THE BOER WAR

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 103, 2 May 1900, Page 3

THE BOER WAR

NEWS. NOTES & CUTTINGS (VIA ENGLAND.)

(From Our Special Corresponaent.)

LONDON, March 16

THE WAE EXPEUT

"Mr Dooley"—his name is Dunne— P. F. Dunne"—gives the "Westminster Gazette" a very amusing description of the war expert of to-day. According to Mr Dooley there are two kinds of experts. One sort amuses himself by Irving to impress upon a gaping world* the utter futility of plans or campaign made elsewhere than in Fleet-street; the other is "th" man that gives it good to th' Goveriunint." Hut they have a common origin, for, according to Dooley, "a war expert is a man ye niver lieerd iv before. If ye can think iv aunywan whose face is unfomilyar to ye an' ye don't raymimber his luune, air he's got a job on a pauper ye didn't know was published he's a war expert. "Pis a linr-rcl office to fill. When a war begins "th" timptation is sthrong f'r ivery man to grab hold iv a gnu an' go to th' front. Hut Th' war expert has to subjoo his craving f'r blood. He says to himsilf 'Lave others seek th" luxuries iv life in cam]),' he says 'For thini th' boat races acrost th' Tugela, th', romp. over th' kopje, and' th' game iv lagger; laager, who's got the lagger?' he says. M will stand be me eounthry,' he says, 'close,' .he says. 'If it falls,' he says, 'it will fall on me,' he says. An' he bnya himself a map made be a fortune teller in a dream, a box iv pencils, an" ( a field glass, an' goes an' looks f'r a job as a war expert. Says th' editor iv th' paper, 'I don't know ye. Ye must be a war expert,' he says. 'I am,' says th' la-ad. 'Was ye iver in a j war?' says th" editor.' 'I've been in j nawthin' else,' says th' la-ad. 'Dnrin' j th' Spanish-American war T held a j good job as a dramatic critic in Dccl- ! ham, Matsa choosets,' he says. 'Whin j th' bullets flew thickest in th' Sooclan ' I was sjxiortin' editor iv th' "Christyan j Advocate"' he says. '1 passed j through th' Franco-Prooshan war, an" . held me plae, an' whin the Turks an' ; Rooshuns was at each other's throats ; I used to lay out th' campaign ivry i day on a checker board,' he says. ; 'Wai*,' he says, 'has no turrors for ' me,' he says. 'Ye're the man for th' j money,' says th' editor. An' he gets i

th' job. | Mr Dooley proceeds to give a few amusing- illustrations of the sage comment of the war experts on the doing-s of the generals, but as the i article has been copyrighted there ! may be some danger if wholesale ; quotations are made, so I must' leave i them out. But the finale is Too good i to lose. ;

Mr Do'oley considers " 'Tis a gT-reat : thing f'r a counthry to liave th' likes ! iv them ar-round to direct manoovera • that'd be gatherin' dust on th' shell1 i if the g-in'rals had their' say, an' to prove to th' wurruld that th' English ar-re not frivolous, excitable ' people like us an' the Frinch, but can | take a batin' without losing their ' heads." "S\ire," said Mr Hennessy, " 'tis nor , thim that does the %htin'.' Th' la-ads with th' guns has that job." "Well," said Mr Dooley, "they'se two i kinds iv fig-htin'. Th' experts wants i th' nr-rmy to get into Pretoria dead or j alive, an' th' sojers wants to get In J alive. I'm no military expert, TTlnnissy. I'm too well known; but T have me own opinyon on th' Avar. All j talk about th' rapid fire grin an' mod- j hern methods iv warfare makes mo | wondher. They'se not so much cliff'- | rence between war now an" war whin I was a kid as they let on. Th' gun that shoots ye best from a distance don't shoot ye so well close to. A pile ! if mud is a pile iv mud now just th" i same as it was whin Gin-ral Gram was I pokin' fir-raund. If th' British can get over th' mud pile they win th" fight. If they can't they're done. Thai's all they'se to it. Mos' 7nen, sthroiigest backs, best eyes,, an' th' ownership iv , th' mud piles. That's war, Hinuissy. j Th' British have th' men. They're ; shy iv backs,'eyes, an' mud piles; an' ' they will be until they lam that sheep- j herdin' an' gin'ralship ar-re difli'rent \ things, an' fill up their ar-rmy with ; men that ar're not fightin' f'r money ■ or glory, but because they want to g-et i home to their wives alive."

"Ye talk like an ol' hook," said Mr Hennessy, in disgust. "Ye, with yer maundhrin'. ar-re no better than thJm expert la-ads."

