WITH THE DANDY FOURTH.

Evening Star, Issue 11266, 13 June 1900, Page 3

WITH THE DANDY FOURTH.

ON THE MONOWAI. [By Mr W. Hctchisox.] BEIRA, Monday, May 7. * The leaving of the Contingent from tho Monowai in the tug yesterday was the occasion of a great demonstration between the troops and the ship's company. Cheers and counter-cheers rent tho air as the small steamer on each of her two trips cast off to ferry the troops to the shore. Besides this there 'were several "little party" leavetaking functions. There is no doubt whatever that the men were really sorry to leave their sea. home. Captain Harvey was specially on the cheering. His brother captain ■was in charge of the shore party, and left tie ship on Saturday. Captain Fulton was, however, by no means left out in the farewell reckonings. Indeed, it is safe to say that Captain Fulton is the most popular "officer in tie Fourth Contingent. The men have commenced to realise that discipline is absolutely necessary, and while the captain of No. 9 keeps them up to the mark in their soldierly duties they recognise that his bark is worse than his bite. Captain Fulton has the absolute confidenco of his men, and the from the veteran of them, solid " Bobs," as Lieutenant Ross has been nicknamed, to "Jacky," the good-natured and

well-set-up representative from mid-Otago, Lieutenant Keddell.

To-day I learn there is some stoppage on the line, and the chances are the New Zealanders will have to remain under canvas here for some few days. There are huge quantities W stores here, but it is said there is a great shortage at-the camp up the line, and that prices have gone up at Salisbury something like 100 per cent, during the last few days. The Dunmore Castle, which arrived on Friday, brought a further shipment of Hungarian horses. These horses are to mount the Imperial Yeomanry, and there will be enough to go round and some over. I had a'look at a draft of the Dunmore's lot, and rare sorts they ate, and such a uniform lot. They all stand about 14.2, are clean-limbed, strong, and active. They are, to my thinking, just the class for here, and, I fancy, if not required to carry too big loads, will be more serviceable than ouv big horses, and will stand privations better. Some of the Hungarians would bring a big price for polo in New Zealand. NEW ZEALAND'S CASUALTY LIST. At the official reception at Wellington yesterday to the returned invalided soldiers, Colonel Penton mentioned that the New Zealand - casualties so far, out of 700 men engaged, were 5 killed, 12 wounded, 10 died of disease, and 17 taken prisoners. This is the list: KILLED. First Contingent Trooper G. Bradford, of AncklarH, at Ja<fontein, December 2S, 1899. First Continent.—.-ergeant S. W. Gourley, of Zealand Hill, January 15,1900. Fitst Contingen'. Trooper Johu Connell, of Auckland, New Zealand Hill, January 15, 1900. First Contingent.—Trooper Harold J. Booth, of Oatnarn, Kunsburg, no date. lirst Crtntir'Kent.—fserg?atit William Byrne, of Timaru, Johannesburg, May 28, l'JtK). Total, 5. DIED OF DISEASE. First Contingent.—Trooper 11. Burroughs, of Marlborough, enteric, Kimberley, March 6, 1900. First Contingent. Trooper John M'lutosh Patterson, of Taranaki, enteric, Rendebosch, February 18, KWO. First Contingent. —Trooper Jaine3 Jenks, of Auckland, enteric, Rendebosch, March 21. 1900. Secoi.d Contingent.—Trooper T. A. Herupton, of New Plymouth, dysentery, Carnarvon, Aprils, 1900. Third Contingent.—K. W. Morris, of Waikuku, enteric, Eist London, April 11,»1UOO. First Contingent. —Tiooper L. M. Tarrant, of Nelson, typho d, Pretoria, April 20, 1900. Second Contingent.— oti, Thomas George Anderson, of Invcrcargill, enteric, Bloemfontein, April 26,1900. First Contingent—Sergeant J. H. Brock, enteric, Bloemfonteiu. Mav 25, WOO.

