The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-10-09
THE FIGHTING CONVOY.
A Days Work With the British Force
in South Africa.


sun beats down hot and resistless oil
the burning veldt, and in the neares
wagon two bullocks drop. That mean
extra pressure and increased tortur,
for the diminished span. The poo
brutes strain at the yoke, and trail OF
through the sweltering heat. Through
the dust comes the f1endish yelling o
the drivers, and the thud thud, thud O.
the whips reversed.
Kip! Kip! Kip! Kip! There is nc
mistaking it, the double snap of the
| Mauser.
Three or four little jets of dust spurt
| up in front of the scouts like the first
big drops of thunderstorm But the
| scouts press on. Their business is not
only to locate but to ascertain as ac.
| curately as possible the number of the
enemy They cover another hundred
| yards in good order, chatting and
| smoking the while Then an orderly
gallops back to the staff and draws up
| by the brigade major his ill-fed mount,
wet from hip to shoulder. There are
| fifty-odd Beers on that kopje, sir"
| A moment later you hear the tss, tss,
tss of the gun harness and the rattle of
the gun carriages. They swing round
| and pull up under cover of the advance
guard.
1.-TWO thousand eight hundred"
| shouts the range finder. Then there is
| a sound like the whack on a big drum,
and at the foot of the kopje, where the
enemy were located, comes up cloud
OF dust.
Short shouts the lieutenant in
charge of the fifteen FOUNDER. TRY
three thousand two hundred
Then the gun gives a grunt, jumps
back and runs forward again as If to
get good view of its work There Is
cloud of dust this time. The shell
has cleared the crest Of the kopje.
"Try three thousand"
Then there is another bang, and right
on the summit of the kopje cloud of
dust spurts UP into the air. outside the
cloud of dust two or three horsemen
can be seen racing for cover.
Bang! 1t is shrapnel on this occa-
sion, and just where the last shell
burst fifty spurts Of dust rise up,
From that point the field gun sweeps
the whole crest Of the kopje.
Kip! Kip! Kip! Kip! The firing
has become pretty general all round the
convoy over on the right flank little
white flag is in a fit of Mysteries. The
staff signaler trains his glasses on the
flag and watches 1t for few moments.
Dropping them, he turns to a staff Of
ficer and jerks out the statement that
a gun is required Immediately on the
right flank
Tss, tss. tss, goes the gun harness
again as a fifteen-pounder wheels off to
the right with it's grinning gunners
hanging on for dear life. Then out of
the cloud of dust following in the wake
of the fifteen FOUNDER you notice the
gun swing round and unlimber and
start to make little hell of its own.
In front Of the gun are the fankers,
lying low behind small knoll In
front Of the hankers rise up the spurts
and Jets of dust where the Mauser
shower of lead Is biting the veldt. Be-
yond this and over the donga and be-
yond the stretch of grassy veldt rises a
kopje rugged and preclpitous There is
not a sign of any living thing on it.
But the FOUNDER is vomiting
all over it's side and ferreting
every bowlder from base to crest Now |
and then you see little things like ants
sWarming over the powders. The /
gunners trail their weapon on the ants, |
but by the time the little white feecy |
cloud unfolds where the shell bursts the |
figures have disappeared, and away on |
the other extremity of the kopie comes
RI mi II Iii nj II ntI rife
The guns with the advance guard I
nave failed to clear their kopje so far
They have battered and thumped it for
half an hour. The order comes for the
convoy to close up and take cover.
Then there is running fire of bullock
Whips right down the long sinuous line
If wagons. Yelling, shouting cursing
md fogging for all they are worth, the
black imps of drivers crowd their wag-
ms together on the side of a gentle
slope until the place looks like the hill
m Derby day. 1t Is going to be long
OBJ The enemy are hanging on like
and are swarming on the sur
ounding kopjes like ants on a honey
,ot Yes, a long job. And so the ne
,roes start brew of coffee while the
DOT ball to while away the time
The Manchesters form the rear guard
O. day. Consequently, the rear guard
un is perfectly safe. Ever since day
reak the Manchesters have been har-
led and snped all through the slow.
ing, sullen, sweltering march. This is
ow the enemy have shepherded them.
% soon as the rear guard got down
lto the hollow the enemy would be on
he summit of the kopje behind, taking
OF shots across the open. This an
Dyed the Yeomanry in the rear of the
The burghers have been
epeating the trick over and over again. ,
hen a brilliant idea strikes the Yeo-
lanry officer He waits until the rear
uard gets well over the crest of the
ext kopje. A hundred yards down the .
ope on the far side he hurriedly dis
lounts his men. He turns the compa- ,
y Maxim on the crest just vacated
nd orders the men in charge to sit
ght and wait. Then the enemy come
upon the ridge, expecting to
nd the little ragged yellow men well !,
own in the hollow So soon as they
ppear a ripple of death passes right
ong the line of horsemen which regu- :
rly staggers the enemy.