MAGERSFONTEIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2390, 21 December 1899, Page 28

MAGERSFONTEIN.

On the lone veld far away TJioro'a a hoao of dead and dying, On tho lone veld fur away Our gallant lads aro lying ; There's from riven hearts a flood, There arc_tarfcans soaked in blood, And wives and bairnics bitterly arc crying! Evt wxit, just wait ! '1 hen's a reckening day to cwve And the w vis are boldly written on the skin oj the soldier's drum : ■ ■ " As nitre ah God s above its, we'll never disgrace the' dead. We'll lettU the debt /or ever, though streams of Hood be s/ict .' '" i On the di&tant foreign shores Bittor men with joy ara shrieking, On our own free, sunny shores There aro traitors ever speaking Of Old England's glory past, Of a doom that's coming fast, Of the vaugeance that her foes will soon be wreaking. But wait, jiut wail ! 'There's a reckoning day to awe, And Ihe wo-rds are boldhy written on the tlrin of the goldier's drum : "Ax sure as, G oil's above its, we'Ujyroee to the traitors all That Vvglttni'* namenwl England" t fame are never to have a/all !'' On the red void far away ' What reck they of disastor? On the rod veld far p,W»y 'Tis but retribution faster; And they'll never siay their hai»d Till throughout that fated land The free and glorious Union Jack is muster! Jiut wait, ju-t wait ! There's a reekonhrg day to come, And the ■won?* ore boldhi written on the skin of the t oldier s drum : ' As sure as Cod's aboie ««. wt'll set our heel on tli« foe, And a tetri le tale he'll hare to tell when ting/land strikes the Wow I Chables Umbess. December 17, 1899. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. A witnesa of the battle of Elantls/.iagt*, in. describing a charge made by the Imperial Light Horse, wrote that Major Sampaon observed a man lying down, and ordered ki*» to go on. He retovtod that he was peffcctly t willing to go on, but that ho was too paralysed with feyr. Tho major yfiiPi on, and shortly afterwards tho trooper charged past him.. Major Hampton asked what was the instier,' whereupon the troope.r showed him that his moustache and part of his upper lip had beon. carried away by a bullet, :vnd yelled out, " Where aro tho brutes? Let ma get nb them." With that ho moved on, and ■was in tho front of the chargo tho wholo way. 11.M.5. Powerful took up to Natal four long 12-pounder guns, which had beon prapared and furnished with mountings by Captain Percy Scott, of IT. M.S. Terrible. These guns aro more powerful than any belonging to tho Royal Arfciilory, having a range- of 10,000 yards. In addition to the uounting of theso guns, Captain Scott also deigned n, mounting for a 46-pounder gun firing lyddite shell. Two buclx guns wore taken up by tlio Powerful, and were in action at Ladyamitb. Tho mounting of taose is of a unique character, having bean made hurriedly by the artificers of H.M.S. Terriblo. It was ono of thedo guns whick dismounted and silenced the enemy's 40pounrler.

Among the wounded who arrived at Capotown by the .Tolunga was a non-com, of the Gordon Highlanders, who was struck in the right shoulder by a Mauser bullet at Elandalaagte. The missile pierced through flesh and bone as if they had been tis.vuo paper, but cho man says all he felt was a aensatioa of numbness in tho arm. Knowing ho was^hit, he took his rifle in his left hand and flung ifc a« far down tho hill as ho could, so that in tho vfotit event it should not b« taken hy the Boers. But a fow minutes later, tho numbness departed; our gallant non-com. w«n£ clown, picked up his riflo, and fired several more rounds before ho almost collapsed from los 3of blood.

A curious seizure lias been made by the customs authorities at Port Elisabeth. A bale of flags, of a design new to South Africa, traa discoTored in transit to the Government »fc Bloemfontein, and vory properly token po3pession of by tho colonial officials. The new flag, which was to wave over a Dutch dominion, appears to ba a combination of tha

existing Republican flag, and the Netherlands ensign. Whatever doubt, says the Cape Times, may have been entertained aa to the object of the archplotters in the Republics and this colony must be cleared up by this singular find at the bay.

Cape papers to hand givo full* details of an Australian doctor's pluck at Elandslnagte. One paper says : — " Dr Hornabrook did a plucky thing. Riding alone to a party of 25 Boers, who had lost their way, be told them the English had won the battle, and they must consider themselves his prisoners, ordering two to take the weapons, and the othera to march before them. He brought them all to Elandslaagte station, prisoners." Another regiment of Light Horse has been formed in Africa, this time in Capetown. The pay and conditions were the same as for Colonel Baden-Powell's regiment. The regiment was raised by Lieutenant-colonel a Court, of Sir Redvers Buller's staff, and by Captain Villiers, of the Royal Horse Guards, and was called the South African Light Horse.

Among the Boers there are still, it seems, some crack shots. At the Dundee Hill battle a Boer took up his position behind stones that rendered him quite unable to be got at. A Dublin Fusilier, wishing to test this Dutchman's shooting powers, put his helmet on tho wall behind which he was lying, and it •was no sooner up than down it fell, with a bullet through it, fired by tho Boer behind the stones. Five times more the helmet was put up, and as often it toppled over, with a fresh hole in it. At last a shell dropped where the marksmen was, and his shooting ceased.

