Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-03-11

from death was that of sol
der named Stanley, in the Forty-sev-
enth Company of Royal Engineers.
And strangely enough the chief dan
ger that menaced the sapper, as those
in the engineer corps are always called,
was not bullets. but deer.
The affair is described by A. w.
Northover who was in the same COM
pany with Stanley, and it occurred at
hierksdorp, Transvaal, on April 3,
1901. They with two of their comrades
were trekklng around the Klerksdorp
neighborhood for forage for horses
They had to exercise great caution, for
1t was known that Beers were in the
vicinity. They had been searching for
the best part of a day without success,
when upon rounding kopje, which
they nicknamed Gibraltar, they came
In sight of group Of springbok, grazing
about three-quarters of the way up the
kopje.
They decided TO relinquish the quest
for forage in favor OF deer hunting.
THE place where the deer We're graz
| ing was about 400 feet above the yeldt
level" said Northover, in his narrative,
land the sides of the kopje were al
most as vertical as the walls OF q
house. To get there from where we
| stood would require great amount of
skill in climbing as well as nerve, and
to 80 around in front of the kopje
would require too much valuable time.
So rather than risk a long shot we
came to the conclusion that the best
thing to do would be for one of us to
ascend the kopje and come upon the
! deer unawares with a charged maga-
zine.
1--WE tossed up to see who should
make the climb, and the choice
fell to Stanley. who, 'grousing' at
his hard luck, commenced the as
cent and after some narrow es-
capes from slipping was success
full in reaching Il practically close po-
sition TO the deer. We could see him
taking dead aim. and at last, after a
period of suspense, heard the report OF
the shot and saw one of the deer
fall to its knees, while the others made
a stampede straight for the place
where Stanley was lying. We could
see him franticaily seeking for way
of escape, but there was none TO be
found.
Directly behind him was n clear
| drop Of 400 feet, and in front the deer
| dashing at terrific speed straight at
him. His only course was to meet the
deer with another shot, and trust to
this either TO stop or turn them. This
he did, but instead of turning them
as he anticipated, it merely gave force
to their already great terror and fury.
1.-Two big bucks made rush at him
simultaneously, but, being blind with
terror, collided with each other a few
yards in front of where he was. The
result Of this was that one OF them
came crashing down to within a few
feet of where we stood. The other, a
larger one, soon recovered itself, and,
seeing Stanley in front of him, made a
terrific charge, catching him square In
the chest and sending him over the
side Of the kopje.
1--WE all expected to see him smashed
in full view Of our eyes, but-maryel-
lous to tell-what we considered n real
miracle happened, for as he fell back
ward his Logging strap by some means
came unfastened and caught by the
buckle between two rocks. The deer
could not stop its rush and went with
terrific velocity well out over our
chums body down to rejoin its mate at
the foot of the height.
''We all made a run to help Stanley,
but stopped suddenly on hearing shot
and seeing one of the remaining deer
drop to the ground. but not TO die, for
It rose again suddenly, and, followed
by the remainder Of the group, which
were too terrified to see where they
We're going, charged straight for the
edge Of the height, where Stanley was
hanging head downward.
'Too latei They tried to save them
selves going over. and went crashing
down. taking the rocks that held STAN
ley with them. OF course, directly
the rocks went that held him sus-
pended Stanley followed but had not
gone far when his bandolier caught on
a bush, checking his fall slightly, but
proving fortunate, as before he had
gone much further he brought up on
projecting rock which, but for the
bush checking his fall, would have
dashed him to pieces. This had all oc-
CURED in a minute, and when we got
over our fascination we had time to see
who had fired the last shot at the deer.
1--WE were soon assured as to the
rifiemen, for bullets began TO strike
around us, and before We could realize
It two of us, myself included, were
wounded. We then saw q party of
about fifty Beers, who have no doubt
were there for the same purpose as our
selves.
at was absolutely useless to fight in
the circumstances, so We reluctantly
surrendered and at once called our cap
tors attention to our comrade down
the side of the height. By knotting
tether ropes together we We're enabled
to let one of our party down, and quick
lV had StnD1nv I'm Ha Nvoc u nitin hi