Second Contingent.—Farrier-sergeant Matthew M'Kinney, of Lower Hutt, Bloemfontein, May 28, 1900. First Contingent.—Trooper John Wyllie, tumor, Pretoria. May IS, 19u0. Total, 10. INVALIDED. BY THE WAIWRRA. First Contingent.—Private Hunt, Cbristchurch. BY THE TVU'AROA. First Contingent.— Setjreant llond, Auckland. First Continent. Corporal L. P. Symes, Christclmrch. Se ond Contingent—Captain Hayhursfc, Tern uka. BY TUP. MORAVIAN. First Contingent.—Truoper J. C. Seelye, Dunedin. Kirst Contingent. Shoeing-smith Thomas Taylor (in hospital at Melbourne). Second Contingent. —Karrier-sefgeant A. Neilson, WcllinKtjii. First Contingent.—Trooper A. R. Taylor, Chris-1-church. First Contingent.—Trooper R. S. Young, Karori, Wellinijttin. First Contingent. Trooper F. Harding, Woodville. BT THK MONOWAI. Third Contingent.—Trooper Irwin Manh. gallantry: of the naval BRIGADE. At the battle of Uras Pan Lieutenant Dean, R.N., commanded four naval guns with four half guns' crews. He gives the following account of the part his gallant men played in the day's events:—About 8 a.m. I received verbal orders to retire from my position, as the Royal Artillery Mere about to move away to the right, and it would then be untenable for my two guns. The Royal Artillery were already moving off when T got the" order, and the Boer guns, having got our range accurately, wore pouring on us such an effective shrapnel fire that, 1 judged it impossible to earn- out the order without either leaving the guns or suffering very heavy losses, both amongst our own men and the company of Royal Engineers who were helping us, if we attempted to retreat with them. I therefore continued to fire as briskly as possible at the Boer guns, with such effect that we continuously put them out of action, first one and theu the other, for as much as fifteen or twenty minutes at a time. Their shslls burst with utmost accuracy, and both our guns and ammunition trolly were spattered all over with shrapnel balls; but, owing to my system of making all hands lie down when we saw their guns flash and remain till the. shell burst and the balls flew by, we had only six men wounded when, at, 9.59 a.m.. the Boers finally ceased firing and abandoned their position.

_ The men of H.M.S. Terrible at the battle o'f C'olenso were for some time in a very tight place. Lieutenant Ogilvie was in charge to the aix 12-pounders attached to Colonel Long's ill-fated batteries. The guns quickly came under a terrible fire. The two centre guns under Mr Wright, gunner of ILM.S. Terrible, were unfortunately jammed with their ammunition waggons in the drift, the wheels of the waggons being locked and the oxen turned round in their yokes. I managed (says Liutenant Ogilvie). by the aid of some artillery horses, to extricate these guns from the drift and to bring them into action on each side of the drift to the rear of the donga, one of the horses being shot whilst doing this. I could not manage to move the ammunition waggons, as the rifle and shell fire was too severe at the time. The Commander-in-Chief now rode up and directed me to move our guns and ammunition as soon as I could. The guns were got away, each by a team of artillery horses, who galloped them up the hill to the rear. The waggons were far more difficult, owing to their weight, the large circle they required to turn in, and to the fact that they had to be got out from the drift and turned round by the guns' crews before the horses could be put on. The conduct of our men without exception was particularly fine, the day being a very hot one and the work hard. * The way No. 1 and guns' crews of the Terrible got their waggons out of the drift under heavy fire from shell and rifle was quite tip to the standard expected of all seamen. JOUBERT'S SUCCESSOR, An admirer gives the following sketch of the new Boer Commandant-General: Louis Botha, of Vryheid, the youngest Boer general and the victor of Colenso and Spion's Kop, is an exceptionally fine specimen of his race. There is little of the typical Boer in his appearance or of the man who has done great things in his manner. —mong the Boers he is extremely popular, and they place implicit trust in him. Bom at Greytown, Natal, he is but thirty-six years of age, and has all his life followed the occupation of a farmer. General Botha does not claim to be a military strategist, in the ordinary sense of the word. He 1 has never studied warfare, but has spent nearly all his life on his farms, engaged in the breeding of cattle and the general pursuit of agriculture. Naturally, he is compared to Cincinnatus, and it is expected of him that he will do his country such service as that rendered by the ancient Roman to hit?. WHY THEY BEAT US. Mr Bennet Burleigh, the correspondent of the ' Daily Telegraph,' has sent home a most instructive article by a Boer, who recently was in the fighting line . He gives a most interesting account of Boer methods of warfare, from which we have taken the following extract: " As'is well known, our Mauser cartridges make no smoke whatever, -while our Martini cartridges, which are charged with black powder, cause when fired a dense cloud of smoke to arise. Well, our commandant:!, with their usual slimness (cunning), used to pliwe the men with the Martinis on the top of the kopje, while the men with the Mausers were placed in the trenches below. The British would bombard uS with their shrapnel shells, their lyddite shells, and their splendid naval guns, until you could not see your friend who was lying beside you, on account of the fearful dust and smoke caused by the enemy's bombs. We would go on peppering awav merrily for some time with our Martinis, and raise a tremendous smoke, and then we quieted down. The British G.O.C. would

