The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1902-07-10
SENSATIONS IN BATTLE.
Scenes from the Varied Experiences
of War Correspondent.

Oh a war
Julian Ralph in London Express.
At Kimberley they tell story of SOL
der and a civilian who were walking
beyond the houses of the town toward
some hills where the Beers were picketed
1t was raining very hard, and the pelting
of the drops upon the umbrella which
sheltered both drowned the lesser noises.
The men and umbrella made a conspicu-
Gus target and the Beers began shoot
ing before the two men got within range.
The soldier saw where the Mauser balls
struck the earth and each sent up its
little fountain-like jet of the red dust of
the veldt He quickened his pace, In
order to reach the place >of shelter to
which both were bound; and presently
the little jets of sand began to spout up
in front of his and his companiops feet.
In another two minutes bullets were fly
ing over their head and striking the
ground both before and behind them. The
civilian was unaware of this. He heard
only the rainI and the sand jets escaped
his observation,
''You don't seem very much afraid Of
bullets" the soldier remarked.
b 81 shouldn't like to be hit by one,' said
T the civilian.
Were you ever under fire before?'
81 never was under fire." the civilian
replied; but what do you mean by be-
fore?' Are we in any danger of being
shot at?"
Are WEI the soldier exclaimed; why
man alive, don't you know that you are
under fire now? Don't you see the bull
lets kicking up the dirt all around us?
Don't you hear them singing?"
The civilian stopped still, looked at his
companion, watched the ground, saw a
bullet bed itself at his feet-and then
turned and ran back to Kimberley with
the speed of a deer. though he was mid
die aged and portlY.
1 can appreciate that story because the
first time / was under fire in the Boer
war did not find it out till afterward. 1t
was at Lord Methuen's first battlefield
mont The British had cleared one
kopje, and then gone around it to dislodge
the Beers from another position. My
son, Lester, and l climbed to the top
of a kopte which faced one on which the
Beers had a field gun. We were silhouet-
ted black and white against the sky, bur
our position seemed secure, as the two
forces were engaged in fierce tight Tar
below and before us.
We did not then know that it was the
custom of the Beers to detail crack
9 shot to work as sharpshooters, and to
pick out individuals as their targets
while the comrades were engaging the
British with volleys. AS we looked on,
we heard occasional faint sounds in the
air, just before us, and each of us saw
little spurts of dirt rise and disappear
as one sees the mist of a whales spout
a a great distance at sea,
The Beers retreated, the British swept
ahead, and we ran down the kopje to
catch up to the troops. 1t was not until
we were in the next battle, and had a
closer acquaintance with the sounds and
habits of flying Mauser bullets, that we
realized to a certainty that at Belmont
we had been potted at for ten or fifteen
minutes but had been, happily, Just out
of the danger zone.
At the battle of Dreifontein. Just before
RIoemfontein, another case in point was
the experience Of my son and H. A
Gwvnne, of Reuter's-in many important
1.espects the greatest of living war cor
RESPONDENTS. These two advanced towards
the invisible enemy, hidden among bushes
and rocks on a kopje. until there came
rnon them such cloud burst of bullets
that II did not seem as if a miller moth
couId have flown over the veldt without
being hit. Both men fell on. their faces,
and. out Of dare deviltry. Mr.. Gwynne
1ifted one hand above his head to see
~ If would he hit. He pulled it back
before il had been raised six inches, for
a bullet grazed along the back OF II even
as he began to raise it.
That fusilIade continued for many min
utes. and neither man, nor even one of
their saddle horses, were they brave that
nes-'-- the only marked men wee not the
90 Dis, but the fellows who went out