Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-01-28
QUEER TACTICS OF A
SOUTH AFRICAN SHIPPER.

What was 1t they called that Od picket
from which those of us who were not cut
up were dislodged three times? Was
it the Eagles Nest or the Crag?
Whichever it was. it was the Eveliest
place of entertainment ] ever visited, and
| do ike II quiet evening, Give me the
North Camp Music hall, on any place of
the kind in Shot any night, in preference
10 that picket. One day Lieut. Tresidder
major he is now came TO me and said:
Harding | want some one to come out
to have a look round among these snipers
tonight Wen stalk some of them to
such good effect that they won't stalk
Us any more"
Yes, sir" said l. For we had suffered
much IN the evenings, as we gathered
round the fire to keep on, the cold of the
mountains, by stray, though well-aimed,
Martini bullets coming among us.
When nightfall came Lieut. Tresidder
borrowed a rife, ! took my own. and we
set out till wc got to the outlying double
scntiics.
Halt! Who comes therc?'
Friend
Advance one. and give the counter
sign
Lieut. Trc7iddcr advanced and wills,
pcred:
"Cabul."
Pass, friend, and all'7 well"
We passed through. and crcpt on and
ON. in silence and smokclcss, for the
Afghan hillmen have sharp ears and
noses, and their tuIwars are as sharp as
either We lay or crept among the null
l,t
from the eternal SHOWS and ice frozc us
as we lay, for we dared hardly move lest
the snipcrs should stalk us. Then. off
to our right, we saw flash
Count" whispered Lieut.. Tresidder
Nine beats, sir said T.
Right. Half a mile" said he. For.
when you count eight beats in three sec.
onds. each beat gives a hundred wards
distance from the firing point if you
count from the time you see the flash to
the time YOU hear the report. And this
is because sound traverses eleven hun
dred odd feet per second. or eleven hun
bred yards in three seconds, while sight is
practically instantaneous.
We can't drop him from the fash
when he fires again, can we. sir?'
No earthly We should only bring
some others down on us. The only way
is TO stalk him"
Now fight is very nice. for YOU oct
warm to it. Sometimes too warm. But
a night stalk with the Thermometer be-
low zero IS not so warming. Though [
don't mind the stalking so much as the
idea that. without your own knowledge.
someone may he stalking YOU.
Taking advantage of all cover. we crcpt
and crept cold with the wind. and. sneak
ing Tor myself, cold with apprchensiye
| ahirers down the back When we tbouobt
! we We're near the place whence the flash
had come we saw something loom. /
cntched the licutenant's arm.
Get a little nearer" he whispered 1T
seems 50 certain to be The sniper that
shall be surprised to find it is"
| we crept and crept, and then, in the
| ann night, we saw what it was. 4 coyy
was lying asleep on the ground, and she
could have done no harm. We carried
our creeping our creeping carried MS
further on; bnt. creep as we would, no
luck came of creeping that night. As the
dawn broke we came, sleepy and dispir-
l'cd' INTO camp, sorry we had not taken
what was our due OF n nights rest
The next night the sniping went on
Harding" said Lieut.. Tresidder am
swear there's an Afghan firm" from tbe
place where We located the flash last
night"
Just then a spit Of fire came out. and
atterWard the report
That's the place." said he. I'M take
my oath there's a snipcr there"
Looks like it. sir
Color Sergt. Male. brother of Fa,ror
Male mp 20 Treuale lust stood No Nv tbo
lire 50 that from the point of aim Of the
~nlper hc must have been outlined
against the red glare He vawned and
stretched his arms above his head. There
was another flash out of the dark. Nale's
helmet seemed to rise bv itself from his
head. 1t reVolvcd in the air. and tber
dropped TO the ground with a bullet hole
ON either side.
Harding, said the lieutenant, "weJl
90 out there in the daylight to have 4
look, For those snipers win be a few
miles oil by sun-up"
DO you remember, sir. what kind NJ
ground 1t was where we reckoned the
sniper lay ~
Not particularly, / think it was a lit,
tie ~wampy."
Asking Your pardon if / make too free.
>r, II You had to clean your own kit.
you'd know it was very swampy. II
seems to me, if we can get on the
swompy ground, We ought 10 be able TO
track where the Sniper goes and comes.
Good idea. Wen have a try"
We went the next day to try. We
secured every bit Of that swampv ground
which ran from about 600 yards 10 1900
Yards distant from our front. According
q" the place whence we had seen tbe
Hash the sniper must have been at night
within these limits. So we rooted ana
rooted among the damp and the tussocks
OF coarse grass like two old boars die
glng for bceehnuts. Just mt the back of
Tins swamp ground. beyond which. as the
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