THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11660, 17 February 1900, Page 8

THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

TUJS U^iNi'JXiAlj TKJiASUBEK'S LIST. Mr G. L. Denniston, General Treasurer, acknowledges the following, additional subscriptions:— St. Bathan's Committee, per Mr John. Eagle: Blnckstone Hill station. £i IGs Gd; C. G. Dalgcty, £5 ss; odd suma collected at meeting .on January 19, ±'G . -Is; W. Pylc, J3S 3s; J. TluirImv, J. Eagle, A. V.' King, T. Wilkinson, J. Gray, W. Thurlow, N! Nicholson, £1 each ; W. M'Connoehie, W. Burnett, J. Ewing, ■'£. Kannian,- £1 each; ■ M. Foh'ey, 12s 6d; J. C. Ward, 10s Gd: P. Toomey, P. Eagle, W. Leader, T. Webb, W. 11. ' Brown, 10s each; K. Mathcson, P. G. Gilmour, T. Morgan, E Morgan, E. Dance. H. Clark, P. Cackle], Ss each; J O'Hara ' P. Sexton, H. Maxwell, W Pyle' . C. Pyle, R: Pyle, F. Pylc, G. A. Burnett, C. A. Burnett, W. L. Burnett, P. O'Connor, J. Hoptin, P; .M'Ca-ffray, 2s 6d each. Total .. 37 17 0 W. H. Buller, Christchurch.. .. 50 0 , 42 17 0 Previously acknowledged .. .. 8566 16 0 £BGO9 13 0 DEPARTURE OF LONDON VOLUNTEERS. AN ENTHUSIASTIC SEND-OFF. (Fkosi Our Own ConßEspoxniiirr.) , LONDON. January 13. 10-clay must ever he famous in the history of London. For this morning saw the first detachment of volunteers of the city dopart for the seat of war, 7000 miles distant. This had no precedent ill all. London's great and glorious past history. The send-off of the detachment consisted ol four acts. First came the presentation of the Freedom of the City to each of .the citizen .soldiers. This ceremony took place m the splendid Council Chamber of the historic Guildhall, the Lord Mayor presiding in full stale. The oath of allegiance having been taken by each mail, he was presented with the official parchment document, which proclaimed him a. Freeman of the City and entitled to all the rights and privileges of the order. The Lord Mayor then addressed the men, pointing out the high distinction that attached'to'this honour, as well as the valuable privileges 'appertaining.' Tlio Duke of Cambridge was present, and inf-pectcd the volunteers, who gave the venerable Royal veteran a. hearty greeting. In the evening the detachment attended a special service in St. Paul's Cathedral. The ceremony was a p"urely devotional one, all musical and spectacular pomp.being rigidly excluded. Yet it was a most deeply impressive function. The regular professional choir of the Cathedral did not take part, but only the voluntary choir which leads the congregation singing at the Sunday evening popular services, was allowed to 'officiate on this occasion, and the simplest chants and hymns ware used, wliile the responses were all in monotone. The order of service comprised some short prayers, an appropriate Psalm and lesson, a brief address from the Dean, and— most striking of all in its deeply solemn effect —n prolonged pause for silent prayer. It is estimated that more than 20.000 persons attended the service, and the volume of sound produced by this vast congregation's pinginf " Fight the good fight" and "O, bod, our help in atres past," was overwhelmingly majestic. So also was the " God save the Queen " at the, conclusion. Next came the march to the Temple, where the honourable, society of. the Inner Temple entertained the 500 citizen soldiers at a sumptuous farewell supper. A message was read from the Prince of Wales—" God-speed and a safe return " —amid vociferous cheers. Then just before midnight the volunteers marched once more through streets still thronged by almost overpowering!}' enthusiastic crowds, who pressed upon them so closely Hint several volunteers had their spurs trodden oft' and their uniforms torn in the friendjv struggle. Finally, after a brief vest at the Bunhill Row headquarters, the detachment this morning once more marched through the streets?, which even at so early an hour as 7 a.m. were again densely crowded, to the Nine Elms ;ocds station of the South-Western railway, where, amid tempestuous cheering, they entrained for Southampton, embarking there shortly after midday. May God bless and prosper them and bring them safe home again ! 