The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-18

two were Capt. Paley. one major and one
corporal
Further on the English killed three of
our men with bayonets and wounded two.
Higher up the hill there lay ten dead of
the English, and where we had been chal-
lenged by them also lay one. Isaac NAL
berbe has gone to Pretoria with the pris-
cners, and if you meet him he can tell
you all about ii.
''If Hjalmar is still in Pretoria, let him
bring us a couple of water bottles, for we
have already suffered once or twice from
having none. Tell Att / have received
Willie Brills letters and also tell him he
must not insist on coming to the front.
for it is no picnic.
81 shall now conclude with love to all.
Your affectionate son, Deneys Reitz"
The Ladysmith sorties, as told by the
correspondent of the Standard, under
dates of Dec. and II, are especially in
teresting. The first was undertaken by
100 men of the Imperial Light Horse and
100 Carbineers under the direction of Gen.
Hunter, and led by Col. Edwards with
the object of capturing or destroying at
night a Boer battery that had long har-
assed the besieged troops.
THE ascent was begun" says the cor
respondent, between l and 2 O'Clock.
There was light enough to see ones
neighbor on the right and left, but be-
yond that was darkness. AS we moved
up the hill the loose stones gave out a
sound as of cavalry at the trot. Yet no
sentry issued his challenge. Was the hill
deserted or were the enemy drawing us
into an ambush? There was no time for
meditating on the proved cunning of the
Boer. Every man in the long, invisible
line was straining thews and sinews to
gain the summit of the hill before his fell
lows. 1t was a race for the guns. Over
rocks and boulders they dashed breath
less.
'At last, from the bush far below, canre
the cry for which we had listened. VIE
gaat day." shouted a picket. We were
half way up the hill and did not stop to
reply, Who goes there? screamed the
sentinel in agonized tones. The only an
swer was the rattle of stones and the
deep painting of men, as they flung them
selves toward the precipitous rock that
guarded the crest like a parapet Shoot
Martens, shoot; the redcoats are upon u.s.
shrieked the picket shrill as baboon
Martens, whoever he may be, was careful
not to show himself, but he obeyed the
command and shot
TN a second the black hill was forked
with fame and bullets struck fire from
the rocks around us. Maj. Henderson and
one of the guides were first to fall, wound
ed by bicycle bearing balls, discharged
from rife The tallest trooper in the
Light Horse tumbled over with a shot
through the spine, and one or two other
gaps were made in the thin yellow line.
But the rife is an untrustworthy weapon
in the dark, and our men pressed onward
unchecked. With a cheer they dashed
over the crest, Col. Edwards leading. Fix
bayonets" shouted the commander of the
Light Horse. There We're only four bay
onets carried by the Sappers, for the
storming party was of dismounted caval-
ry.
Give them cold steelr shouted some
trooper
Cheering wildly, the Carbineers and
Light Horse charged toward the enemy,
but he had fed over the hill, and was
quickly swallowed up I'm the darkness. the
hill was won
''Six of the gunners attached to the Car
bineers applied their hammers to the
howitzers, while their comrades in the
ranks of the Light Horse threw them
selves on the Creusot gun. known as
Long Tom of Gun HILL Capt. Fowke.
finding his subaltern. Lieut.. Turner al
ready astride the muzzle of Lon Tom, con-
tented himself with the howitzer. to the
muzzle of which he fixed twelve pounds
of guncotton and in the breech a charge
of eight pounds. Lieut.. Turner treated
Long Tom to a similar charge, and every
thing was ready for Gen. Hunters COM
mand to fire.
Meanwhile the automatic gun had been
removed and was already descending the
hin search was made for ammunition
and several 40-pound and 94-pound shells
were rolled down the kopje.
AT a word from Gen. Hunter the troop
ers began to descend the hill. leaving Capt.
Fowke and Lieut.. Turner to Hight the
fuses with their cigars. Capt. Fowke re-
manned between the two guns until the
charges had exploded A dull, bursting
howitzer was followed by a sharp report
from the 6-inch gun. Going forward to
ascertained the damage. Capt: Fowke
found that two holes had been blown
through the muzzle of Long Tom, the muz-
zle had bulged I'm. the rfing destroyed the
thread of the breach broken, and the ele-
waiting mechanism wrecked"