WAR ITEMS.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9947, 24 January 1900, Page 1

WAR ITEMS.

A movement is on foot to send some muses from Wellington to the war. Lady Sykes is at E^tcourt with the Red Cross people there. Boer powder looks like cardboard, and is more"poweiful than black powder. E'erybody in the Free Stato has been commandeered, including Mr Praser, Chairman of the Volksraad. Sir Charles Napier once wrote- — "In the beginning of each war we ha\e had to seek in blood the knowledge necessary to ensure success." It is rumoured that Mr Winston Churchill i^ to bo recommended for a V C. for his conduct during the attack on tho armoured tram near Colenso. The Argentine horses now being sent to the Cape from Buenos Ayrcs are not suitable for cavalry chargers, T)ut are to bo used for transport and ambulance work. How serious the coal famine is to Natal industrial concerns may be gathered from the fact that 100 tons obtained from Durban cost a Maritzburg firm £& per ton. A gentleman from Kentucky has arrived in England with the^njtentioil of triumphing over all obstacles, and getting 1 himself enlisted us a volunteer in our army. Two hundred and thirty-four Indian men, womon, and children are wandering in tho veldt in Natal. The men iormerly worked in tho coal mines at Elands Laagte. The diamond-cutting industry at Antwerp has been practically killed by the war in South Afrioa. It is expected that ten days hence not one cutting mill will be working. Tho women at Johannesburg, says a gentleman who stayed on till November 3, are more enthusiastic than the men. Two instances are known of men who returned and wero sent back by their wives. "Snatcher," a dog belonging to the Gloucesters, was smuggled on board in a kit bag at Calcutta. Ho was right up in the firing line at Reitfontein, where the Gloucesters lost so heavily, but camo through without a scratch. ■ Of the Suffolk Regiment Reservists, 512 out of 514 answered the call. Of tho remaining two, 0110 who was in prison j for debt was released and has gone to the front. The other, ivho Was in India, has at his own expense joined hii regiment. An Argentine officer has" written a pamphlet giving the truth about the Boers, and containing this remark: "Every country conquered by Britain has gained by belonging to her. Its inhabitants do not change masters, but become their own masters." Even the educated Boer is wonderfully ignorant. When at lunch in the house of a resident of Johannesburg, Judge Koch observed that England could not put more than 40,000 men in the field, even if she brought her Indian army and thi" Volunteers into action. Tho field telegraphists with General Buller carry their cables in speciallyconstructed carts, each containing, if necessary, 10 miles of cable wound on drums, so that in open country they can lay it at a gallop. The current is sent to earth through the wheels of the cart.