NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 92, 24 April 1900, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENTS.

Received 23, 9.30 ajn. Sydney, April 23. H.U.S. Diana met the troopships Maori and Waimate prior to reaching Albany. Cheers were exchanged. Wellington, April 23. The Premier has received a cable (not signed, but supposed to have been signalled by Major Francis to the shore) that the Monowai arrived at Fort Natal all well, but lost ten more horses. She loaves for East London at once, and then the men will go on to Bloemfontein. A communication has bean received from Capetown that instructions have been telegraphed to Durban for the Monowai to proceed to Beira, as she is not required for invalids. WAS JOTTINGS. J In consequence of the severe treat- J ment meted out to the wounded of the colonial troops by the Boers, it is the practice in Natal for the regulars to fasten their badges on the tunics of the mlnnial wounded in order to deceive the Boers.

A water drill brigade, with steam drills, organised under the superintendent of the Cape Government Drills, will move with the troops, and put down boreholes where necessary and practicable, so as to provide water when otherwise it would be unobtainable. A good supply is usually obtainable by this means in most parts of South Africa.

▲ private servifg with Hart's brigade in General Buller's army has mitten describing his experiences of the war up to the end of last year. Writing from Frere camp he refers to the extraordinary amount of knocking about that fell to the lot of the brigade before their final destination was decided upon, and is so much impressed with the extent of the land journeys as to make the pardonable error of imagining that he "had been very pearly all over Africa." At that time his company had taken part in three hard fights, including the great battle of Golenso, where Buller suffered his first serious reverse. He continues: — " Old Kruger has not ripped me yet, but I thought it was all up with me at Oolenso and that I should never get any farther op the country. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves at home this Christmas, which was not the case with me, as we were expecting the Boers upon ns at any moment. We thought about giving them a Christmas box in the shape of a few nice bullets. Their losses were very heavy at Colenso. They hoisted the white flag and asked for twenty-four hours' peace in which to bury their dead, who numbered close upon 2000. They hired our transport carts to carry thorn off the field of battle."

Ib is rumoured that the body of j scouts who, under the command of i Major RimingtoD, have rendered Jjord Methuen valuable assistance, if. gboat to be disbanded. The Wvrl' gays it has transpired that a leaven c:: jjoer spin succeeded in joining tho curp", and same of theso have been traced hoWiog communieati' n with tho Since the traitors cannot, at be ear-marked

j lieutenant-colonels of the regiment have h<td to leave since 1898 owing to ill-health, and two promising young officers died from the tflects of the Khartoum campaigD. Five officers have been killed during the present campaign, and sixteen are among the wounded and prisoners of war, while some 560 of the non-commissioned officers and men are among tbe casualties. Brevet-Major 6. L. S. Bay, who vacated the adjutancy of the Ist Battalion after arrival at the front, was killed after he had taken over the mounted infantry duties of his comrade, the late Lieut.-Oolonel KeithFalconer. Lieut. 0. E.gfishbourne, who succeeded Major Ray as adjutant in December, has been wounded. Oapt. 0. Yatman, adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, was unable to perform his duties owing to a hunting accident, and BrevetMajor A. W. 0. Booth, a well-known Yorkshire officer, who took up the post, has now been called back to regimental duty owing to the scarcity of company officers, and Oapt. 0. M, A. Wood, of the Ist Chinese Regiment, son of Sir Evelyn Wood, has been recalled to the " Fighting Fifth," and appointed lieutenant and adjutant. Oapt. E. S. Head, P.S.C., has this week sailed to rejoin the Northumberlands, with whom he saw active service in India eleven years ago.

As flag signalling often involves men exposing themselves on the sky line, whereby risking loss of life and chancing the communication of messages to foes as well as friends, it would be well to encourage lamp-signalling in daylight. An ordinary signal lamp at the back of a barrel is in sufficient darkness for its flashes to be perfectly visible on an ordinary day. An acetylene lantern shuttered off and roofed with black canvas can be seen for miles on the brightest day, and its messages can be kept absolutely private. An obvious improvement to our system would be the | md|sfgineral use of code words and their substitution of numerals.

In the centre of every Boer town is the market square. It is always a great quadrangle of dusty veldt. Sometimes it is surrounded by trees, and in the larger towns the market house stands in the middle of the square. Here the bartering and huckstering are done; the farmers bring in their loads of forage, mealies, tobacco, oranges, vegetables, wood, or game. After selling their goods to the highest bidder through the medium of the market master, they spend the rest of the day in buying groceries, household requirements, and the like for the " vrouw en kinder? " at home on the farm. _ The local auctioneer is willing a to. sell (on commission) anything from a horse to a gold watch. Nothing comes amiss to him. On the day for horse sales, usually on Saturday, the square is a seething mass of horses, sellers, and buyers.

HOW 18 IT DONE. A correspondent writes from Berlin, under date February 18 :—" A few days ago I read in the Berlin Yosaieche Zeitung that the Boers have ordered several thousand pieces of felt in Berlin for their rifles when firing. They were to be sent via Brussels. In to-day's paper I read that the Boers have ordered 2000 uniforms in Berlin. They are to be exhibited in the shop window of the firm, and the uniforms will be delivered via Hamburg. I should like to know how the Boers get all tbese things in spita of the watchfulness of the Euglish ?