The Washington times., 1901-11-10
"a YEoMAN'S LETTERS"
Lively Descriptions of the Boer War
by n British Soldier.

In "a Yeomans Letters Mr. P. T.
Ross. late a corporal in the Sixty-ninth
Sussex Company of Yeomanry, has writ
ten the liveliest book about the war
which has yet appeared. Whatever
amusement can be extracted from n trag-
ic theme will be found in his vfvacious
letters" He seems to be one of those
high-spirited and versatile young man
who notice the humorous side of every
thing and can add to the jollity of COM
pany by story, a song. an impromptu
poem, or penciled caricature Ills book
is illustra ted by himself. We cannot say
that his drawings have any artistic mer-
it. but they make one laugh and thus
serve their purpose. They do something
more than this, for they bring home the
realities and miseries of life in the camp
and on the march even more vividly than
the letterpress. The author enlisted in
the dark days of 1899, and his first ex-
perience of South africa was at Maitland
Camp:
This place is a perfect New Jerusa-
lem as regards Sheenies, every civilian
about the camp appearing to be German
Jew refugee They have stalls and sell
soap, buns, braces, belts, etc. Every now
and again a big Semitic proboscis ap-
pears at our tent door, and the question.
Does anybody want to puy a vatch?' Is
propounded.'
BY the end of May the company had
reached the Vaal Rivera unit in the
swarm of horse, foot, and artillery NOV
ing toward johannesburg After the oc-
cupation of Pretoria, the men were
marched up and down the country. COW
ering enormous distances and sharing in
many minor engagements. Here is lit
tie picture of General Mahon, and char
| acteristic story Of him:
THE night we stopped outside Pretoria,
before coming this way our curiosity was
reused by suddenly hearing three hearty
British cheers from some lines not far
from ours. On making an enquiry as to
| the cause of the outburst of feeling. we
were informed that the battalion had just
received news that their adjutant. who
was absent on leave, had been made
| prisoner by the Doers. OF course, some
| officers. especially the regular ones who
| have seen previous service, are decidedly
! popular, our present genral, Mickey Ma
hon. being an instance There is no gold
! lace or cooked hat about him. He is in
| attire probably the straDgest figure in
| the campaign. Picture to yourself
square-built man OF middle age, wearing
an ordinary brown cap mot a service
| one), a Khaki coat with an odd sleeve,
| breeches, and box-cIoth gaiters, carrying
a hooked cherrywood stick. and smoking
a brier, and you have General Mahon.
And now listen to this little story
about him few days ago a Tommy was
chasing u chicken near a farm on the line
OF march. Suddenly the cackling, f;utter-
ing. feathered one dashed in the direction
| of a plainly dressed stranger. Go 1t,
,I,. Ito
| Tommy. Then, TO his horror. he recog-
nized the general, and. confused. tried to
| apologize. Not at ALL said the chief.
and helped him to kill the bird Then,
| telling him Il he liked he could take it
to his colonel, and say the general had
helped him to kill it, he sauutered away.
| His favorite corps is the !. l.. H.. and
he seems quite panied when they miss an
| opportunity Of obtaining good loot, which
once or twice they have DONE owing to a
| stringent order from some one else
| against tt
The author shared, of course. in the
| hunt for De Wet. and in the course of his
| travels entered a good many farmhouses
| (the Sussex Company seems to have con-
| tained a fire lot of fowl looters) but
never found the good man. at home.
This. he says, was the usual scene:
farmhouse of a humble order A few
timid Kafirs lettering around, also a few
fowls and slack-Ioolling mongrels. Gen
tleman in khaki rides. up and in the
door appear two or more round-faced wo-
men, wearing headgear of the baby bon
net mode, dirty-faced children in back
ground.
&c. in K.-Where is your husband7
'Women.-Niet verstand.
&c. in K--Where Is your brother?
''Women-Niet verstaud.
&c. in ks he on those kopjes, potting
at us?
'Women.-Niet yerstand.
&C. in K.-How many Beers have been
past here?
'Women.--Niet vcrstand
&c. in X. after more interrogatorles
ard more Met yerstandsD-Oh, hang it.
good-by.
Women lin distance)-Niet verstand.
Verify. the MET verstand or no saw
wee game is a great one out here.
Mr. Ross gained. promotion to Cor
poral in n gallant attempt to save Lieu
tenant Stanley, the Somerset cricl1eter
who had been badly wounded in an affair
from which it is surprising that any OF
the little party OF Yeomen came out alive
Sir Elliot Lees, the other man. anC
! ii4g StiL were Nilt Ollly ones let III lLt
donga then, so the captain, taking hold
of poor Stanley By his shoulders. and hi!
legs, we started to carry him off. As We
picked him up. he insisted. in a voice like
that of a drunken man, on somebody
bringing his carbine and hat. Where's my
rife an hat? Rife an hat" The third
man took them and gat. 1 heard thi:
later. You have no idea what a weight
a mortally wounded man is, and the pool
fellow was in reality rather lightly built
on we went, stumbling over stones, {
ditch, aud into little chlsmS In the earth
Once or twice he munlbled, Not fast
not so fasti The bullets buzzed. whistled
and hummed by us. missing us by yards
feet, and inches, knocking up the dus
and hitting the stones and thorn bushes
we staggered through We, of course
presented big mark for the Beers, anC
were not under any covering fire. so fan
as i am aware. The captain, who is gr
, all through, soon found 1t impossible Il
carry the poor fellow by the shoulders
the weight being too much for him, so
offered. and we changed places Sir Elliot
taking his legs, and on we went, paus
ing. exhausted, perspiring, and GREATNESS
! now and again, for rest
AT last, turning to our left. We reached
. a little bit of cover. thanks TO a friendly
rise in the ground, and. falling into {
kind of deep rut. with Stanley's body OF
top of me. | waited while the captain
went to see IL he could get any assist
ance Presently he returned with
, Somerset man, and Il minute or so latei
= a Fife fellow. Il medical student. camt
up. The former and l then got him on
little further After few minutes de
We must leave HIM. We all three asked
, permission to stay. to which Sir Eltlo
replied. 1 don't want to lose an otscei
ana three men. Come away. mem W.
| then moved the poor fellow into cut
| ting about two feet deep and three iee
. WIDE. and arranged haVersach unier ms