'TiIKK LAMBS TO THE-SLAUGHTER." An interesting description of the Magersfontein battle has been received from a corporal of the Seaforth Highlanders by a friend in Dover, where the regiment was stationed shortly before proceeding to South Africa. Writing under date December 12 he fays: — " We had a terrible battle yesterday, and our regiment got terribly cut up. We advanced steadily to within two miles of the Boers' position, where we halted and remained, fully eauipped, wet to the. skin, until 12.30 a.m., when we advanced under cover of the dar'tr.ess. We advanced to within 300 yards from, the bottom of. the, hill, where we knew the Boers'were. 'Wo were in'quarter-column of companies-in line—that is, we were offering a front of, say, 50 yards—ami immediately behind, following in double ranks, were eomnany after company of the Highland Brigade, of. say, 3500 men. Suddenly the whole' hillside was one mass of flame, and the Snaforths, leading, received a discharge of rifle fire from over 16,000 Bpers. It was awful. Talk about 4 hell' —the hillside was one continuous line of fire. We immediately scattered and spread out in lines right and left. . . . Monday's work was a huge blunder, and who is to blamo I do not know: but there is no doubt the Highland Brigade were led like lambs to the slaughter. We were led more as if we were on a volunteer review at Hyde Parlc. We had a porrowful job on Tuesday night. Wo had 53 dead brought in and buried. You could hear nothing but the wailing of the pibroelis as the Highlanders were buried. The Boer loss, which of course cannot be estimated, must have been thousands, but they only gave it as hundreds: but all the fame they had to ask for an additional 24- hours to bury their dead. We reckon it about 7000 killed and wounded. We have a good number of men sick, especially with burnt legs. The ran fairly cooked the back of our legs on Monday, and I am afraid seme of the" men will be lamed for life." A LTVELY BUGLER. A bugler in' the Shropshire Light Infantry, with which regiment Colonel Spens and Lieutenant Sprott, the Hampshire erieketers, are .serving, writes:—"Just a few Hues to let you know that I am still kicking. . . . The Boers won't stand up to our fire, and when we open they do a slide off. It is not much use our going after them, for they seem to slide through the earth. ... I am going to have another try to finish this letter. They had the cheek to fire on our enmp; so wo went after them, and captured about fifty, and didn't they cop socks. I sneaked fifty fags off one. One of our sergeants got shot 'in five places. The wounded are going down to Capetown in train loads nearly overy day. It is horrible to see them. The Boers mostly hit in the arms and legs. They use a kind of explosive bullet, yet our Government has stopped us using the 'dum-dum. You have to keep your eves open, or you will have either a Boer of a '.'crocodile' after you. Oh, it is lively, and I am just starting to enjoy myself till I get hit by a stray shot. We have got three prisoners here that come from Crewe. They have been fighting for the Boers." A SIGHT WORTH'TEN YE4.RS OF ORDINARY LIFE. A member of the Natal -Mounted Police, serving with General Bulleer's force, writes home to his' father, a Nonconformist minis-'

ter:—"l am hard as iron now, ami can ride like a cowboy, bo that, after all, the experience has clone me good physically. Up to the present I have seen no chaplain in the field, but one can say for the dead that the poor fellows go before their Maker doing nobly for their country. People at home who talk of England and her greatness have no idea, of the simple grandeur of her soldiers' lives. To see those great bearded warriors charging up a, mountain, taking death, as nothing, was - a privilege worth ten years of ordinary life at home. In the moment of battle. there; is something God-like in those men; their, faces ; change to iron, and they seem like Fate itself. No company of men could ever face them-and live.' '■ ■ : ■ . ■ . .-. THE STR.ANGE~CASE OF GENERAL (tOURKO. t The. Marseille!correspondent of the London Daily Mail telegraphed to "that, journal on the 26th December: —"I had an interview with General Uourko before his departure for South Africa on the steamer Natal. The general, ■wlro is the eldest son or Dm ' crossor of the Balkans, and .a pupil ~f the famous Skobelofl', received me courteously. 