A Typical Day at Ladysmith.

Manawatu Herald, 25 January 1900, Page 2

A Typical Day at Ladysmith.

HOW TIME IS KILLED AT LADYSMITH. The late Mr G. W. Steevens, war correspondent of the London Daily Msil, sent the following undated message from Ladysmith to tba.b journal : — z 1 j " The following is a typical . day of the siege of Ladysmith. I awake:', at midnight with the words ' Sous of Satan' in my ear. The Boers " are shelling the troppears of the Light ; Horse. Cuddling together on niy .. j, verandah are troops listening to tiu. banging of shells. Says one voice 1 Right among the horses.' Another ; says, ' Clean through the mess tent." With each hang the silver moonlight on the wall flickers to gold. A i score of rounds are fired, but nobody i is touched. Then the Boers ara .:;!' silent, and the* troops conveiAfeWut the shells for an hour loP^e?. I .,';!■ sleep till half -past 8, and am again ; awakened. _ Says a hoarse voice, .; i * Turn out squadron.' Por half an. | hour the men loudly get up, and, 1 ;; :!■,■>!;

sleep again. All the flies are awake at five. I feel a buzz in the ear and a twitch on the nose. I put th€ sheet over my head, but the flies CraVl up my legs. It is daylight now, but there is a bite in the sultry air. The strong bulwark of Lombard's Kop is swathed in stagnant mist. I ride out under the already heavy sun and scramble over the stones to the hilltop, where the Highlanders are putting; the finishing touch to the new laager. Active Mlted figures are piling sandbags, cutting bushes, and draging it together for a zareba. "I descend the grassy flat at a gallop through great black hordes of lazy cattle watched by lazy blacks, grazing on the neutral ground between us and the enemy. A few sp6ts are scored by shells from points where the Boers creep up during the night. They are now falling back before our patrols, the crack of whose rifles sound muffled in the lifeless air. I return within the lines past the sentry steadfastly staring over the plain to the hills beyond, past the sack and blanket couches where the officers sleep, past the smoking camp where the cooks are getting breakfast. "Breakfast over, the lazy bombardment of the town begins. Now it is shouting rattling ' Puffing Billy,' now it is swishing, rushing ' Silent Susan,' now the popping, puffing shrapnel. We know then all by ear. " Once in a dozen times the hoarse bark of our naval guns replies. " One interlude of activity tempts me up the hill where the rifle Brigade are at work. Some are shovelling new houses out of the red-hot earth. Others are sleeping in dark cool grottoes entered by hatchway skylights. Here the Brigadier-General working in his office, cane-floored and ceiled with timber. Outside a rare shot of the Boer snippers is answered by our firing line consisting only of six good shots — one has just dropped Boers at 2050 yards. " Presently, with a splintering bang, a howitzer shells flies over towards the tents below. Then a buzzing half spent Mauser bullet startles a great black and cream butterfly, and soon a small shell i fizzes through the roof of the iron huts, and bursts clanging inside. " The firing falters through the afternoon, when sharp gusts of whirling dust prelude the usual storm. The sky is blue -black with clouds which huddle down over the hills; a few huge drops fall with rattle of thunder ; a sudden spurt of rain ; and then it clears to a sunset of flame-colored pillows on beds of roses. " ' Good night,' say the shells, and then to bed. " Multiply this by a million, and you get the siege of Ladysmith."