Pathetic in the extreme (says the Natal Mercury) are some of the incidents of the great drama now being enacted on the northern borders. One of these is the story recorded of the unhappy member of the Boer nrmmando on the fatal hill charged by our in- , fantry on Sunday. When our men had climbed the precipitous height, and proceeded to charge the Boers with the bayonet, the enemy retreated in consternation, only to fall into the hands of the waiting cavalry on the other side. Many cried for quarter, one of them in his extremity beseeching for mercy, crying: "Don't kill — I'm English!" This is one of the most pitiable features of tho war. Many Englishmen. Scotchmen, and Irishmen, having married into Boer families lone; since, and lived on their farms in the Transvaal, Lave- gradually become absorbed among the Boers. Some have forgotten their nationality almost, and from their appearance and manners show no points of difference between themselves and their Boer connections. Some have even forgotten their native language, and their families inherit no pingle distinctive characteristic of their British parentage. Some are field-cornets of thoir districts, and, of course, all are burghers. At the point of the British bayonet, these persons -are much to be pitied. Compelled to come out on commando, they find themselves opposed to their own countrymen.

The Boers lost no time in renaming the fowna occupied by their troops in Natal. Dundee has been renamed Meyersdrop, after liUkas Meyer, chairman of the First Raad, who was in command of the Boers at the battle of Glencoe.

Boer prisoners report that when Comtnandant Ben Viljoen found himself and party surrounded, and the centre of the Husear charge, ho exclaimed, " I wish the man who told U3 the British can't fight were here now ! "

Mr Rhodes mounted and equipped a town guard at Kimberley of 400 men, at a cost of £15,000. Theae and other forces were drilled by the Lancashire Regiment, and produced exoellent fighting material.

The Royal Marine Artillery, who fought so well at Grass Pan, are known familiarly in the army as the "water gunners." Tho navy calls them the "blue marines."

Lieuier.ar.t M. Moiklejohn. of the Gordon Highlanders, who has been wounded at Elandsloagto, had tho distinction of being the first man to roach the heights of Dargai. lie was then slightly wounded. He is the son of Profeseor Moiklejohn, of St. Andrew's University, and was educated at Fettes College, Edinburgh, of which he was dux. Captain Donald R. Paton, of tho Manchester Regiment, who was also wounded, ib the youngest son of Sir Ncel I'aton. of % Edinburgh, (ho celebrated Scottish painter. Lieutenant C. W. Findlav, of tho Gordon Highlanders, seriously wounded, is the youngest son of tho late Mr J. li. Findlaj", of Aberlour, the chief proprietor of the Scotsman.

A gontleman who lately arrived at Durban from Ladysmith fays ho was there during the bombardment, by "Long Tom," and saw eevrral shells fall in the market square. Some timo afterwards he examined the spot where one of the shells dropped. Apparently it had buried itfielf several feet underground. Procuring tools, it \fm dug up and found intact. It waa removed to a workshop adjacent and carefully examined. The' contents proved to be nothing more harmful than sand. This is a. splendid advertisement for explosives "made in Germany."

Chief Rabbi Adler has transmitted to tha presidontc of the various Hebrew congregations in Great Britain and colonio3 the followin.g prayer for her Majesty's forces in South Africa, with directions that it Fhould bo offered up on every Sabbath during the continuance of the war, after the prayer for the Queen and Royal Family: —

O Lord God of Hosts! Thou art oiii refuse and strength, a very present help in trouble. We draw ni^h tinto Thee this day to supplicate r j 'ice on behalf of the brave mcv, who p.i?s through seas, armed fo v war in a far-off land, in obedience to the command of our beloved and venerated Queen, and the bidding of her counsellors. Unto The?, O Lord, we givo thanks, for already hath Thy right hand helped our troops. Even as Thou hast been with them hitherto, so be with them 3tiil : do not leave them nor forsako them. Shijld Iheni m Ihe day of battle. May their livss bs precious in Thy sight. Gird them with victory, so that the war may be speedily ended. And may the effect of peace bo quietness and confidence for over.

Merciful Father! Bless those that are good and upright in their hearts, who deal kindly and tenderly with the wounded, the faint, aiid the perishing on the battle-field. Cheer with gladsome tidings the hearts of those who tremble for the vrelfarp of their absent kinsfolk. May Thy comforts soothe tho souls of those who weep for the loss of a life dear unto them. Pour forth a spirit oi warm compassion upon all the in-dwellers of this Empire, so that they may hasten to the help of the homeless and of all who suffer from tho miseries of ■war.

Speed the days, we beseech v Thee, when nation will no more lift up a sword against nation, when they will not hurt nor destroy, when they will all work together for righteousness and justice, for mercy and peace upon earth. Amen.

A Belgian jeweller, Solomon Davit, who wais recently fined for smuggling diamond jewellery into South Australia, has now been arrested at Melbourne on a charge of the theft" of £3400 worth of diamonds at Antwerp earlx in the present year