THE BOER WAR.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 44, 1 November 1900, Page 5

THE BOER WA R.

NOTES AND POINTS OF INTEREST TO CATHOLIC READERS

CAI'TTJKI'I* ARMS TOR NEW ZEALAND.

The New Zealand Government have received a cable from Lord Roberts stating that he feels sure the Imperial Government will be glad to present more arms captured from the Boers to New Zealand. He will send 400 rifles back with the returning contingents.

THE SECRET OF LOR!) ROBERTS't* SUCCESS

Julian Ralph, in last month's Ilarpirs Mnijaeint, seta himself the task of defining Lord Roberta's secret of success , and he decides that it is this : — He trusts every man implicitly until he finds himself mistaken in an individual . then it is not comfortable to be in that man"s shoes. He is never angry. He controls his temper as he does his appetite, for he never smokes, and drinks hardly at all. He lives, in war. as plainly as any colonel under him, to say the least. Beyond and behind and above all else that distinguishes him is this : that though he is a general among men, he counts himself, before God, a humble soldier, for without ever intruding the fact, he is a devout Christian.

LOUD KOBKKTb AND THE HORSESHOE

A gentleman of Portrush lately sent Lord Roberta a bit of shamrock and an old horseshoe— presents neither rich nor rare, but they drew an interesting reply from the Commander-in-Chief. The Bhamrock he planted carefully, ' and the horseshoe will be kept by me as a souvenir, together with one I picked up the day I entered the Orange Free State, and another which I found at Paardeberg the day before General Cronje surrendered.'

HOME FROM bODTfI AFRICA.

In the beginning of September the following priests from South Africa were in England — Father Murray, from Natal ; Father de Lacey. from Johannesburg ; Father Ogle, who had experience of the siege of Mafeking ; and Father Morley, of Kiinberley. The Rev. Mother of the Mafeking- Sintern of Mercy had also gone home, and had been staying at Nazareth House, Hammersmith.

TWO BRA\ E 6OLDIEKS.

Among those who went to Windsor recently (say* the London Daily Chnmtch) to receive their decorations from the hands of the Queen were those two distinguished general orhcers, Sir William Olpherts, V.C. (' Hell Fire Jack,' of Indian Mutiny fame), and Sir Baker Cre^d Rushcll, who have been promoted to the ' Grand Cross' of the Bath. ' Hell Fire Jack 'is the hero of many Indian wars, and the central figure in mary stirring stories of hmr-breadth escapes by flood and field. He won the coveted V.C. at Lucknow by a wild act of bravery that only a dare-devil Irishman would think of tackling, and his escape was regarded as a miracle by his comrades. In regard to Sir Baker Russell, it is not generally known

that this dashing soldier is a native of New South Wales, which colony is naturally very proud of him. He was born on the Hunter River-the 'Granary of Australia '—which has now had the distinction of producing many good soldiers, statesmen, and literary men. It also produces the biggest pumpkins, the best racehorses and prize cattle, the bast coal, and is renowned for having the heaviest floods in Australia. Other parts of the continent jealously credit it also with turning out the ' tallest yarns '

AN AWKWARD MOMENT.

Captain M'lnerney. of the Victorian Continent, distinguished himself by his pluck and tact at Pretoria. According to the Teler,rnvh correspondent, when the invading Britißh force approaohed Pretoria the Boers, anxious to evacuate the town themselves. ordered the removal of the British prisoners, of whom Captain M'lnorney was one, in spite of a previous understanding. When the commandant (suddenly called upon the officers to turn ont at midnight and leave Pretoria, they felt indignant, and flatly refused to move. Captain M'lnerney, of the Australian Regiment, was their spokesman, and when the commandant left the room he hastily conferred with some brother officers, and on his again re-entering Captain M'lnerney laid his hand on the commandant's shoulder, with the words, ' You are my prisoner.' Utterly taken by surprise, the commandant was dumfounded, and Captain M'lnerney went on calmly to inform him that if a shot was fired he would be brained. Before long the assistant commander arrived to see what the delay was about, and he promptly shared the fate of his chief Meanwhile the burghers were in a great hurry to get away. They accordingly gathered round the model school and clamored for the prisoners to come out But the commandant had by this time arranged matters with the officers, and he consented to send the the escort off without them. This was the cause of much rejoicing, and Captain M'lnerney was the hero of the hour.

HOW THE SISTERS FARED AT KIMBERLEY.

The following is an extract from a letter received by Rev Mother-General, Nazareth House, Hammersmith, from Sister Superior, Nazareth House, Kimberley. ' Though there is no fighting near us, they say the war will last till the end of October, and now, on account of typhoid being so prevalent, the sanitary authorities have insisted on the military leaving the town. They have accommodation for a thousand patients about two miles out, and all our poor men have to leave ; they are broken-hearted over it. Some went yesterday, and a few had to be carried on stretchers to the ambulance. It will be cold under canvas just now, but lam sure they will be well cared for. In a short time we shall be settled down in our old quarters. We have had the wounded over four months, and were quite willing to nurse them for four months longer if necessary. We have been out to the camp, and saw there a niece of the late Cardinal Manning, who is one of the head nurses in the fever ward ; she was overjoyed to see uh, and took us everywhere. They have about 500 patients with fever. I had a letter from Father Bompart, Bloemfontein. Fever is raging there. He tells me that 10 nurses are dead and H dying all with fever.'