The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1900-04-28

No Smelling on Sunday, and Thfs
Beer Observance of the Day Is a
Blesaing to the Harassed Garri-
son Shells Thrown Into the
Womer.'sS Camp sketch of Col.
Eaden-PoweIl, the Towns De-
fender ts
rs HAT most dramatic of all The
#N// features of the war, the siege
~ of Mafeking, continues to oc-
Il cupy the first place in the at
tention Of the British people,
and every scrap Of information
that comes from the beleaguered little
garrison is welcomed. There are some ex-
pectations i'll official as we'll as genera
circles at this time of writing that news
of relief by F'lunlers or some other force
Will come soon. 1t is certain that no dis
aster in South Africa would cause such
deep and Widespread disanp and
grief In England las the failure to save
brave band. A budget of
interesting details of the siege, which
somehow has found its way through the
GORDON of Beers and overland to the sea,
has at length reached London 1t brings
down the story Of the siege to Jan. 20,
two long months ago. Later news has
come by cable, but it is the bald scrappy
intelligence. The writer's of these COM
.nunications are Lady Sa1 ah Wilson and
the correspondent of the Times, and from
it thu following para rapl1s al e. taken:
"A feature of the town at present is,its
bonbproofs or shelters from shell fire.
From rough holes, hastily dug and COW
cred over. with, deal boards and earth.
which We're at first constructed at the ar
rival of the monster tCreusot,. Boer gun
which fires projectile of "a pounds,
refugees have been improved uoons till
they are now luxurious chambers, rooted
over with best steel rails and sandbags
Ventilated and lighted by round windows
and large drain pipes.
Mine, for instance measures IS feet by
10 feet and is s feet high with boarded
1loor covered with mating and paneled
wood walls painted white With three
large portholes for windows, it much re-
seno.es the cabin OF a yacht and its eff
c;Scy mas been thoroughly tested, as. it is
think, the only. shelter in the town on
the top OF which a 94-pouEd shell actually
e6oicded-Wlthout even making the
glasses jingle. or disturbing various war
tropnies hungson the walls inside AS an
example OF Athe curious effects of these
smells and the ma rVelolls escapes record
60, may mention that a frag1ne 1T of this
one went through a room of Mr.. w ell.s
aoJacent house, taking a canary and ca ge
WITH with it, hrolgf The wi oW, and leaving
them at some distance, while another
piece went into a house across the street
making mincemeat of a sewing machine
ana a new dress a young lady was max
Ing, and which she had left but three
minutes before. Except this misfortune
ana the death of the canary, no harm was
oone-out, alas! the same tale cannot Al
ways be told.
. Scarcely a day passes without Soma
White man or native being added TO the
already sadly long list Of those in this
tlny community! who have been marty rs
TO this one-sided bombardment Women
and children have not escaped scot free.
only sis morning shell exploded in
the mems lager, the locality of which
the Beers know perfectly well-killing.
cnriously enough a little Dutch girl Of
twelve years Of age, holding baby the
latter was uninjured), besides fatally in
juring a Kaffir girl
= 5,
our losses among the soldiers--B. S. A.
+ r British South African Police) and
cape police in the various and gallant
s .'ls when haze been all duly recorded
in the papers-civilians and innocent IN
dlV nv Ia.s are struck down and terribly
mutilated, suddenly and almost without
warming. say almost, for when the big
gun IS loaded the lookout at headquart-
ers, from whence all her movements can
&pe accurately watched, gives the alarm
py sounding a deep-toned bell, and when
the gunners go to fire her this is supple
nented by the shril tinkle Of a still
smaller bell-not much louder than our
ordinary muffin bell-but which can be
distinctly heard in this clear atmosphere.
After this second warning about three
seconds Selapse before the explosion.
Apropos of this wise measure, which
has been the means Of saving many lives.
the town dogs have by now fully grasped
its meaning, and whenever the bell rings
begin to bark loudly in all quarters: so
That by chance one fails to hear the
hasty shrill, tone of our trusty little
friend the dogs voices in unison cannot
fai. 70 warn one to take shelter
me dogs, indeed, play a great part
IN the siege-one belonging to the base
commandant has been wounded no less
than three times; another, a rough Irish
terrier, has accompanied the Protectorate
regiment In all its engagements; third
anuses itself by running after the small
Maxim shells, barking loudly and irving
hard te, retrieve pieces; while the resident
commissioners dog is a prudent animal.
and whenever she hears the alarm bell
tears into the bomb proof attached to
her masters redoubt and remains there
until the explosion is over
What are even more to be feared thar
the monster guns projectiIes are the
shells from the high velocity Krupp gun,
for which no warning can be given, as
the flash and explosion are practically
simultaneous, and the poisonous little l.
FOUNDER Maxim shells, which seem to
come everywhere, and are generally fred
in threes or tours. AS the latter whistle
overhead the sound resembles that of
a very long cattle whip sharply cutting
the air, cracked and manipulated by mas
ter hand; very different is the sickening
whirr of big she'll, followed by the dull
sthud and crash denoting where it has
dealt death and destruction. At least 100
OF the 94-pounder shells have been fired
into this undaunted little town, and 1T is
computed in all certainly 5000 missiles
of different kinds of destructive power
from the Boer artillery have found their
billets here There is something very
scowardly in the fairly regular evening
shell from the big gun, which is usually
loaded and aimed at shutdown and fired
off between 8 and 8 p. M, or even later,
over a partially sleeping town, very early
hours being kept here, when the Beers
must know men and women may be
killed indlscriminate1y
IS. For this last shot wearied women and
hiIdren generally wait before leaving
their shelters and seeking their beds in
their various houses but sometimes as