New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-06

nee, the skill IN disguise Of the actor
and the scorn Of danger of a V. {. hero II he Is
70 carry his life through the thousand risks Of his
calling"
In the old days, when war moved on leaden feet
SAYS "Tit-Bits" favortc method Of conveying
message through the enemy's lines was TO write
the dispatch on the shaver head Of slave, allow
the hair to grow again, and then send the courier
with his message, which second shaving Of the
head revealed. A messenger, disguised AS pill
grim. would carry Il parchment roll concealed in
the hollow interior Of his staff and arrow shot
over the encmy's heads has carried many ms
sive into besieged fortress in the Middle Ages
That the war courier Of to-day is daring and
resourceful as his long gone predecessors many
story proves In the South African War the katir
runner was invaluable dispatch carrier, elud-
ing the Beers by his invisibiIity on dark nights
and by his assumption of childish ignorance II
he was intercepted the guileless child Of Nature
would lisp, me no speak English; me fsrmers
bow. Me hate English" And with such consum
mate art would he play mis- role Of innocence that
he was almost invariably allowed to pass
One Of these willy creatures was caught between
Mafeking and Kuruman, and for once his sssump
ton Of guilelessness failed to convince tie was
stripped by the Beers, but the most thorough
search failed to reveal scrap Of discriminating
paper, and he was dismissed with a parting kick
No wonder he chuckled he sped away, for he
carried in one Of his nostrils quill containing an
important dispatch
Equally successful young Scotsman who
fooled the Beers with his charming smiabilty
Dispatches? No." he laughed. Catch me car
rying dispatches" what have you got there"
asked the Boer commandsnt, pointing 20 a parcel
the canny Scot was carrying. only few sand
tski WAS
answer. as the North Briton unrolled his napkin
and offered the burghers some Of his fare. The
Beers declined the hOspitable offer, and the Scot
got away with priceless papers concealed in his
sandwiches and In hsrd-boiled egg.
Admiral Dewey owed the success Of his attack
on Manila in the war between America and Spain.
to the resource and pluck Of W. Doherty. an
ornithoogist. When Mr.. Doherty spending
few days in the Philippine Islands on his way
round the world he was guest Of the United states
Consul General, who was sorey puzzled 10 know
how he could send certain plans Of the Manila
fortifcatons to Admiral Dewey in Hong Kong.
oh said Mr.. Doherty 81 can manage that easily
enough" Producing a clean shirt, he unfolded
it, tucked the plans into it. folded and pinned
its sleeves and replaced it in his portmanteau.
The innocentooking shirt, fresh from the lson-
dry, eluded the Custom House scrutiny and few
weeks later the plans were safe in the Admirsls
hands.
II was during the same war that dccrepit
old man, hobbling past sentry with two baskets
full of produce, stopped for al examination
Of his wares. The baskets we're explored and the
sentry flung out four bars Of yellow soap which
he considered the insurgents had no use Tor
few days later three United States hsndsmen
passing that way caught sight of the jettisoned
bars and carried them OF as treasure trove. Their
surprise may be pictured when on cutting up the
soap for distribution among their fellows each
bar was found to contain sheets Of foolscsp full
Of valuable information for Aguinaldss cseA