NEWS BY MAIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4081, 20 June 1900, Page 7

NEWS BY MAIL.

INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. IMPRESSIONS ~OF MR. ATKINS. (dnctial to “The Times.”) CAPETOWN. May 10. That Tommy Atkins is a fine follow as a soldier there is no doubt, but Tommy as a social companion is not an unnualllied success. Ho may be amusing to listen to for perhaps half-an-hour, bub the sameness l of his stories and the adjectives with which he gai--nishes his language are so repellant that one may soon tire of listening to his narratives." Hisv conversation, when not growling—“grousing he calls it—at his - officer or the bully beef or rooty (bread), generally refers to some good spree he has enjoyed when on furlough, and it is from the gist of these stirring and often blood-curdling stories that one is able to form a fairly correct idea of his barrack life. In times of peace, no matter bow : many decorations lus

tunic carries, lie is not looked upon as a. hero; in fact, he is almost considered a nuisance, but let the Empire bo even threatened, and then we, hear of him not -as a nuisance but as the hero of many songs —as “the” man of the Empire. In the battlefield he is a peculiar mixture of man and machine. It is not right to call him a. man, for a. man is supposed to be able to tnink for himself, but not so Tommy. One of our New Zealanders hit him ofl splendidly the other day. He described Thomas as a “particularly sensitive electrical machine,” the subalterns as the “wires connecting the machine with the battery,” and the senior officers-as the “men who do the thinking and press the button.” , Of course that is as it should be—at least according to that unquestionable authority the War Office—but it is often the cause of heavy losses. When Tommy’s regiment. is doing patrol work or scouting, and he gets into a. tight corner, finding bo cannot fight or force his way out with brute strength, he gives in. He has absolutely no power to think for himself, and use his wits to get away. In a war such as the present one, where the enemy depends upon their cunning in taking up well concealed positions, and their marksmanship, the patrols, scouts and ’ advance guards have had an extremely bad time of it, and the casualties have been very heavy. COLONIALS AND REGULARS. Tho difference between the Imperial men and colonials is well illustrated by tho recoikl of our-first contingent, who at the time of writing have been six months in the colony," and: have not lost a man on this work. For the first two months, a'rouna Colesburg, whore they made an, excellent name for themselves, and won such golden opinions from General French, they formed a patrol of some sort every day, and were fired on perhaps six days out of every seven. Our officers and men daily were tho recipients of praise from some member of the staff on the excellent manner in which they could take, shelter where it was hand to find. I remember on one occasion at Jasfontcin, the morning poor Bradford was lost. Lieutenant Canavan’s division was holding a kopje covering the movements of another division, when General French rode by the base of the hill, apparently looking for something. The subaltern, noticing the general, stepped out from hiding and asked if he could get the general any information. “Yes,” was the immediate and angry reply, ‘ “I gave onders that this kopje was to bo occupied, and I want to know why my orders have not been carried out.” On Lieutenant Canavan telling him that ho had nearly 40 men" on the hill, the general remarked, “Oh, I forgot you are New Zealanders, and. can .h01d,,,a, position'without exposing yourselves,” andi rode: on. MEN WHO WILL NOT RETURN. Though the men-of the first contingent have had such a hough time of it, a good many intend staying in the country after the war ia over. Lieut. Canavan, who fully intended staying here when he left Blenheim, has had such wretched health that he is going back to his native shores. Lieut. Lindsay, of course, will .not be able to go back as he has got a commission in the Carabineers. Lieut. Matthews is going to , England before returning to New Zealand. There is some talk of Lieut. Hughes going for a commission in the, Imperial Army. Lance-Sergeant "Matson has applied for one of the infantry commissions offered by the Imperial Government to men of the colonial forces, and I understand has been formally recommended for it. Among tho men, Sergeant G.iWTxtkins tells me he. intends staying here, having found a, relative in the country.: Sergeant Morgan has joined- the provisional police, but I am not sure if he intends to stay here. Trooper Rydie, who is already in Rrotoria : with our “advance guard” has been .offered £6 10s a. week by the Cool Storage’Authorities in Kimberley, and-is -going "to stay. Trooper Thorpe intends to practise,his profession of surveyor hero. - TroOper Calloway, who. had suclx a .rouigh time coming over, is, I fancy, going to stay in the country on “spec,” .being disinclined to take another sea voyage. • Major. Robin informs me .tlioL there - : will Bo nearly twenty of our .men,, stay behind. Gaptain Ward has. left us and has command of a, “pom-pom” battery, but is riow in command of' an ammunition column) He has "done excellent- service since, lie has; been out. . Trooper Riffen. also leaves the cpntingent, and goes with Captain .Ward.:., There - is a rumour that Captain Mddocks is to rejoin his old’regiment of Royal Artillery as soon as Major Robin can spare him. This will deprive ns of the fourth officer since our departure from New Zealand. FRIENDS IN NEED. • Our men have been particularly fortunate in' having some old New Zealanders in Capetown; 1 for not only have they taken an interest, in the, doings s their countrymen, c hut have acted as agents and almost as fathers to many of tho boys. First and foremost is Mr 0.-H. Pilcher,-of the- South: British Insurance Company" J in - Capetown. He must have sacrificed many of his; free hours to ' the work ‘of furthering 1 tho comforts of the‘men. . In conversation with liim a' few days'" ago he told me he was banker to nearly thirty of the first contingent, and their credits ran into thousands. It is to him and him alone that the thanks of • the men are due : for- - forwarding ; the many parcels’ sent “to the men through the New Zealand Express‘ Company. His office presents quite a formidable appearance with various lots of’loot that have been sent down to, hing. for. safe beeping until the owners return from the front. Mr Lichtenstein, who hails from Dun-

