LISTENING FOR THE APPROACH OF BULLER'S GUNS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2401, 8 March 1900, Page 49

LISTENING FOR THE APPROACH OF BULLER'S GUNS.

FEATURES OF THE DAILY LIFE,

The London Daily Mail received the following interesting cablegram from its second correspondent, Mr Reid, who was in Ladysmith from the fir?t day of its investment. It was undated, but internal evidence shows that it was sent by runner about the 2nd or 3i'd of January : — There is a geneial impression here that the cud of the siege is near, rumours of a satisfactory nature having reached the town and camp. The Town Council is preparing, on behalf of the residents, an elaborate and illuminated address for presentation to General Buller on his arrival-

The Beers to the south of the town have been particularly energetic of late. Shelling has been more continuous thin formerly, the big gnu on Umbulwana Hill having been fired da ; ly. Previously days frequently passed without a shot from this gun. Along the top and at the north end .of the same hill several guns of small calibre are mounted, and these have seldom 'ceased for t>ny length of time from shelling our position, cattle, or horsemen, and even single individuals who happen to be on the level town lands which stretch in front of Umbulwana.

On the north-west of the town a new gun has been erected on Surprise Hill, wtiore we recently destroyed a big Boer 'jrun. The new

gun throws shells into the camps and the town.

On Christmas and Now Year's Day the Boers on Umbulwana Hill exhibited an unwonted and purposing sense ol humour. On both days shells came from their guns bearing seasonable "reeling?. One of thp_ shells picked up on New Year's Day hud ehiv-fllei] on it the word", "With compliment 3 ." and on the fuse being removed it wa B found to contain i'Ltni ptran.-KG, liquorice, axd peitkemixt. The same clay a 12-pound shell, bearing ; similar inscription, arc! containing similamaterials, went through the root of ;l hcurc. Sir.cc our capture arc! de^meti'sn of Uv Boer guns, the cuciny luo c jakon the cranto-' precouiioiv to puard their bia rwh on Urc>bul wana. The v.vll-. of th" fortalice, on whi"l« the gun is placed, are about 40ft thick, and the fort is circled with several lines of cruthwonks and mfsses of barbed wire.

The Boers were in the habit recently of coming north to the base of the hill n^are^t our camp every night at durf: a ]art»p number remaining overnis>hi with the object ot proventing attack in that direction. Thi;, waobserved by our naval gunners, and a few mornfngs ago, while it wm yet cb.rk. and before the Boers had gone back to the main camp, the scrub in which they lay was unmercifully shellac! by the Powprful's guns. TII3 destruction of life must have been great, for the Boers abandoned this parl as a camp. They selected the front of the hill about halfway down where thick bushes offered shelter. They crept down there at midnight, and climbed to the top of the hill before dawn on feeling assunscl that there was no appearance of an immediate attack on our part. T3xrt this manoeuvre did not escape the teen eyes of our naval men, and the other morning before dawn the front of Umbulwane wrs raked with shell fire, and '"KONG TOlls" FOKT furiously bombarded, it is whispered, with explosives of maximum potency. It was thought that "Long Tom" was disabled, 'but he resumed firing during the day. It is calculated that up to the end of the year 8000 shells were thrown into Ladysmith. The damrge done to property and the number of lives lost are comparatively small. Most of the Boer shells burst on impact, and where they strike soft soil they merely bury themselves in the ground, and all clanger is over. When they strike stony ground tlfe air is generally full of flying fragments of shell, shrapnel, and stones. Towards the end of the year several of the Boer shells which happened to come in contact with a sufficiently solid body exploded with disastrous results for us. Or.c shell struck a horse in the camp of the Nat a' Carbineers, and, passing through the animal, burst. Thirteen horses were so injured that they had to be destroyed. A splir.ter from the same shell flew aloft, and, on alighting 300 yards off. struck and killed a private of the Pvoyal Engineers. A few clays afterwards further disasters took place, several of the Gloucester^ were struck, and a shell entered the officers' mess tent of the Devons, mortally wounding two officers, whose names, with others, have been wired from headquarters. As a party of Manchesters were proceeding to the cemetery to bury a comrade who was killed by a shell in their camp,

A SHELL FELL IN THE STEEET

10 yards off. The men dropped the bier and threw themselves flat on their faces in the roadway, and by this means escaped destruction or wounding by splinters. These were the worst days we have had, so far as loss of life is concerned, during the siege. Some wonderful escapes are related. While a man was lying in bed a shell entered the window of his room, patsed over the bed a few inches above him, and buried itself in the floor, throwing it up .and wrecking the woodwork of the house. A Carbineer was sitting on a box outside his tent when a large fragment of a shell passed between his legs, destroyed the box, and smashed three , rifles within the tent. A trooper stood between two horses, both horses were killed, the man was unhurt. A shell pierced the wall of a room where a civilian was shaving. -It passed within 2ift of the maD, wrecked the room, but left him with scarcely a scratch. The Avcather has been good. It is frequently hot, but the air is cooled almost daily by thunderstorms and by heavy rains. On Christmas Day, despite the eight weeks' piege, the men had sundry .extras tor dinner, including plum pudding aud cigars (Natal brand), which bad been purchased by the military weeks 'before. Liquor has longsince been exhausted for overage purchasers, and "Tommy's" beer is a matter of ancient history, but he is all the better for abstinence from it. Good food, fresh air, and a splendid climate have made the troops pictures of xiotous good health, though they are all chafing under the present inactivity. The Boer continues to give us samples of his ingenious and amusing ways. On several occasions of late messages liave been signalled at night from Buller's camp, and as the dots and dashes flared across the sky the Boers played a searchlight over them with the intention of obliterating them. Not succeeding in this object the Boers

FLASHED FACETIOUS IKQCTLEIES

about our troops and artillery. On Christmas the Boers sent to Intombi camp to ask for the loin of whisky, but, festive season though it was, the request had to be refused. The Boers can take a refusal better than any other oountry in the world. The next clay they sent in to asl: us if we had any objection to taking about 40 sick burghers into our camp, as they grudged men to nurse them. This meant, of course, the liberation of men to fight up.

The Boers still make full use of the Red Cross, though not in the manner contemplated in the Geneva Convention. Two days ago Captain Valentine's house, in which Colonel Rhodes and Lord Ava mess, was struck by two shells, the second piercing the roof and wrecking the interior. A Foldier servant was fatally injured.

The same day as several members of the railway bridge guard were playing at cricket a shell ptruck the railway line near by, throwing up a stone which caught one of tho guards in the back of the head and killed him instantaneously. When he was picked up he still held the cricket ball in his hand. He was 20 years old.

. Tho sound of Buller's big guns arc heard here. They are eagerly listened for, as their loudncps indicates the possible dalo of our relief.

Our troops have been hoping- that the Boers would make another effort to enter the town, but their last reception was of such a nature that it is not likelj- they will renew their efforts. 'Our poldierp, therefore, have to be content with occasional pot-shots wlion tho Dutchmen come sufficiently near.

Tho Powerful':, big guns continue to do excellent service.

A scilnctcd party of sharpshooters from the Rifte Brigade have recently, at a range ! of 2700 yards, greatly checked the fire from the- onemj-'h big 1 howitzer in an adjacent position, a good iu«tnncc of tho capabilitief of the Lce-MetfoyJ rifle.