think all the Boers on that kopje were killed, and would send some poor unfortunate regiment to take the position. The order to charge would be given, and the wretched Tommies were sent into the mouth of Hell, for our men, with their deadly Mauseits were waiting for them below-the* kopje, anl when they came within about 400 yds wouid rain lead on them. No living mortal reiki have stood the terrible raking fire we used to give them, and 1 cannot undersMud how the 'Tommies' used to re-form and chifs again with a cheer. These khaki-eh.t:,e I beggars were veritable demons. I len .«• liufc if we Boers had been in their yh.r. .« ve should have taken to our heels and run. I had often read about British pluck, but had never seen it. It wants to be seen before it can be believed. But, after aH, is it war? Just look at the many positions of ours t ha' could Lave been taken with the greate.-.t "f ease if common sense had only beer. t:v.,l by the British officers, and when regiment after regiment was repulsed and sent by the officers right into our rifles' mouths to be shot down." THE BOER PRISONERS AT ST HELENA. Commandant Cronje and the Boer prisoners have been landed at St. Helena, Cronje looked well and cheerful. He was received by the Governor, and then proceeded to Kent Cottage. Colonel Schiel made another daring attempt to escape. When on board the transport Iving off Jamestown he bribed a boatman to take a letter to the Dutch cruiser which had arrived in the roadstead. This letter was taken to H.M.S. Niobe in mistake, and the prisoner's design thus came to the knowledge of the authorities. Late at night Colonel Schiel, with two other prisoners, attempted to leave the vessel on which they were confined, but the attempt was, of course, frustrated. Colonel Schiel was found to be in possession of a large knife. When he landed he was calmly smoking a cigar. He refused to ride in a carriage, saying he preferred walking. The ordinary guard accompanied the prisoner to Ladder Hill, where they were relieved by the Royal Artillery guard, who took the officer to High Knoll' Citadel. The remainder of the prisoners were landed in two batches, first the officers, and then the men, and sent to the camp which has been prepared for them at Deadwood Plain. The men were very dirty and poorly clad, but all seemed cheerful aud glad to get ashore. The march to Deadwood occupied three hours, and there were many stragglers, wearied with their long confinement on board ship who were placed in the ambulances which accompanied the party. Even thes*, however, were, in good spirits. THE ANGLO-AMERICAN SENTIMENT. The following extract is from a letter received from an American friend in Albany •Vl., with regard to the ' sympathies bf people in the United States on the question of the Boer War:— "1 sincerely hope that three months from now (April 19) mav show a yen- decided change for the better in South Africa. Do not allow yourself to be persuaded that, the overwhelming public sentiment. „f the best, classes 0 f this countrv is not with Great Britain in this war. The Irish here, as with you in some cases, are iavorab.e to anything that would hurt England. Of the large German population in the great cities a good proportion is antiBiitish m its sympathies, and it was a combination of that and of the Irish element which sent, the messenger bov from Philadelphia a fortnight ago to Pretoria with th" resolutions of the public school children" f-ngland has got to win this fight for her own sake and the hake of civilisation, and it is rather curious that most of those in this country who are pro-Boer have been doing alt they can to annoy and impede our Government in its operations in the Philippines." l MAX MULLER ON THE WAR, Professor Max Mullcr has sent an answer to the letter of the Pan-German Union, in which, in consequence of his anti-Boer attitude on the war. thev denied his ri.dit to call himself a German. The Professor, who is of opinion that it would occunv too much space to prove that the Germans'have been intentionally deceived in regard to the war. says :

