WITH THE SEVENTH CONTINGENT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7338, 26 February 1902, Page 4

WITH THE SEVENTH CONTINGENT.

■» . A SOLDIER'S LETTERS. A son of Mr S. P. Andrews, with thd Seventh Contingent in South Africa, writing to members of his family on Jan. 6 and 8 says the postal delivery on the veldt is anything but prompt, and frequently thedates of writing and the dates of delivery are from six to ten weeks apart. Nor, i» the paymaster less asthmatic with his payments, for the men on active service have to wait ten or twelve weeks and then get only two or three pounds at a time. . The writer fancied he was £20 to the good on the paymaster's books. In answer to his fath€r's question as to how the Boers get), on for pay, the writer says those who didn't happen to possess money at the beginning have now to do without it, and most of the foreigners who served with them have now surrendered, unpaid and broke." He goes on : " Some tw.o months ago, we ran across a German doctor who had signed on over' two years ago to serve the Boers at £2 2s per day. Since signing on he had received only , one draw, and when he urged a second, justr before ■we got him, he was told, to 'voetzale.' This he -did, and remained with our column for the next month, doctoring the. wounded and attending the -women -we Bring in."' After a reference to a collection of Eruger coins he was getting together, the correspondent says : "We have not heard much) lately of a trip to England for the Corona* tion, so if you secure any advice about it let me know as early, as possible, for I am keen on getting a cheap trip there. If only a few are sent they are sure to be picked out by . influence. .... and I don't stand much show." The letter now being quoted is written from some point due west , of Newcastle, in the Orange River Colony, on Jan. 6, and ■ the writer says : "We are still operating* in the Orange River Colony, and are buildr ing a line of blockhouses from Newcastle to Vried. The Boers are pretty thick in this district, though we have seen but little of them for the last two days. Some fevß days ago one of the Seventh was captured, stripped, and then set free, to walk into camp in a broiling sun. But as luck would have it, a couple of days after we ran/ ijito the very Boer who had captured pur 'man/ Great was his surprise to hear ' hands up/ but greater still when ordered to doff, hia clothes,. for he was wearing, the gear he had got from, our man. When stripped he was marched bare-footed some three miles, into our camp, and is now awaiting an inquiry for wearing kharM. Colonel Porter is still' away from the column, probably in Dun?dee, but is expected back about the tenth of this month. ' > ' ■■ ■ > ■' .' "The latest rumour is that we mobilise in the middle of March, and. leave -South' Africa at the end of April, but I-for'oiie have --net fatMi in rumours. We'^ferV'tf} aft xiously' waiting news of the Eighth, l' fol my opinion is that our time will end when they commence work.' Everything is going on very satisfactorily/ and I am keeping in excellent Ihealth— plenty ;of tucker and always able to do justice to it, though it is a bit rough." j ' Writing on Jan. 8 from Vreid the soldier, says he and his comrades ! were anxiously awaiting the New Zealand Christmas presents, which had not then made their appear ance', brtt a convoy was expectedMout s&ofl". "He I . still had bis Christmas pipe ; an"d tobacco, "but' the cigarettes soon ran out", and he had made a 'big hole in his Christmas tobacco, though he was able to secure about three pounds altogether. In regard to enteric fever this letter contains an interesting paragraph:— "The column keeps pretty free from sickness, and I think we have had, only one fatal case of enteric, and lie came over with. remounts only about three weeks before be died. Old hands say sinokjng is the best preventative, and so far we have found it right, for very few. if any, of the regular smokers have yet had a touch of fever. As lcnjj as we keep on the veldt we keep all right, for it is generally in towns where you catch it, close fc> remount depots, where doz2ns of horses die daily." "The Sixth are supposed to be operating somewhere near here, but so far we have riot seen anything of them. .The Boers are still as thick as ever, and yesterday they captured a Hussar post, but . in* tie early morning we went out with the Queenslanders and managed to bring in two prisoners, after killing two and wounding several. To-day I am stuck away out. on a post, and though Jackies can be seen on two sides they ore too far off ,to r allow v us a -To-night some eight hundred more Hussars ought to arrive to strensrthen our column, . for wf? are too small to do much work among these hills, aud it takes us all our time to defend ourselves. The outposts have to be very strong now, for fear of a night attack., and this mfiins that we are on duty every other, night. But we {r enera^y manage to get a of hours' sleep during the day, which makes up for the ni?ht work. . . . After we have finished this line of blockhouses, probablvina couple of week?, it is reported wfe'-'arfe to* Operate .with other columns and so in pursuit of De Wet. At toy" 'jrafe, I don't suppose we can leave this district till we are ready to mobilise." "I 'am nil ripht in health, except that the hard •biscuits nlay havoc' with my teeth. T hove already hr.d four out. and as soon as Dr Dawson returns, about three days hence, I intend to have another."