THE ROUGH-RIDERS CONTINGENT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 30, 3 February 1900, Page 2

THE ROUGH-RIDERS CONTINGENT.

Wellington, February 3. The resolutions passed by the Execativo Committee with regard to till Third Contingent having been forwarded to the Premier, ho has replied that the Rough-riders will leave by the Knight Templar from Lyttelton pro* bably on tho 17th, but certainly not later than tho 22nd. The Defence Department, ho states, have no objeo* tion to taking charge of the men and horses and providing camp and accoutrements, on the understanding that tilt funds subscribed by the public to handed over to the Government, and bo not less than £75 for web man without horse and £SO for each tsu with horse; all incidental expense* to embarkation to be mat by the commit, U e, a.id tho final selection of men by the committeo to be confirmed by the Commandant. Approved applicant*

and horses will be carried free on the railway, and thoße rejected will be returned free. It is believed that the amount being funded by public subscription throughout the coloDy will enable a second contingent of Rough-riders to be sent. The selection committee have chosen 25 men from the remaining applicants for enrolment, and these, with those selected on Tuesday, will go into camp next week for riding and shooting tests.

Chbistchurch, February 2. The Press has decided to devote half of the £6OO raised by its Is subscription to providing comforts for the three contingents, a kit to be made up separately for each officer and man, containing among other things socks, chocolate, beef extract, and tobacco. A good deal of useful work was done at the camp to-day. Ten men were rejected, it is understood because they failed in the riding test. Among those rejected, cne man had sold out a black-1 smith's business and another sold his farm in order to join the contingent. There are at present I'2o horses in camp, of which thirty-seven are Government troop-horses. The borrowed horses are gradually being returned to their owners. It is probable that Major Jowsey will not assume his command until the final selection has'been made. He is

more than pleased with the personnel of the troop and with the work of the officers who have superintended the instruction of tho men. It has cow been absolutely decided that the Canterbury Contingent shall leave Lyttelton by the Knight Templar on Saturday, February 17th. The Mayor has received a telegram from Westport to the effect that eight or ten men, with horses, would be sent from Westland for the contingent, and asking that equipment should be provided for them. The Mayor has replied that equipment has already been arranged for. The men will reach camp about Tuesday. It has now been decided that the Canterbury troop shall consist of a full company of 106 officers and men. Auckland, February 2. The Rough-riders volunteers go ioto camp at Potter's Paddock. Mr. Balton, tailor, offers to make khaki uniforms if the material is supplied to him.

Dunedin, February 2. Colonel Webb, commanding the district, has 175 names of those who have offered for the Third Contingent, and it is expected that those who have not gone to Christchurch will ofl'er for the Fourth Contingent. Ten men from tbe Clutha have volunteered, and it is anticipated that as soon as the Section Committee is appointed, and those desirous of joining know who to go to, there will be a large number of applicants. THE TARANAKI SECTION. The various tests to which the local candidates for the Third Contingent are to be subjected are being carefully carried out. In addition to the names already published, A. Lister, A. Payne, and W. Larking have applied for enrolment. On Friday riding tests were made, and to-day the shooting and military of candidates will be enquired imo. The nam-a of the selected ones Should be kLown by Monday. A FOURTH CONTINGENT FROM OTAGO.

Ddnedis, February 2. A deputation waited on tte Premier I on his arrival from Invcrcargill to-day to offer a Fourth Contingent of 100 men and horses from Ot?,go and Southland. Tha matter having been explained, the Premier said a Cabinet meeting had been held in Southland, when the following conclusion was come to:—The offer made to the Imperial Government was of a Bough- • riders Contingent of 200 to 250 men and horses, fully equipped, and handed ] over to the Imperial authorities free of , cost. That had been accepted in the ■ warmest and most appreciative cable, in which New Zealand was thanked for its generosity. Since then ths steamer which was to take the Australian Contingent broke down, and the Imperial authorities had agreed to send a troopship. Having gone so far for Australia they generously oftered to transport the Bough-riders, but as the offer had been made, and credit received for giving them free of co ;', it was decided to carry that out, and by the Knight Templar 250 men and 250 horses would be sent, Now Otago desired to send remounts. There was rooai in the Knight Templar for 50 more horses. If Otago furnished 50 horses they could go, and that would be Otago and Southland's contribution to the Third Contingent. Then Otago and Southland guaranteed 100 men and horßes to go as scouts. It was his duty to accept the offtr. The men and horses would be delivered on shipboard, after which the Committee's responsibility ceased. The matter of transport would be between the Government and the Imperial authorities. The Premier was thanked.