"I therefore restrict myself to a single fact quoted by the Pan-German gentlemen themselves. They say that the Convention of 1884 states nothing but That the Transvaal is not permitted to conclude any treaty -with foreign Powers, and tlisot England has no right to interfere in home wgairs. This, however, is at variance with Article' Xlv! of the said treaty, which speaks of taxation and the suffrage, and these certainly are home affaire. ... Is it a mere chance that 90 per cent, of all the taxes are now paid only by foreigners? Bismarck's words, quoted by the Pan-C4erman gentlemen, are quite true. He said: V I have had all mv life sympathies for England and her inhabi-' tants alone, and occasionally feel the same thing still to-day; but they do no!: allow' us to love them.' Do not'think that the English are such bad people as they are said to be by Dr Leyds and his hirelings; and that they deserve no esteem. I have now been long enough in England to always express my thoughts quite frankly, and have always found that my honest opinion was respected, though not shared. Scratch the English, and you will find the German ; and the sooner you begin to scratch—instead of loving—the better. Believe me that, if I had to be ashamed of the Pan-German name, there is no name T should be prouder of than that of an Englishman." ODDMENTS. Dr Focke, the German Consul at Cape Town, has been called on to explain the accusations attributing to him actions and expressions of an anti-German character. One of the accusations levelled at Dr Focke is that he has been heard to state publicly that the sooner the Germans in South Africa are absorbed into Anglo-Saxondom the better it will be for them and the country.

It is not a little eloquent of the' spread of the Imperial sentiment in tha most unlikely quarters that it has asserted its predominancy even among the Fabkms. If there is a society among whose members the anti-Imperial fanatic might be expected, it is the Fabian. That body, however, has retrieved its credit on that score, at least, by the results of the recent election of their Executive, which was fought on the issue of South African policy. The Imperialists put forward eleven candidates, of whom ten were returned, among them being Mr George Bernard Shaw, the anti-Imperialists securing only five seats.

A correspondent of a Northamptonshire paper now with the Army Medical Corps in South Africa tells a, story about Mr Rudyard Kipling. " One of our comrades (he writes! is postman for Rudyard Kipling at, Home. Mr Kipling told him to come and see him when he got out here. When the postman rr-ached the Grand Hotel the porter said .- 'Mr Kipling won't see anyone." but the man sent up his name, and'down came Mr Kipling and heartily welcomed him to the rooms where he was staying. There were generals there, in fact all"the big guns of the day. In a chat with my comrade Mr Kipling asked how many men there were in the 20th Bearer Company, and on my comrade replying 'Fifty-eight',' Mr Kipling gave him fifty-eight ounces of tobacco."' The Victorian Government have decided to grant six months' leave of absence on full pay to their invalided soldiers, and it is probable that a board will be appointed to formulate the claims of the men upon the Imperial authorities for compassionate allowances, and to advise with regard to claims upon the Empire Patriotic Fund by the widows of men killed in action, as w'ell as by the men themselves who have ' been wounded. Many of the men are in poor circumstances, and will be incapacitated by their wounds from making their living for some time. ■■ A choice story comes from South Africa—this time from Pretoria. At the beginning of the war it was the duty of a young Hollander to make up the" list of'killed and wounded on both sides. As near as he could he did so truthfully. The truth, however, would not suit Mr Kruger at all, and he " conveyed a very broad hint to the compiler that -e enemy's list must be liberally added to and the Boers' list minimised as much as possible." The hint was taken, arid the next battle was recorded, thus :—"British killed, 25,000; Boers, 15 births."