'I am not going out alone, he began. ' I am accompanied by several officers who will rejoin mo at Port ■>S|ud, where, 1 may inform you, 30 members of the iluswan Red Cross Society will embarkon the Natal. 1 should like you to note the fact that the war tickets have been held at our ■disposal in Paris for a month past. At Port haul about 3000 cases of medicines of various kinds await our arrival. -.-These will be taken on board._ At Lorenzo Marques I shall dis embark with my party, and those, a nmnerou; body, who will have, already arrived tlierc I'rom Lorenzo Marque;; I shall proceed to Vre toria. mid thoncn to (he theatre of war. where the command of an army corps has been of fered to me.' ' In my own mind ' resumes Genera! Gourko, 'lam absolutely confideiv of .the success, of the Boers, and you may taki my word that there are thousands of Russian, now fighting under General Joubert.' " TERRIBLE VENOM publishes a letter from a Bulgarian ex-oiiicc: now serving in the Transvaal army. It i written to a friend, who has inserted it in tin newspaper: — " I am now in the entrenchments of theßoei army before Ladypmith. . . . T had a com pany of 110 soldiers entrusted to mo, and. ai a pioneer officer, my task is very important Bearded, stalwart...hardy fellows are the* Boers. They obey, understand, mid carrj out all orders as though they had been sol dters lor 20 years. How.do we underrtanc one another? I speak English, and that, witl tno Jiosrß. is I he universal language. '. Their national motto is the fame as ours— 'Union is strength.' . . . Good people, but how terribly they bate the English ! \y f _ never hated the Turks so much. All of them are good shots, good horsemen, and good Christians. Those of them who have finished their tasks of digging, sit down to rest with their Bibles in their hands; they know nc other book. They believe in God and their rights. Our tactics liore and everywhere alonp the fighting line are ' keep in your trendies'; we get ourselves entrenched and wait for the enemy. The English make their attacks in the open, llupkiuK (hat they firdit the Soudanese : wo five volleys at them nnd make havoc in their ranks. Hundreds are left on the battlefield, and the others retire. We captured eight of them, with a correspondent, and, oil! how proudly they hold themselves. As we are mounted, we do enr movements quickly. The war is carried on with terrible venom."—Renter. GENERAL GATACRE'S DISTRESS. Writing from Quocnstown, Cane Colony, n former member of the staff of. a Scarborough newspaper snys:— When the wounded arrived at night we lea-nt something of what had happened. The guide had misled the Wfaow right into the jaws of death. Then, another mistake was made. When he saw the hot corner they.were in, the General sent and ordered a. retreat, nnd they were doing so in good order when a terrible mishap .occurred. Our artillery mistook the columns for the enemy, and commenced a. disastrous sheet-fire, and between that and the Boer rife,our m<-n !ost heavily. One shell is said lo hnve killed and wounded Iho colonel and two majors of th« Royol Irish. After being extricated from this position the retreat was carried out. the enemy following for spven miles. Every man one speaks to cannot explain why they were not all shot. It is a horrible muddle, and yet. one cannot help pitying Gatscrn's distress" of mind A gentleman told mo he was to be seen lying with his head in his hands on the table at Moltnno station. The last artillery we had here belonged to her Majesty's ship Powerful, but they were suddenly ordered to ioin Mellmcn's column. A dny or tv/o before they went: I witnessed a cricket match between the officers and (he local chili, and had the pleasure of seeing Commander "Ethclsion and Ma.ior Plumber make the two highest, .scores, and then :>. day or two afterwards both those gallant fellows were killed. The Dutch parson here has been saying that the "Boers r.\int as many prisoners n? possible, so that they may place them all in the centre of Pretoria, in order to prevent the British shelling the town. Not a bad idea, is it? What about the siege train in that case?