THE STARVING SURVIVORS OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8789, 27 May 1890, Page 2

THE STARVING SURVIVORS OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE.

Lieutenant Wightman, the secretary of the Balaclava Committee, has been interviewed by a Kent paper, and after furnish ing a graphic description of the fatal charge and the experiences of the Light Brigade men as prisoners in Russia, proceeded :—: — "At a meeting of the Balaclava Committee on the sth of October last we resolved to rescind a rule of our constitution that forbade us asking assistance from the general public. The committee has existed so far for the purpose of celebrating the anniversary of the charge of tbe Six Hundred by a dinner at St. James's Hall, London. We have been a sort of mutual admiration society, gathering to toast pur noble selves and each other, subscribing ourselves and asking subscriptions from our army connections only for the purpose of providing a free annual meal for our less fortunate comrades-in-arms. We others have paid for our own meal, and that was all there was to it. But we are all getting older every year, and with the lapse of time, while many have died, a good number have fallen into dire misfortune. Our subscriptions have fallen off too. We have now but £21 in the bank ; and last year we collected only £3 altogether, and were unable to entertain our old comrades who could not pay their own railway expenses and other incidentals. "Lord Cardigan's words to the survivors of the Six Hundred the morning after the charge had been repeated to me, although I wasn't there to hear them. He said : '•Men, you have done a glorious deed ! England will be proud of you, and grate- | ful to you." If you live to get home, be sure you will all be provided for. Not one of you fine fellows will ever have to seek refuge in tho workhouse !' Now, you peri haps know lioav that promise has been ! kept. I cannot tell you, even from my secretarial records, the full extent of the j misery that has fallen upon my old comrades in the Charge of the Light Brigade ; but I can give you a few details that should be made widely public. If we cannot make the authorities open their hearts, we may at least cause the public's ears to tingle. Of course, many of us are still in situations ; some of us are comfortably off ; we boast, indeed, one alderman (Mr Kilvert, of Wednesbury) in our ranks , but here is my list of the old, worn-out, and miserable h roes of that day, for whom our general fund is about to be opened. I cannot give you particulais as to pensions, but remember that a sergeant's pension under the old system is but Is 3d a day, a private's is, of course, less, and some have no pensions at all. I put my own old regiment first : — i Survivors of tiih: Six Hundred. 17th Lancers. Private Brennan — In a London workhouse. Private Marshall — Worked in a machine shop at Lincoln till he lost three fingers; now disabled and in extreme want. Private Holland, of Ormskirk-No resources. Private Smith — Cripple, in the Strand Union, London. Private Burns, of Northampton ; Trumpeter Brown, and Private Butler — Addresses unknown, but all aged and very poor for several years past. 13th Hussars. Private Coopbr — Sweeping roads for the Kensington Vestry; will soon have to give over. Private Mayhew — Miserably poor. 11th Hussars. Sergeant Brown — Stood outside Lewis's, Manchester, placarded, "One of the Survivors, &c.;" has worked at an explosives factory; left through illhealth ; seventy years of age, and failing •, pension, Is 3d a day. Private Spring — In extreme poverty. Private Glanister, of Liverpool — Ditto. Private Richardson — Served twelve years, no pension; has Crimean medal with lour bars, and the Turkish medal ; suffers from stricture, has lost sight of one eye, the other going past help. Drifts from workhouse to common lodging-house when he gets a little help from concerts, &c, then back to workhouse The only Manchester man now surviving of the Six Hundred. Private Lawson — Lost an arm in the charge, has been lucky enough to get into Royal Hospital, Chelsea, by which he forfeits his pension. Bth (King's Own) Light Dragoons. Private Doyle — Almost starving in Dublin; was Duke of Cambridge's orderly at Inkermann, got £4 from H.K.H., after earnest solicitation and four months' waiting, last year. The £4 came from the Cambridge Fund, supported by public contributions. Trumpeter Donoghue — Living on charity ; can get no employment. Private Rogers — Helpless through age and disease ; in Witbington Workliouso. Private Keegan, Birmingham — Out of work. Private Grant — In tho Eoyal Hospital, Chelsea, making two only of the survivors so fortunate. Privates FarrelJ, Carroll, and Brewington — Known to be without work and in great distress. I am sick of asking help from the War Office. What the committee desire is to touch the public conscience through the Press, to inaugurate a really national movement, and see if we cannot sharun the authorities into action. This is the first time that the Balaclava Committee has bent round the hat, and I will only say in conclusion that any letter will reach me at Kensington Vestry isffice, London ; or Mr Herbert, at 119, Warwick-road, Kensington ; and their contents be properly acknowledged by myself."