CURRENT TOPICS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12161, 27 March 1900, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

Judging from the latesfj accounts that had reached Capetown when the last

JOHANNKSBITHG.

mail left, Johannesburg, •&« far from being like a place in a state of siege, with armed men parading the streets, is almost as still as a city of the dead. AB' midnight, it is stated, a person can stand on the hill at the Troyville end of Jeppesdorp, and look down on the-whole length of Commissioner Street without seeing two> human beings. ■ Most of the shops, stores and empty dwelling houses have been barricaded. • Those business places that have been able to remain open, do little business, as no one buys anything except what is absolutely necessary. On Saturday, however, Market Square has still an animated appearance, and the spectator wonders where all the people who congregate there coma from. The small auctioneers hold their sales as formerly, and cattle and horses are bought and sold, as they were in times of peace. Nothing but the best houses will suit the Boer families who have moved into Johannesburg, and they select the best room in which to camp. As it seems absurd to them that cooking operations should be carried on in a room removed-from the one in which they live, they cook in the drawing-room. But if they have no respect for handsome and expensive carpets, they know how to appreciate the electric light, which they burn by day as well as by night. The Boer women are reported to have a rather hazy idea of the use of drapery. Out of expensive drawing-room curtains they make weird, and sometimes grotesque garments for.themselves a>nd their daughters, and expensive ornaments are given to. tbd children to play with. With regard to provision?, in the city, there doss not. seem to ba any lack of them. Beet is fairly plentiful, and although mutton is scarce, poultry and eggs have not advanced in price, and vegetables a.re almost given away. The inhabitants are somewhat alarmed at the. price of coffee, :-,uia:, tea, a;:J tinned hiilk, but it is aiiii'iita. mo*t of the fitter families have commandeered supplies to last them for some time,.

THE MUSH.

There appear to be times

■when Private Thomas Atkins finds the toil and monotony of camp life a little wearisome. Patrol duty with

(Lord Methuen "at the Modder River cannot Jjave been altogether exhilarating. Many of the regiments, we know, took footballs fa> the front with them, and regular championship contests were organised, and as far as possible carried out. But every Prifciah soldier does nob play football, and po some of them at least turned their attention to lighter and more intellectual occupations in their leisure hours. Thus the & Cape Times " is able to publish a number pf poetical effusions from Private Jones, of the Devonsj or Private Smith, of the Coldstreams. In a recent .issue Private Shepherd, of the North Lancashire Regiment Cruses on the* text: ; An old woman eita by .*he open door, A photograph held in her hand. [the picture, of-course, is that of her dear Jwy called atfay to fight for his Queen and country. Similarly, Corporal Doyle, of the {Dublin Fusiliers, writes on "Soldiers' jLov'e":—

• My deatr 'son, cries the heartbroken mote, as .his d-eath his sweetheart to her reads;' ' "lis the mother and sweetheart, no others, Cani/ell how their heart ibr him. bleeds. (We are enjoined l to " pity, not blame him, that the angels will record his name jen the "bright scroll of glory above." ffommy Atkins is a good fighter, but a poor jpoet. Much the most interesting of these Jyerses for New Zealanders is from the pen E" Fred. Eyre, Yorkshire Regiment," and entitled "Majuba Hill Avenged." We ve had to wait long for vengeance, says {Private Eyre, but it has come at last. But here's a reverse for Majuba i That's caused' many beiairte now to thrill, 1 Twaa fought.by the forks -and Colonials • On a place they call New Zealand Hill, tote Boers came up the hill, their numbers jbeing "awfully large," and matters were kooking really serious. But in the very pick, of time, the New Zealand Rifles arrived, and " poured in an incessant fire," ''Led on by their brave Captain Madocks." - Leaig live the pilot 19th,\Grreen Howards, ; And oir two brave lade, Oollims and Hayes, ] And the New Zealand's brave- Captain Madock, ; May they all live io sea beibtea: days. fPrivate Eyre, no doubt, means well, but lie expresses his sentiments in curious 'fcahion.

MILITARY KITCHENS.

In view of the close attention given, to commissariat arrangements in the British Army in these days, it is not

Surprising to learn; that regulations have jbeen drawn up .for the construction of miliibary kitchens on the field. When a force arrives at the spot wiere the camp will be .pitched, fatigue parties are tcld off specially to construct the cooking-places. They first Jof all see -which way the wind is blowing, (and 1 *!hen select a level piece of ground. ,Oa this they dig three trenches, each ten 'feet long, which meet at a point, so that Jfchey farm a figure like the Government's ibro&d arrow. Meanwhile other men nave icollected fuel, which is piled in the trencheis, land at the poinb of intersection a chimney Sour or five feet in height is built with sods and earth. Wihen" the fire is alight and jblazing up the chimney, the kettles are put ion. They are of two sizes, the larger one (holding twelve quarts and the smaller one Wen. The former will enable the cooks ifco provide for eight men with vegetables dn their stew, or for fifteen men without (vegetables.- A broad arrow kitchen of the regulation size, with three trencheis ten feet long, will allow cooking to be done for 300 men. Some of the food is baked in a field toven, which is a simple contrivance. It is made on the same principle as a field kitchen with regard to the trenches and the jchiinmey/but it has a slab of iron laid over :the trench, and an arch of sods over that. ;The space between the iron and the arched *oof is heated first of all. Then the fuel is raked out and placed under the iron, every being taken to make a good fraught, and the food is baked on the iron *lab. On active service, each man has an |*xtra quarter of a pound of meat and bread *ach day, and many experienced housewives jwould be surpriseckto see vrhat can be done •out on the veldt with the extra rations, and ja bill-hook, a spade, and a kettle. The military cook has not many appliances to work Jwith, and he has practically only one cooking utensil, yet with those ■primitive means Tommy -Atkins tells him to prepare a meal, and is very dissatisfied if a good one is not ready at short notice.