WAR ITEMS. The Boers are stated to possess from 80 to 90 guns. The Emperor Menelik is taking a peculiar, not to say sinister, interest in events in South Africa. Sundays at Mafeking are always quiet, and the garrison is able to go to church, while concerts, cricket, and polo vary the monotony of the siege. Stormberg is a rues'-, difficult place to carry by as au'.t. Ir, consists of a series of high, rugged mountains, which havo been strongly fortified by the Boers. Portfolios found by the Boers after General Yule's retreat from Dundee are 6aid to contain sketch maps of tha routes for an invasion of tba Transvaal and Orange Free States from Natal, one of them signed by General Built-r. The Duke of Devonshire, speaking at Yoik, said the question which now

freed British people was not one solely of the government of South Africa. It specially affected the maintenance of our colonial Empire, which was a prize worth fighting for. " If the Victoria Cross were granted for each case of conspicuous gallantry at Magersfontein," says a correspondent with Methuen, "it would- be necassary to disttibute it by hundt£ds. {or never in the history of war Iwye 8c

i many acts of individual heroism been . achieved." The 2nd Lincolns, having be9n passed oyer three times, were wild *W.th excitement when they saw the notice , posted up outside the guardroom at Aldershot, ordering their inclusion in the Seventh Division. " Hurrah, my lads! Our turn has come at last!" shouted one old soldier. While our surgeons work on the battlefield by the miserable light of stable lanterns and candles, stuck in bottles, Continental ambulances are provided with brilliant little lanterns, the size of the smallest kodak, in which platinum is rendered incandescent by the vapour of mineral oil. Boer prisoners say that the Free Staters want to go home and reap their crops, but that the Boers won't let them. These servants of Mr. Steyn are kept in the trenches with Boers behind them ready to shoot any of them i who attempt to leave or fail to keep up < an incessant fire. ( When the Boers taken prisoners at I Belmont were brought in by train to I Capetown, one of them jumped from a truck, and made off at top speed. Seeing this, a British soldier, who has won more than one prize in quarter- ' mile races, ran after the fugitive, and < soon overtook him. '

When Lord Methuen's force was on its way to the front the fact was elicited from two captured Boer spies that an English stationmaster had been telegraphing every possible information about our troops to the Boers. Well did he deserve his fate, which he met like a cur, howling for mercy. H.R.H the Duke of 1l ork was shooting on a Norfolk estate with a knot of fishermen looking on, when some peewits flitted high overhead. "Them's

Boers; they won't coma too near," said one fisherman. A brace of golden plover, still too high, tempted the Royal sportsman. " Artillery outclassed !" murmured another. A disturbance was caused at the Cirque Royal Music Hall, Brussels, a few days ago, by an Englishman amongst the audience. He loudly protested against a scene in which a single Boer is made to put to flight several English soldiers. The interrupter was naturally ejected, but only after a great struggle, and when he was hopelessly outnumbered. His-exit was greeted with jeers amid groins for England, and criesoor"f r " Long Live the Boers." I It is roughly estimated by the 'Sydney Daily Telegraph that the complete strength of the Bushmen's Contingent for the whole of Australia will be 1100. About 520 officers and men will be despatched from New South Wales, about 350 from Victoria, 150 from Queensland, 50 from South Australia, and from 10 to 20 from Tasmania.

There were many marvellous escapes at the Tugela River, says the Daily Chronicle's correspondent. Oao of tbe first wounded in the left attack was a little bugler 6f the Dublin Fusiliers. He received three wounds in the chest and one in the right arm. Nevertheless, he did not fall, but staggered back to the dressing station in tbo rear. " How old are you ?" the chaplain asked him. " Fourfcoen yearn, seven mouths, sir," ho replied. " Where do you feel j the pain ?" he was asked. « There is only a stinging in my right hand." Major Gordon, of t! e DuLlics, t hough wounded, bravely led oa Lis men until he was overcome by exhaustion.