The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-01-07
DIFFICULTIES OF
FIGHTING BOERS
Heat a Serious Factor in
the Campalon.
JEWELLERS IN CAVES.
The Beseiged in tadysmith Reduced
10 This Condition.
,NFERIORITY OF ARTILLERY.
Bocr Shrapncl is Fused for 5,oc0
Yards, Whereas Thator the British
is Ineffective After a Range OF
400 Has Been Attained.
Mauscrs Inferior to
Lec-Mctfords,
iNFERloRITY OF ARTILLERY.

Cor, espondence of the Associated Press.}
LONDON. Dec. 3O.-'The men were
c-owdirs around the engines in line, OIL
feriur the drivers fabulous prices for a
cup of water" writes the Globe cor
respondent, describing the close Of the
battle al Ensain. but it was useless.
The drivers had been threatened with
court-Inar,ial If they supplied any. as
there was great difficulty in Keeping sutll-
cient supply for the engines. L saw one
soldier lying HAT on the line under an
engine, catching a few drops, in his mouth
from a steam pine"
Such extracts as this from the mailed
descriptions OF the fighting in South Al
rica, gives some faint idea of the conui-
tions under which it IS being carried
on Belated as these letters are, By The
time they appear in English papers they
throw much needed l!sht upon The cam
paign, 50 barrenly reported over the CEN
Sored cables.
The heat that drove British soldiers to
drink gratefully from the exhaust pipe OF
an engine after seven hours fighting at
Enslin where they lost 191 killed ana
wounded. has proved q serious factor III
the condition of the wounded. Surgeon
Makins, formerly of st. Thomas Hospital.
writes, under date of the field hospital
at 0r17Ee River:
lg5 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.
During an eight days stay some GOO
wounded men have passed through the
hands of the Royal Army Medical Corps
here In one night alone eco patients ar
rived from the fighting at Modder River
Yesterday the thermometer registered -
degrees Fahrenheit in some of the tents.
The Journey from here to the base hos
pital at Wyndberg takes IS hours. and
emphasizes the difficulties due to the in
mense length of the line Of communica-
ton
The doing Of the besieged at Ladysn1ith
have been fully described by recent let
tiers. 1.-THE Beers continue 10 SO closely
hem In and constantly lombard White S
force the besieged promise to become full
fledsed care-cweliers, for according to
the Daily News correspondent at Lady
smith. the prevalent tendency there Is TO
buTrow.
Some people," writes the authority.
having spent much time and patient labo-
in making burrows for themselves, flnu
life there so intolerably nonotonous that
they prefer TO take the chances above
ground. Others pass whole DAYS with
wives and families or in solitary misery,
where there is no light, scarcely showing
their heads outside from sunrise to sunset
They may be seen trooping away fron!
the caves just after sunset, carrying
children in their arms. or pet dog, or
monkey or mongoose, and in The morning
return in like manner
FOR TWELVE HOURS
OF the hard fight at Nodder River. the
Globe correspondent says: "On the plain
were numerous white crosses, which we
subsequently discovered were marked
ranges set out by the Boers previously.
The Fighting lire on both sides reached
quite six miles and there was an irces-
sani fusiade and canonnade for twelve
solid hours. The Beers We're never seen
by us. None OF the officers and men 10
whom ] have spoken since ever saw Il
Boer. 1t is cert<n My marvellous how
they always manage to hide themselves.
The heat yesterday was terrific no
wind. hot blazing sun all day. We
We're all dcre and literally parched. Our
only retreshment during the twelve
hours was wafer heated by the sun in
our water bottles.
OF the same battle. the Daily News cor
respondent writes:
The historian who writes u truthful
stcrs Of the battle of Mo3der, River will
have Il strange story to ieil. il all ere
bears is gospel. Stories OF guides who re-
Beers; Of a regiment sent TO clear sh21n
ou, ard finding 1000; OF regiments Hank
Ing The cnemy'S position and within u few
hundred OF his guns having TO retire be-
cause they were sheilcd by their own ar
tiiIery.
PRIDE OF CASTE.
-Modder River was al, Alma. It was
a soldiers light. Grit. dogsedness and
pride of caste made US masters OF the
e
rsged. For sixteen hours on a plain Us
bare Of cover as the dome OF ST. Paul's.
tho infantry advanced by short rlshss in
the sweltering heat, to shoot and get
shot For sixteen hours the artillery.
innocen. OF that shelter which tacticians
IN books lay down as absolutely necessary.
pounded away at their invisible foe. The
wounded fell out. and We're n most cases
left. for the strctcher-bearers did not
dare 10 enter The zone Of FIRE. Each
wounded man was made q mark for the
enemy's rifismen. The wounded men
we're useful for the Boers-th Y took
sighting shots at them, and got the
range perfectly
Among The many criticisms OF British
artillery none has attracted more at'en-
tion than that written on Nov mber 18th.
at Ladysmi;h. by tho Standards war cor
respondent. Su.rrring up he says:
GREATER RANGE.
The disadvantages under which We
have 1aborca have been dcmonsl,a ed r.
peatedly. At Elandslasg.e. two officers
and two men of the f rst Field batteHy
were wounded at range beyond that
at which they, could fire shrapnel. Ex-
cept in rccenno!ssances our fed guns
rre useless as long as the siege lasts.
The Boer shrapne, Is fused for $500 yaris.
: whereas orr fuse ceases TO be effective
al 400 yards.
..The meaning Of this Will be clear
when say that for l:1oe yards or nearly
three-quarters of mile our artillery are
exposed to the fire OF a practically In
visible enemy without being able 10 FIRE
q really effective shot In self-dcfence.s
Already we have discovered that with the