"Well, anyhow," said Mr Dooley, thoughtfully, "tli' expert is sarvin* a useful purpose. Th' papers say th' rapid fire gun'll make war in th' future impossible. 1 don't think that, but I know the expert will." A V.C. EARNED. Jn his graphic account of the withdrawal from Vjial Krantz, Mr Winston Churchill gives an inspiriting' pen picture of a deed which it is to be hoped was seen and noted by other eyes than his. The infantry were retiring, covered by the guns, and these in turn limbered up and returned under a hell of fire in perfect order, one by one. But then there was a fault. "To my dismay," says Mr Churchill, "I say two guns entirely abandoned — horses and men had been shot down; the other guns of the battery, the 7Sth, had begun to retire, but pulled upu some distance away. The officer of command, seeing the position of affairs, gave orders for more men and horses, and then rode up to his guns and remained standing- near them awaiting help. He was, of course, a most conspicuous object on the plain, remaining perfectly alone and still, except when a shell came very near, when his horse became a little restive. One involuntarily breathed a prayer for the preservation of the life of a brave man. Needless to say that the guns were saved. In one instance when there were no horses available for the ammunition carts, the men themselves rushed up to them, and dragged them nearly half a mile to get them out of fire. I am sorry that I have not been able'to learn for certain who the brave field officer was who acted with so much coolness and determination. If it was not Colonel Montgomery, I do not know who it was.

A BOER CUT THROAT. Amongst the large batch of invalids and wounded from South Africa arriving by the Umbria at Southampton last Tuesday were a number of men who had served with the Ladysmith and Kimberley relief forces. They had all terrible tales to tell of the sanguinary- work in the trenches, but the most ghastly reading is the brief story of Lance Corporal Ramsey, of the Black Watch, who was wounded in eight places at Magersfontein. He states that during the battle a Boer captured- a British bugler, whom he endeavoured to drag within the Boer

lines. The bugler straggled to get free, whereupon the Boer drew a knife from liis pocket and out the boy's throat. Ramsey promptly clubbed his rifle and struck the Boer dead. The Corporal's story was corroborated by several eye witnesses. ; WHY BULLMR FAILED AT VAAL ! LvIIANTZ.

| In explanation of General Buller's ; withdrawal from Vaal Krantz in his penultimate attempt to relieve Ladysmith Mr Winston Churchill says: —

"The liocrs covering army numbered at least 12.000 men, with perhaps a dozen, excellent guns. They hold along the line of th-e Tugela what is practically a continuous position of nisi strength. Their superior mobility, and the fact that they occupy the chord, while wo must move along the arc of Ilie circle, enables them to forefront ;;« with nearly their whole force, wherever an attack .is aimed, however it may be disguised. Therefore there is no way of avoiding' a direct assault. Now, according to Continental experience, the attacking force should outnumber the defence by three to one. Therefore, Sir lledvers !In lit-1- should have 30,000. instead of this, lie has only 22,000. Moreover, behind the first row of positions, which practically runs along the edge of an unbroken line of steep, fiat-top-pod hills, there is a second row standing back from the edge at no great distance. Any attack on this second row the artillery cannot; support, because from the plain below they are ; too far off 1o find the Boer guns, and from the edge they are too close to the enemy's riflemen. The ground is I too broken, in the opinion of many generals, for night operations. Therefore, the attacking infantry of.insufficient strength must, face unaided the fire of cool, entrenched riflemen, armed with magazine weapons and using smokeless powder. Already the.Boers' position beyond Potgieter's laps around us on three sides. What if we should ; break through, only to have the door shut behind us? At least two brigades would have to be left to hold the line of communications. The rest, weakened by several fierce and bloody engagements, would not be strong enough to effect the relief." GERMANY PREPARED TO PROFIT. The virulent attacks of the German press upon England, which marked j the progress of the Transvaal war ! during its early stages, have now al- j most entirely ceased, and the com- j ments of the press of the Fatherland I are now as a rule sweetly reasonable. | It seems to have come home to the i minds of the Germans that English j domination in South Africa will be • rather a good thing for them commercially, and the German Govern- ' nient, instead of worrying Great' Britain with suggestions for a settlement oi' her dispute with the Boers, is making ready to take immediate advantage of that rapid increase of commer- j cial prosperity which it is expected will follow the conclusion of the war. A Bill has been laid before the. Federal Council providing for the augmentation of the German mail service to South Africa, commensurate with the increase aforementioned. The present contract with the German East Africa line terminates at the end of this year, and it is proposed to establish a fortnightly mail service, running alternately from the east and from Ihe west, round Hie Cape of Good Hope, and assisted by an intermediary line to and from East Africa, through the Sue/ Canal. The Imperial subsidy to the contractors is to be raised from 000.000 marks to 1.350,000 marks annually. The Bill also stipulates for the construction of five new large steamers at a cost of 2.500.000 marks each, and of four medium sized steamers at 1,300,----000 marks.