The Irish standard., 1901-01-05

D
titles, and this should always be ac-
counted to us i'll mitigating our con-
domination. We We're only among our
equals, And so it happened, possibly,
that we took false views of things.
In Cronje's fight ut Paardebarg, for
example. we behell Il heroic band Of
men holding out against tenfold odds,
| pounded ut day and night for a fort
night in one OF the most terrific bonn
hal'tnlrntS known to history. raned
ON. flooded out till the swollen water
! course carried hundreds of dead horses
and oxen and many dead men on it's
stream: famished. vet fighting on till
their ammunition had been expended,
and yielding finally to the inevitable
with Il dignity which brought an ex-
preston Of admiration from Lord Rob
crts himself. In Europe and America,
Cronir was called the Lion Of South
Africa.
Mr.. Ralph writes: II never dreamed
that there were on earth such filthy,
dirty. tanglc- haired wild-cycd men ex-
iStcnt. If | were III home and saw
one such man coming down the street
where | live. would turn hack and
warn my people to take in their linen
off the line"
Compare these words With Conan
Duyle's description of the men he adj
mircd, and admired more for the
travclstaincd, battle stained marks
that distinguished them. MIR. Ralph
himself in second thought. would
hardly care to make such comparison.
Among those who have earned the
best reputation from South Africa
Richard Harding Davis should be
placed in the front rank. ! do not say
il because he advocates the side for
which | fought. hut because he has
looked ut facts on both sides. fairly
and S,Ilarcly. and he has not been car
ricd off his feet by the superficial as
poet of things. He went out to South
Africa \ngluphlc: he followed the OPP
rrntions of Lord Roberts army. and
then he proceeded To the republics,
where. With no reason to form Il bias.
he came to Il deliberate Judgment OF
the Justice of the war ana the charac-
ter of the military operations.
One of the best types of war cores
pendent is George Lynch. who has
recently added in China to the laurcls
gained in Cuba and South Africa.
His art is Il simple one. He gets to
the very front and thence relates facts.
There is :: hluntnrss about his mar
rntivrs which has been of drtrilnent to
him. for they are not only true. but
they read like truth. He saw the war
on the English side: he was taken
prisoner and afterwall released by the
Rorrs; ana he said flat the war was
unjust. On his return to Durham his
license was rrSrinlul
And that reminds me Of the rondi-
lions under which modern war cor
respondents work With the English
army. They are. in the first place,
under the operation OF the nnltiny act.
only II limited number are allowed to
accompany the army. and the officer
| commanding makes the selection. 1t
is stipulated that the correspondent
have Il written permit every time he
wishes To 20 on the field of action or
visit the advanced posts. The mill
tary censor. however. furnishes news
Of what is TRANSPORTING. The censor
has The right to retain. eXpungc. cor
rect or even append what seems to
him .iuStiiiAhlc These regulations are
not so "nerous as they appear; for
generally speaking. the public wishes
to hear only the bright side Of their
| arny$ exploits. and the corrcsIOn-
dents are quite in accordance With
| that view.