Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-06-19
TALES OF THE BOER WAR
Interesting Incidents Described
by Colonel Arthur Lynch.
BURGHERs PROOF TO BULLETS

BURGHERs PROOF TO BULLETS.
Curious Cases of Some Who Have
Recovered From Wound. - Daunt-
less Courage of . Mad Arfist-Reai
Meaning of the Word ..Impi" ..
Told by Kamr slave
Colonel Arthur Lynch of the famous
Irish brigade of the Boer army, in a
Forthcoming book. says Golfers Week
~, relates the following anecdotes.
The best OF the Beers fred not only
very accurately. but very quickly. AMI
l have known burgher to bring down
soldier firing while sitting in the sad
die, holding the rifle with one hand
and the bride with the other.
As to recovery from wounds, / can
cite some curious cases. One burgher
recovered after a Lee-Metford bullet
had gone clean through his brain. EN-
tering at one side of the head and pass
ing out through the other. | knew an
other case in which this happened and
where the patient. an Irishman. had
got so well that he used to stroll about
the streets of Pretoria or even dance
a jig. He got into drinking bout,
however, one day, and that was the
beginning of the end.
saw a man whose jaw was smashed
in three places. but who soon recover
ed. | knew another whose leg was SO
badly shattered that 1t had to be am
putated subsequently, but who sat
stolidly loading his Mauser and blazing
away at the enemy. One Of the most
curious cases l know of. however. was
that of man who received a bullet in
the middle of the forehead. By a
happy combination of the thickness of
the skull and the inclination of the
bullet the missile did not enter the
mans brain, but circled around his
head to the original point of impact,
scoring off skin and hair in Its passage
and SO furnishing him with a crown
more curious and more durable than
that of laurel.
Another curious member of my bri-
gade was a mad artist He used to
spend his spare time drawing. with
various colored chalks. the most eX-
traordinary pictures l ever saw, filled
to prize these productions enormously,
and believe he thought that one day
they would win him fame. Now. on a
certain occasion my brigade occupied
an exposed position, and II was intend
ed to make stand. Subsequently a
range of hills farther westward was
selected as better line, and my troop
was left high and dry, and the English.
in vast force. were coming rapidly on.
Receiving the order to retreat. we soon
had everything in readiness, and l was
r about to mount my horse. The shells
were already falling about us. and
some rife practice had taken place and
some men had been killed. Just at
that critical moment my mad artist
sailed from under wagon and came
up to ME. He was calmly Indifferent
TO shell and bullet. In his hand he
held strange cartoon.
Colonel" he said. Il hope you will
like that one!'
He also later paid the forfeit of his
innocent but dauntless courage.
The cheeriest individuals about the
saassr the a<aanr boys. They
were virtually slaves. though we did
not call them so. We Communicated"
them. we did not pay them. and that
for n good reason-namely, that, con-
trary to what has been said, none of
our men were mercenaries. Neither l
nor, of course. any Of the troopers re-
ceived or asked n penny Of pay. There
fore did not pay my kaffirs. of whom
| had about score to do the mental
work of the camp and to look after my
horses and those Of my officers. Now,
there is something in the black-at
least in those climes-that makes him
content to be a slave. Service implies
protection. and that is a condition he
perfectly appreciates. One of my boys,
Pete, was a black hero. He would sc
through nything-fghting (of course
in passive way, but that Is the most
difficult trtaD. fatigue, hunger and
thirst-yet he would never utter a
word or give sign Of complaint On
the whole he liked lighting best for he
was of one of the tribes of Zulus.
l would like to give chapter Oh
Pete. but | will now mention only one
curious detail. He told me the real
meaning of the word "impi," usually
employed by war correspondents who
want to show how deep they have gone
as equivalent to horde or troop or
commando" of Eaffirs. l asked Pete
what II meant He opened wide his
mouth and showed his ivory teeth. His
yellow eyes opened also with wonder
and rolled in their sockets, and be
laughed "Impi." said he. with a deep,
thick utterance. that Is war;" And
the way Pete brought out the word
war made me feel that impi or war to
Pete was the consummation of every
thing that made life terrible and yet all
that made life worth living. |