The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

Letters from the Seat of War "De Aar, Cape Colony, 31St January, 1900. "Dearest Mother,—Such a lot of troops are going through So you see wo are still receiv- ing and speeding our parting guest 'Tommy.' To-day a lot or the Royal Artillery leave us, and 1 spent the best part of yesterday making big jam puffs to give to those I knew. A funny gift you will think but the men get no pastry, and l. thought it would be a little change for them. Three more men have jnst died in hospital of enteric fever. 1 dread this next move of the troops, for U1l1k it \vi.i cc Ll cas.e uf 'now or ¡H:\ver.) Several {j f the men came 1 t night t) bid us good-bye. Many- -"f them are so rice, 1 fairly dreaded to see them go over the doorstep, for I wondered whether anv of them would come back. I .-aid to one as i bade him good-bve, I hoped he would be salt, lie said, *f am not afraid. I know that the hairs of my head are all number..d.' A strange answer, but I knew what he meant. They are all serious, for they •are going into the heart of the fighting. The next trouble with our soldiers will be their suffering from the very cold nights that now are beginning to come. 1 do so wish they had some good warm underclothes. They will need them >0 badly. I do wish niv purse were long enough to order some for the poorer soldiers. Kariy this morning ihe cold made your fingers ache, though now at nine a.m. the sun is very hot, and onlv light thing's are necessarv. I'riuce Francis of Teck was in De Aar to-day with the trocps. lie has gone to the front. B says he was very affable, and was rushing abulic the station r, III, shirt sleeves; he wanted a big jack knife, IIe had lost J1 own. "Thursday. ';Thero is a batch of soldiers here, who, if they were called :i t<> charge, would find it an awk- ward matter .for they had new carbines .served I out 10 them before leaving F ngla nd, and their bayonets will not fit on them. The only way thev could use them would be to tie the bayon- ets on. Does it not.seem a careless thing, and in so manv cases out here now the charge seems to be our men's be<t thing, as it always has. been. If you could only have seen the Buffs and the Oxfords come through here yesterday in open cattle trucks, standing upright, packed like sardines, you coukl hardly have believed your eyes. Even the here wei-c astoun- ded at the sight, for though many have travelled >n great discomfort, none have been so bad as this; and from here they had to go on to Orange River: they were not here even long enough to stretch their legs. Of course, it is the force of circumstances. The railway company cannot meet the demand for accommodation. The fiist section of the Royal Artillery Ammuni- tion Park were ordered to leave here two days ago, but thev have not vet been able to get a train to take them to Modder River, though they are all ready to go at an hour's notice. There are now 2(1 cases in hospital of enteric fever. k friend of mine undertakes to feed these men on Benger's food as soon as ever it is safe to give something instead of the u-uial milk. Every woman in the camp does her best to help. The whole of the loyal Colonists are trying hard to do what they can for the troops in all kinds of ways. f think thev are most kind. The people at Rondesbosch even "-end their carnages to meet every ambulance train to help to carry the men comfortably to hospital. You can hardly imagine the thousands cf ways one can helo a little. -Criday. "This morning the new regvment. kitchener's Horse, passed through here to Orange River. They stayed here for nearly an hour, and one of them came here for lunch. He was a friend of a friend of mine in Cape Town, and she had a-ked him to call. "My goodness, he was hungry. Of course, they had only the usual beef and biscuits whilst travelling, and he could not have cared much for it. lie is quite a young lelJovv. T hope he will come back safe and sound, ]1-- has just gone to do what I call a gruesome thing. Some soldiers came here last night and asked him to go and. photograph seven of them standing round a comrade's grave' who died last week. lie did not like to refuse: so that is what he is doing just now. I don't fancy 1 shall care about printing that, but both he and I would do almost anything for the men, for one never knows t\hat will happcn next to them. Eight hundred more soldiers left camp this morning, marching out. T believe that there are two columns formed from here, and that an entirely new plan of fighting is to be tried from this side. We have onlv abctll Loon men here now, besides the sick. 1 do hope the authori- ties will let us have plenty of men here again, for the Boers are quite cunning enough to slip in between our troops and take De Aar if not sufficiently guarded, and as 1 have told you be- fore, this is really the key to the colony. The men feel the want of water so much. One of the Warwickshires told me last night he would much rather go'through the Egyptian campaign again than this, and one of the R. A.'s said he would rather serve four years in India than be here. They find this place so trying, and this, of course, is much better than either Orange or Modder River. The Boers have put barbed wire in the .