M news about me, but we are in coln-
n.y. "n're all communication is cut off and
can only take letters every fortnight
IT, ~ axes it over a month to come. so
re. VI be close on Christmas when you