Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-12-23

with the RANK ana pay Ol a Sdppci.
Not for nothing do the Royal En-
gineers hold the place of honor, the
right of the line. where British troops
parade for review. Look through the
years and you will see among the
names of the most distinguished gen
erals many who Dear the distinguishing
letters r.. r.. Lord Napier. of Magdala'
Sir Henry Norman. Sir Bindon Blood,
Lord Kitchener. of khartoum ana
many Others will be found among the
list of distinguished sappers. No regl-
ment again shows so many wearerS OF
the Victoria Cross and the ID. S. o..
DISTINGUISHED Service Order.)
The regiment bears the motto:
'Ubiaue." and no motto could be more
appropriate for wherever the flag has
been carried. his majesty's sappers
have made the road and helped to clear
the way. In Sir John Frencll's dis
patches, he gives an ~ungrudglng TRIBUTE
TO the devotion of the corps in this. the
greatest war OF all the ages. Indeed,
their work is both arduous and full of
danger; building bridges and dis
mantling them under fire. operating
armoured trains. blowing up buildings.
bridges and railway tracks under fire,
laying the air n ground line tele-
graphs and telephones. repairing ana
making roads. laying out and building
field Notifications all under fire, sue
as no troops have ever had to face be
fore. operating search lights at nlght
so that the army may repose without
fear of an overwhelming surprise; all
these are among their duties. In ad-
dition aboard, they lay and operate the
mine fields protecting ports ana mar
bors from raiding enemies.
Enlist For IL Years.
The Royal Engineers are Il long ser
vice corps. enlisted for IL years with
the colors. Recruited mainly from
skilled mechanics and artisans n
composed of men superior in physique
and education to the rank and file of
the line. In full dress, the dark blue
and gold facings on their scarlet
TUNES and the broad red stripe on the
dark blue trousers distinguish them
from their nfantry comrades in arms.
Nor is any account OF this gallant
corps complete without some mention
OF the dia sappers and miners, who
in the ndian army (Which has burnt
more powder i'm the last 80 years than
any other army of it's size) bear a
name and record not only for gallant
service in their own branch of war,
but for actual hard %stogging, which
is second to none. The H~imalayan
mountains, those giants which have
seen the march of so many %conquering
armies. since Alexander brought his
~ IilClCic NlOCeNlcIlidIl lSSlOIlS through
the passes, are scared throughout the
length of the frontier, with the roads
they have built. and in every valley
lie the wrecks of the hostile stone
stone towers they have demolished of
ten at the sacrifice of their lives. Too
often these achievements leave 10 rec
ord in history. but here and there they
live glorious lives in the roll of mill
tary fame.
The Bengal Revolt.
In the summer of 1853, the great
mass of the revOlted Bengal army lay
in Delhi. behind Qualifications and per
manent works planned and built with
all the skill of masters in the art OF
military defense, amply provided with
artillery of the best and most formid-
able types Their known. Without, or
the famous Ridge. lay the besiegine
army, II handfu of British troops, anc
a slightly larger number of loyal ma
tive soldiers. all exhausted with weeks
of incessant fighting. Scourged witt
cholera and wasted by the glare ant
torment of the Indian sun in full ho'
weather blast. Things were going
badly. how badly only the highest il
command actually knew. but it hat
come to the point when not only the
fate of a part of Bengal but the fate
of all India hung on the capability OF
the besigers to capture the rebel cap
ital. The besieging artillery was hard
ly adequate for it's purpose, bu'
breaches had been made and an as
sault was ordered. the signal for thu
combined attack. to be the sound o
the explosion which was to blow il
the Kashmier gate. Dawn was thu
hour agreed on but delays ensued, am
it was broad day light when a small
party of officers and sergeants Of TIN
Bengal sappers and miners with {
bugler from q line regiment, all ladel
with powder bags. dashed out o
the nearest cover and onto tn
bridge. So utterly aghast were tn
attack. that the bags were place,
and tamped before they opened fire
as each man did his work he droppe,
into the ditch. all except the gallan
commander wounded, fixing the fus
cost three ives lighting it one more
wounded as he blew the advance. bu
with the explosion came the rush o
the forlorn hope over the bridge, an,
a first foo hold was gained. Ever
member of the party. dead or alive
was awarded the V. c.
In the Zulu war Of 1879. an entir
British regiment was wined out by
Zulu impi at Insandula, and the wa
to Natal lay open. Nothing interpose
, but q store. depot n hospital a
Rorke's Drift. An escaped teanste
brought the news. and the intelligence
that the ZuluS were just beh1nd. Bag
of mealies. biscuit boxes, cases Q
timed meat We're thrown together i
a rough breastwork: and even thi
scantv entrenchment was incomplet
when the attack came. The odds seen
ed hopeless. "A handful of men. wit
> some sick and wounded facing a flu
zulu impi flushed with success agains
an entire regiment. warriors too fo
whom, there were but two alternative.
victory or death. But where all seen
ed hopeless. the gallant example an
lAnli.nr 1f ~ a / iollfonH fkS (Nhn .