\loader River to prevent our men fording it. They are awfully fond of using barbed wire for everything in this colony. I should like to know how our men could charge against that. More troops just in, again in open trucks, some standing up. in other trucks sitting on top of the pontoons, and in others sitting on th-, machine g'ns "Sorne of the troops got their chocolate boxes here to-day..Many of them are selling them. A man i know gave 10s 6d for the box about an hour ago. Many of the colonists are collecting soldiers' badges, and will give almost any price for them. A man gave 15s tor a badge belong- ing to the Lancashire Militia. The chocolate boxes are oblong in shape, about six inches long l)y three wide and one deep. It is in colours of bright red and blue, with a medallion in gilt of the Queen's- head in the centre of the lid. On the eft of the medallion is the monogram, entwined V.R. with a crown over the top. On the right of the medallion are the words, in large letters, "South Africa, 1900." Then underneath in small letters "are the words, "I wish ycti a Ilappv New Year,—Vict ria R. I." "Saturday, The generals evidently mean trying a fresh move, for all day yesterday and to-day they have been rushing the troops back again here from Rensburg, Naauwport, and Colesburg, and for- warding them to Modder River. Within the last t5 minutes two train-loads have come in from there, the men all in open cattle-trucks. The second train was nearly all loaded up with machine guns, and. the men sitting or standing on them. The Suffolks passed through here tins morning, on their way to Modder River this time. You know that was the regiment that met with such disaster at Colesburg. I hoped they would stay here a bit, so that I could do one or two of them a good turn, b':t they have gune again to try their luck, pocr lads. About five o'clock the first batch of the militia came through. "Tuesday. "E HT aince last Friday troops have been going through here for Modder River. To-day, I ï train-loads of soldiers are expected here, some from Rensburg, and some fr; Ts-: Cape Town (fresh arrivals). Whole train-lea i i waggons are coming through here daily r way to the front. The traffic here is enormous, and as we live alongside the railway lines, we get the benefit of the engines, and the kicking of mules in the railway trucks as they are being shunted. One of our railway guards had his train under shell-fire on Saturday near Modder River, he says. lie heard such a peculiar whirring-hiss- ing noise pass over the guard's van, and he looked up, startled, wonder.ng what it was. An officer was in the van with him (our soldiers travel any fashion now), and said "Did you not know that was a shell?' and then a second and Third shell passed over them, and he said he began to wish lie was safely back in De Aar. f ortunately, they did no damage. "Wednesday. "1 received rnv mail letter front you this morn- morning, and I am so pleased those ladies are going to think of our troops. The men are all glad of the homely handkerchief, in the hospital especially, though if you offer them to anyone g-) tig to the front they are only too glad to get them, also socks and tamo'shanters. The latter do for them to sleep in. Let me explain why: the heat in the day is dreadful, and the nights are turning cold. The men's clothes are satur- ated with perspiration, and they have to lie all night in those same garments, with a helmet or something equally soft (?) under their heads for a pillow. Consequently, they wake in the morn- ing quite stiff. Now, a tammy would pull nicely down over the ears, and when the biting" winds come, which-will start very soon now, it would prevent the men getting many a serious cold, for you know the wind will search their tenu, and they will oe glad of any warm, light articles that are no Huublc to carry. "Thursday. "A number of Boer prisoners from Modder River passed through here again yesterday, on their way to Cape Town. Lord Roberts also went through. I should like to have seen him., but no one was allowed on the station. We all thought he was coming by a special train, but when the train arrived it only contained his staff. He came as an ordinary passenger on the night train. These precautions I think very wise --two) German spies were caught in De Aar yes- terday. The Bengal Lancers came through in the morning. They have long hair. The little girl next door amused me, she called out, "Come and look at the Indian ladies going to fight with the Indian men.' The 'Indian ladies' were the Lancers with the long hair, and the Indian men were the grooms (syces). They cocked their rice-cakes on the station before entraining. Sending these Indian trocps is a clever piece of work. They are here specially to guard the transports, and so relieve the soldiers who would have to be employed that way. The grooms will drive the cattle along for the use of the troops, as well as look after the Lancers' horses. I am told that these Indians behave splendidly under fire they will stand like statues, or climb hills like monkeys, at any rate they are apparently greatly- suited for this warfare, and I also like the way they are all willing to fight for the Queen. Did you read that account of the gaoler and his assistant at Prieska? They must be brave men. I will tell you in case you have not read it. When the Boers took over J'rieska they drew the assistant on one side, and, with a re- volver pressed against him, commanded that he should tell where the maxim gun was that they were told was hidden there. The man turned his head and said, 'Shoot!' They then took the gaoler in the same way. All they got from him was the word 'Shoot.' They searched, and only found a broken revolver. There was really thou- sands of rounds of ammunition hidden away. They also saved three of the Lancers' horses, We all reckon those -men have done the country very great service indeed. They really are heroes. I see yesterday five of the Boer prison- ers at Cape Town procured firearms and tried to escape. I should think the authorities will soon learn that the Boers are without honour, and cease letting their friends visit them. Lieu- tenant Bell, of the Royal Engineers, was buried yesterday. The Suffolk band played Chopin's FUlleral March,' but they left off playing before they got anywhere near the soldiers' hospital. I notice they never play the 'Dead A.I.arch' ITI 'Saul,' which our soldiers are so used to, Three more soldiers have died to-day. These deaths are all caused by enteric fever. Poor fellows I must close, mother dear, or I shall be late with my mail. Love to all my dear ones. "MACOE. "lust heard of the relief of Kimberlev. The soldiers are cheering loudly all around us. I am glad, and yet am afraid to be glad we have so many reverses. Bad news from Rensburg. Our men have been badly handled. About 100 or more wounded came in