IN THE ZULU WAR.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 9703, 15 April 1897, Page 3

IN THE ZULU WAR.

A STORY OF BUSH AND BATTLE

THE TALE OF AN OLD CAMPAIGNER.

BESIEGED IN A MISSION EKOWE- '. ..-FEEDING ON WEEVILS AND OXEN—ON THE VERGE OF A GRUESOME GRAVE.

He was a bronzed and bearded soldier— an old warrior of the Zulu campaign—and had much of interest to tell. His name is Mr R. Groves, of Hyde Park, Rookwood, and the representative of the " Star " found him one morning in his wellkept orchard, spending the evening of a stirring life amidst his fruit trees, readiug his paper in the coolness of a shady porch, that, covered with blossoming bougainvillea, rose as a splendid splash of purple and green in contrast to the brilliant sepia ef pounded clay around.

" I'M FIFTY -FIVE YEARS OF AGE." he said, making room for us beside him, "and when I left my regiment, the 3rd Buffs, I held the rank of quartermastersergeant." - "And the Zulu campaign ?" "Ah, yes. I was through that," he replied, shaking his head at the recollection. "The campaign o" '79. Yes, that's what knocked mc up." " How was that V " Well, you see, our column was in six detachments, and Cetewayo's impis MASSACRED FIVE OF THEM. Ours was the sixth, and we made for a deserted mission station ekowe, and kept the dusky troops at bay. They couldn't carry our building, and we held out till help arrived." " You must, have had an awful time ?" "AAvful! My God, it was. We were herded together there for thirteen weeks without ever being able to get a proper sleep. We had no bedding, and the air was filled with heat and stench. The only food saved was weevily biscuits, aud then we had to kill the half-starved trek oxen to help keep life together. Should ever we dare to show ourselves for a minute to snatch a breath of air AN ASSEGAI WOULD WHIRL THROUGH SPACE, and the man was dead that it struck." " Did this conclude your perils ?" "No, not by a long way. For fourteen months we had nothing to sleep upon, and had to lie down in the open air—in the dry heat and the cold pouring rain—it was all the same. Fever and sickness carried off many ot the men, and when our tattered remnant reached'the coast I left the regiment, having served my time." "What effect had the campaign upon

yon"" ""A terrible effect, that till last Christmas I was never without. As a result of the exposure and starvation I found my digestion ruined: For seventeen years I've had twitching pains under the shoulders and in the arms; the nerves of my arms were weak, and caused mc agony whenever I moved them. I suffered from cramps, aud at times A DEATHLY NUMBNESS PERVADED MY BODY. •" How about the doctors ?" •' All ? well, I tried them," he replied, in a tone tinged with contempt, " and they never did mc any good. Some said it was one thing, and some another; others just said it wa'j_-:. general weakness, and couldn't or wouldn't state what they meant."

" So you never progressed ?" " No, not a bit. I gradually got Worse, and of course I lost interest in everything. I could never walk far, I never slept properly, and I hardly ever ate anything except dry toast and tea. I. was miserable and restless, and always in pain." • • How long did this last ?" " Till last December. Several people who saw how bad I looked said they thought I WAS GOING TO DIE. And I felt just like it, and a doctor I consulted told mc the same thing. I was in a state ef collapse then. Even ordinary conversation would take all my breath away, and I'd sink back exhausted on the sofa. A lady doctor told mc it was all through my digestive organs, and that's what it was." ." Well, what did you try next ?" " That's the point. I picked up a' Eamphlet one day in December that a man ad thrown into the house. It was an advertisement for Dr. Williams' Pink Pill 3 for Pale People, and I there read a case just like my own that had been cured." " What did you do ?." ,;$ "Why, the only sensible thing. I got; some of the pills." «f Did you try 'em?" . " I should think I did." "Well, you don't seem very dead now," we commented, looking at the erey-bearded face arid sturdy military figure of our friend. , " No,'and I DON'T FEEL VERY DEAD either, young man. I feel very much alive. Why, do you know," he said impressively, *' that I've increased twelve pounds in weight since I took those pills of Dr. Williams'." ; "Have you?" '.•*.-'■ ." Yes,"l have. I improved gradually from the first dose. First, I took a pill at a time, and later on increased the dose. Up to now I've taken about thirteen boxes, audi feel so -wellthat.l intend to discontinue them altogether, As it is, I haven't had any for over a week, and I feel first-class." "Have, you a good appetite now ? " "Rather," he laughed out. "I'm always ready for my meals now, AND SLEEP LIKE A TOP. And when I wake;-up:l feel like a man instead of the weary wreck that I was three months ago." " How about the pains ?" "Oh 1 they've'-all lefti,me. I haven't felt them at all for a couple of months." "'I suppose you Walk better now ? " " Xes. Before I took Dir: Williams's Pink Pills Fd have to rest two or three times just walking into Rookwood. Now Igo straight in at a' good pace, and only yesterday I carried parcels home — a thing that I couldn't have possibly done before," and the old soldier's eyes twinkled at the humour of the idea. "I had to knock my cold baths off, too," he said, " because 1 was getting so weak, but now I take 'em regular every morning. My digestive organs are in perfect order,' and aU. the functions of my body do their duty." " Ana I'm only doing mine," he added, "in telling you this." .S "Do' you feel as well as you did before the war?" " Yes. I honestly feel better to-day THAN I DID TWENTY YEARS AGO, and that is saying a good deal, as I'm getting an old man how." "You firmly- believe in Dr. Williams' Pink Pills, then?" " Believe in the Pills 1 " he queried. " I should think I do. They've done a hundred times more for mc than all the doctors and medicines I've seen or taken for nigh on eighteen years. That's saying a good lot, but it's true. Believe in the pills ? I should think I did." Then we shook hands with this gay old veteran and- bade him '' Good-bye," and wished him a long and happy life, As we went up the garden walk, " I say," he called after us, " look at this." We turned round, and found him vigorously going through a number of army extension movements with hia arms. Then he held his legs straight, and bending his body touched the ground easily with either hand. " I couldn't do that before," he said.

We closed the gate and left him there amidst his fruit trees and his blossoming vines.

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