The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-01-16

| other Then OF vent on him. and man
| aged 90 get clear 0f the Lance-s, who
sn abandoaed Kamr kraai. ard the next
/ morning managed 20 Join the commando
/ OF Niiiloen. ! 50 not know what became
/ of my comrades. but I hope that they
/ were as lucky as / was"
departure nj Commando.
THE Standard a Digrsrs News gives
/ this picturesque account OF the departure
/ OF a commando from Pretoria. The pa
/ rsde of ~ sturdy warriors OF the police
| commando excited admiration. The Am
I kander men have received their mandate
/ from the women folk, though the shadow
I O: Elangslaagte hung Ike a pail upon the
mourning robes OF many. Venerable
DANES in kappes. and maids IN chlntz
and babies OF ali ages. upon whom the
I warriors showered valedIctory benison.
ciung and struggled fercely around the
carriage. Withered ;antes. buxOm yrous
and fran RiChttes tumbled over each 9TH
| er for a final embrace.
1t was admitted that no finer or more
serv.ceab.e force had been sent os. By
the time II gets to the Natal border it
I viii BE- 80 strong. II is under the COM
mandant Of police, Cert ". J. Van Dam,
with Lieuts. O0sthuizen, Pohiman. Mur-
phy, and Jacobsz next In command &.
lp. Schultz addressed the men: You are
going 20 defend your rights. your liberty,
and your independence. that dearly
bought Independence God has granted you
ard which IL once again contested. You
are not going 20 fight for honor, or
. money. or mercenary ambition, or sordid
gain"
one OF the soldiers rescued from the
rescued transport IsmoFe writes: 'The
most satisfactory part o. the whole busi-
ness has been splendid behavior OF all the
/ troops. They were as steady and quiet
as II We were parading the barrack square
Every man stood IN his proper place.
I There Was not The slightest confusion or
. hurry, and they did exactly as they were
told There is not the least doubt that IL
Is owing 70 their splendid discipline that
al we're saved.
I.ife-bOats Were Leaky.
Had there been the slightest panic a
dreadful loss OF life must have occurred,
as getting the boats of was most diff
cult business. owing 10 the heavy swell,
and when they were launched they leaked.
30 that half an hours baling had to be
done before we dared let them start
Everything had 10 be done by the soldiers,
trying to shut the water-tight door to keep
the sea out OF the engine-room. II it had
got in there before the fires were put out
a fearful explosion would have occurred.
and the ship would have been blown in
half"
MOdder River battle, with its many dra-
matte incidents, It's heavy losses. its long
duration, proves a never-failing topic for
Ihe war sPOndent lucky enough to
have witnessed II. Julian Ralph, in the
DAILY Mall, gives lengthy and vivid ac-
count OF this engagement.
"A common reliance of the BOer" he
writes, was upon gin. Empty gin bot
ties; bottles sim containing gin. and one
iull bottle or that liquor were 70 be seen
stuck Ia the loose dirt of the trenches"
Speaking of the Boer losses this cores
pOudent declares: First in the mind of
the BOer Is the desire TO hide his dead
ana lie about their number. II is from
their own that they most desire to hide
the truth. The prisoners We took all said
that only eighteen had been killed, but the
deserters said the loss OF life was ys-y
great, and that In the river alone 100
were sunk with weights. For my part /
shall not be surprised if We learn some
uay that in Kllled alone the Beers lost
quite SO
After every battle the veIdt has
been dotted with Boer horses in con-
sequence of the custom of bringing
H.
and in consequence of the loss of
riders by death and wounding. But both
previous battle-iields combined showed no
such number Of riderless horses as Mod
der River. There were literally hundreds
OF them. / had lost mine in the fight Sut
in the first half hour of the next morning
| took my choice of four, and might have
made my pick from a hundred saddled
and bridled before l had gone half over
the field.
Beers Fire Upon Ambulances.
"One word as to that phrase Of their
warfare, which must be touched upon in
justice. In every account We correspond
ents write of it, With my own eyes, be-
ing upon the scene, / saw the putt-putt
gun and the fire of the sharpshooters
trained upon our ambulances three times
and Iipon our stretCheT-bearers upon in
Vulnerable occasions. In fact, whenever
they rose to their feet ION the right Of the |
linel and attempted 10 perform their |
work"
Ralph relates With the feeling Of one |
who suffered. the hardships which lack OF |
water imposed on Methuens men during !
their march toward Kimberley.
We never joke about water now he /
says. The first time We really appre- |
ciated ii We were starting out from Or |
anse River. We We're marching and |
seemed TO rend the earth's blanket Of at |
nosphere and let the suns heat out upon |
us as II We were so many thousand stok- |
ers in the boiling belly of a ship.
Troops Gaspins for Water.
"On and on we marched in heavy sand. |
or over stones, or stumbling across fur
rowed ground-aIl gasping like fishes /!
thrown Oh a beach.
AT first our lips dried and cracked, then |
our mouths parched. and finally our
threats became as if they were coated !
with plaster Of paris. The hair shriyeled /
on our hands, and our feet grew dry as
deViled bones. Here and there a man fell |
forward on his hands and knees or stum-
bled out of the ranks and lurched prone
on the Yeldt.
We came 10 FinchamS, yellow, Span
ish-lOoking house, all set about with
trees. In and ont of its yard horses ana
mules passed in scores, and behind the
house the Tommies crowded like bees
around a honey pot, filling their cloth
clad bottles out OF a stone tank while
other TOmmies walked around and around |
q sort or WiHdlass that pumped new wa |
ter into the tank.
Every man filed his bottle. emitted il
dcWn his throat and filed IL again A |
water mania. thirst madness was upon
the army. We padded in spilled water
and the sounds IL made in pouring gurs- |
ling, and splaShing were as delicate nu-
sic TO our ears
I'VE have learned what war is. ana
more about the BOer than we knew \
month ago. but above all We have learned
the value of water"
HIS LAST SHOT KILLED MAN