here last night from there. Have been told that at last nurses have been procured for the hospital here. Hope it is true the authorities would not grant them before. Another officer was buried yesterday afternoon at De Aar he suffered from enteric fever. "The mail came in this morning, -and I had such a large budget from various ladies in Eng- land, stating that they were sending pillows, cushions, fans, etc. I will acknowledge each parcel as T receive it, though I am afraid the duty will be very heavy, and 1. shall have to pay customs dues on receipt. I have also received a notice from the office in London, stating that a parcel of fans and mats was handed in at (hxs- well-road, London, E.C., addressed to me, but insufficiently stamped and if I send them is 2c1 in British stamps (which I cannot do), they will forward parcel to me, as it is for the use of the troops. I will enclose this order, and if you see fit perhap; you might send cash and relieve parcel from custody, or maybe the lady who sent it may see this, and alter matters. We have also received a number of English papers, which I will take care the sick men receive to-day and some writing paoer and envelopes. "Sincere thanks to the Misses EntwistIe.Col- wvn Bay, for m^5st valuable parcels containing cushions", handkehiefs. etc. also Mrs T. Tones (Dulas House, Old Colwyn), and Mr 1'arry Jones. They, I am sure, will remember that 'Whatever. Lord, we lend to Thee, Repaid a thousandfold will be.' "Fridav. "The Rev. Mr Hoare, the army chaplain here, has just called, and I showed him the letters from the ladies at home, who are so kindly for- warding parcels, and he said, 'This is sp'endid," and altJilce offered to defray all custom dues 011 the parcels that arrive so that tiny difficulty is smoothed away. He is such a very energetic man, and seems to know exactly what to do. He savs suoplies are coming in nicely now for the sick. Only this morning a wounded officer w'red him from Wynberg to order any luxuries for the sick soldiers here he thought necessarv, and he (the officer) would defray cost. My neighbour believes that no matter how much she gives away, it will come back again to her in some way, and sure enough so it does. I have known her to cut up her last loaf of bread and give to the men when they were sick of biscuits, and in a short time something has turned up, mO-E; than making up for what she has given. She is full of joy to-day because Kimberley is relieved. Her husband is shut up there. If I repeat myself in my letters, please excuse. They are written in such awful haste. I am often ashamed to send them, but you will understand how my time is filled up. ''Saturday. "Eighteen parcels arrived from England to- day, and on that large amount the duty was only as.ixd, the authorities not charging fees on any parcel addressed for the sick and wounded. The Rev. Mr Hoare (the army chaplain) has been down, and we have sorted all the things out. Such lovely presents And we have given away the soap, newspapers, some d'ovleys. One present we all enjoyed was a parcel of handker- chiefs with lavender bags packed between.. 1 have told you before that these men are inval- ids, getting better of their wounds and sickness, and theirs is a very trying existence, for they live in tents no shade, only their rations to eat. They have one shirt, so l am sending Cussie's gift, so that they can put one on and wash their own. If only the people who give so liberally could see how they help our men, who deserve everything that is given or done for them, they would know they had done well. The conduct of our men is really splendid, whether in health or sickness, and we, who mix with all sorts, ought to know. They are most certainly re- menibering that they are "Soldiers of the Queen." ''Sunday. !T am afraid there is trouble Rensburg way to-day. About an hour ago a special train ran from here to there with two of those immense siege train guns. I think there were eight of them left in De Aar when the others were moved to Modder River. Things look dark when you see those great guns moved about. Each gun fires a tremendous quantity of lyddite. The artillery in charge were riding on the open trucks (open-air salooJh), and the sun to-day is dreadfully hot, and the air is so oppresive you don't know what to do with yourself, and the thinnest of cotton clothing is too warm. So I leave it to your imagination to guess how these soldiers suffer, though if you sa\v them you might think they were going to a picnic—they are so cheerful. It does make you long to do some little thing for them. I always want to give them nice cooling drinks, and really it would not take much money to make up these drinks, and let Them fill their water bottles before they start. As 1 told you before, there is no end to the way in which one can help and alleviate a little suffering. Mr I' is very seriously ill of fever, the same as that other postal clerk I told you of before. The worst of it is, there is no one to look after them. In this case there is only the Kaffir boy, who does their cooking in the mess. The boy has just been to me to know if I would make the 'baas' a jelly; he did not know how. I have just made it, but I don't think it's any use, as they can't keep anything down when they get this fever. Mrs G is still very bad with the same complaint. I have just begged a bit of ice for I' It does seem hard they should have to lie there and suffer so much. I don't know which way to turn: there are so many things to do, and this oppressive weather is making my head very bad again, but I don't care so much if I can keep clear of this fever. How- ever, one can only trust 'all will be well I must close, as it is post time, and I would not for anything miss the mail. An Australian died in hospital here two days ago. Poor fellow he was delirious, and up to the time he died he was shouting orders to his men he thought he was still fighting. Love to all my dear ones. No time to send special messages, but you can all guess how much I think of you.—Yours ahvavs, "I\c] IE." ♦