edin,,aml is in aniqffice «t the dock** ■ also devotes most of hii? spare time toymit . brave two .liundrcds-.-"Mr. Harris (South British), Mr'E. .TV Penny (late Bank' of New Zealand), Mr Norris (South British) and Mr Allan (late of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Company) have done all they could to make things comfortable for the men, andtheir kind inquiries at the various hospitals have been much appreciated. But it is not only the New Zealanders at the Cape, who have been good to us. Everybody with whom we have come in contact has shown us groat kindness.. “FRENCH’S CHICKENS.” • The publication. .of, General French's - despatches of the movements made by his forces around Colesburg was carcfullv watched for by officers and men alike. When they appeared in the papars last week, and the New Zealanders With too Royal Horse Artillery were the two regiments specially mentioned for the good work done in those movements, the boys knew no bounds to their delight. Naturally., they arc very proud of tile high position they have been accorded. For a long time past the first contingent men have been dubbed “French’s chickens.”- Every regimeat has its nick-name, and our boys are proud of theirs. A LACK GF MONEY. As in other regiments, the paymaster conics in for a good deal of comment,, but the men should remember that it. is quite out of tho question , to cany sufficient money to pay thorn every month. Still, there is room to growl on certain occasions. The men who have been sent hack to Now Zealand have been sent away with a few shillings in their pockets when they have £2O or £llO owing to them. With very little trouble tho sc men could have been given at least a. ton-pound note to get a few luxuries before going on board and to provide against any unforeseen circumstances. A GALLANT DOCTOR. . New Zealand readers will be pleased’ to learn that Dr qualities ami the excellent service he has been doing in this country, both in the field and in camp, have at last been recognised by the authorities, and once again he is “surgeon-captain,” only this time the appointment is a permanent one. No doubt the heroic work he put in at Sarnia’s Dam (tne waterworks affair) bad a good deal to do with his promotion. I was speaking to a major with a. : good, breast of medals after that affair, and bo told me be had seen many a D.S.MJ given for work which was not half 1 as daring. It is a certainty that bad Dr Burns, not gone out into the firing-line and removed nearly twenty men they must have either been shot or captured; by the Boers. Surgeon-Captain Burns is at present Acting-P.M.O. to the colonial troops in Bloemfontein, as Colonel Williams has gone to Kroonstad. > . WITH LUMSDEN’S HORSE: Mr Harry McGregor, son of Mr H. A. McGregor, Inspector of Machinery, who enlisted as a trooper in Lumsden’s Horse at Calcutta, writes from, Spitfontein. on May Ist. just after a sharp engagement with' the enemy in that vicin-ity.-—AWe had gone’ out from I here, about 1 two miles at "daylight yesterday, our orders being to escort tho transport for that distance, and there await the arrival of the troops. We had just reached the limit, when Sergeant-Major Slippers, who is in charge of us, caught sight of a gun being dragged to the top' of a kopje away on our right. We had no guns, so the order was given to retire as. quickly a-s possible to a. farmhouse near by. Our troops I —-Lumsden’s Horse, Lock’s Horse and North Staffordshire Artillery—soon. advanced,, but our company (Lumsden’s) got caught in , a trap, and five were killed outright and twelve or fourteen injured. Major Shoners and Lieutenant Crane, of B Company-, were among the killed. Generals French and Hart, however, came up with cavalry-, got right in among the Boers and did a great deal-of damage. At dusk we all returned to camp. I saw plenty of shells: bursting, and got quite used to the'ir peculiar ring and final ‘poof.’ One burst within fifty yards of us, covering 'some of the men with dust. The Boors’ aim and range were excellent. We [have been reinforced to-day with a lot of men from Bloemfontein way, and are all an-' xious for the ‘kick-off” to-morrow morning.” : -