Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1913-04-23
I'll appoint you : deacon

I'm appoint you . deacon in the
church" b: a.,f
But somehow felt i was being
- oshed," for, the twinkle In Ross eyes
belied his words. But ever after he
called me Deacon" often wonder
whether he told his bride about his
Mormon proclivities. / rather fancy
he would, for he was not 9 man to-
hide joke, nor to hide a truth. y
After leaving the northwest mount
ed police, Ross came back to the
States and enlisted, after naturaliz-
ing, for some Indian campaign. He
also fought through the Red River
war. His career was varied to .
marked degree until the South Afri-
can war broke out. n. N
= Ross joined the Canadian mounted
rifles and went out to South Africa
with them as a trooper. He saw con-
siderable service with them, but event
ually got into trouble through an ex-
5cesive fondness for footing. He was
dropped from the force and i'm
Smediately went ito Pretoria and Joined
another irregular corps as lieuten-
ant. His wonderful scouting and Sdar-
Ing earned for him the notice Of
Lord Kitchener. AS q result Of an
Interview with the great British gem
eral, Ross was empowered to- raise an
irregular corps OF cavalry. He call
ed the Canadian Mounted Scouts. So
was born a little corps which wrote
its name big In the annals Of the
greatest war OF modern times.
Ross gathered together 9 number
of kindred spirits and soon had q reg
siment OF scouts which would be hard
to equal, let alone beat. They were all.
men who had travelled the world In
search Of adventure, men who faced
death daily with unhinching eyes, and
who knew no hardship too diB to
endure or overcome. With such ma
terial Is 1t to be wondered at that the
Canadian Mounted Scouts were soon
heard OF? "A n 4: Il. 4. 1
They fought in every part OF the
;Transvaal, ORANGE River Colony, and
Cape Colony The Beers trembled at
the mere mention OF the name Of
Ross. It swould take a book to write
the history OF their deeds Of marvel
GUS daring, They used no hid gloves
IN their warfare. either. VA
Perhaps the most famous; episode In
their adventurous exploits was the
shooting OF Is Boer prisoners, whom
they had captured when wearing the
British uniform. This act was against
allsusages Of modern warfare, and In
defiance OF the acts OF The Hague and
Geneva; the Beers were liable for
their breach Of law to be tried by
drumhead court-martial, with death as
i the penalty IL found guilty.
S5 Ross IL a man Of quick action. He
had caught the men In the act of
crime and wearing the uniforms. That
was enough. He dispensed with the
.drumhead court-martial and sentenced
them to- death by shooting. He, Sc
slected three OF his most trusted fol
flowers to aasiat him In the execution
|sof. the Beers. Then he sent in the
remainder Of his regiment, warning
them to take no notice Of any shooting
they might hear in the course Of the
next few minutes He waited until
they were out Of sight and then turned
toathe covering Beers. !
a Il wish that I could reproduce the
story Of the subsequent events with
the vivid detail and quaint phraseol-
ogy used by Ross when telling me the
story. He speaks with a draw and
pronounced American accent.
Say you gol-durned dogs. !" Ross
said to them, I've caught you with
the goods on you. and you got to ante
up. Ill give you just five minutes to
make your peace with your Creator
and then I'll pass you out. Il guess
the good God won't listen to such yer
min as you. but TmS game to let you
/ try your hand at It. Step lively now
with them petitions Ito your good
Maker sss Il Y Sss stg \. 3 3
With a revolver. In each hand anl
his three men covering the 15 prison
ers with their guns, Ross counted out
the minutes. The Beers had not YET
realized that he was In earnest and
stood Watching him anxiously.
zone more minute and out you get!'
Ross snapped at them as he finished
counting on four minutes. He step
ped toward the first man and held hi
revolver at the mans head. The
Boer covered back and began to bef
for mercy. {. M
"Cut out that woman business!'
commanded Ross. Il guess the goot
l3God won't listen to you, and, II hi
won't you can't expect me to. Time
up! Here's where you go to see YOU
God, II he'll see you. which doubts
Bang! went the revolver, and thu
man sank dead ut the majors feet
One after the other he sent them OF
their way into the Great Unknown
The work completed, Ross and hi
men mounted, their horses and rode q
q gallop after their regiment.
The story leaked out and Ross wal
sent for by Lord Kitchener q
Pretoria. No record OF this meeting
| is obtainable, and Ross will not .speal
| il 1t. At least his offense did no
interfere. later ;on, with Ross be
ing appointed companion of the Dis
tinguished Service order, which ranks
next to the Victoria Cross. .Sss I
Another story told about Major
Ross, which happen to know to. b
true in every detail, is that when rid
ing into Pretoria one morning from
an expedition after Boer commando