IN AFRICA.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 293, 20 May 1915, Page 7

IN AFRICA.

'FIGHTLVO THK GERMANS, SOUTH-WEST CAMI'AKIN. GENERAL BOTHA'S ADVANCE, Pioterniarit/.burg, March '37. (ieneral 'Botha attacked the Hermans with Boer burgher commandos on Saturday last at four different points, about sixty miles inland from Swakopinund, and with considerable success. At Pfortobcrg 210 of the enemy, with twofield guns and two machine guns, surrendered to Col. Alberts and. Col.-Com. liadcnhorst, after an engagement lasting fion) dawn till 3 o'clock. The enemy casualties, as far as ascertained, were 20 killed and' 21 wounded,, whiles' the Union losses were 13 killed and .'ill wounded and -13 missing. It is interesting to note that all the names appended to the Union casualty list' are Dutch; The captured munitions of war included a complete train of supplies, two ammunition waggons and other transport, 170 rounds of shell and 12.000 rounds of machine gun ammunition. The artillery lire of .Major Wehnaran's battery was every accurate, and, according to reports from prisoners, considerably impressed the enemy. Windhoek, the objective, is lift) miles inland'from Swakopinund. AN OBJECT I.ESSON.

ISo now, in the strange whirling of time, we have our erstwhile enemies tln> Boers actually lighting our battles against I,lic Uernians. What an object lesson it should be for Teuton statesmen, soldiers and professors who imagined they could satisfy their lust for power by form, and force at any cost. This transfiguration of the Boer must give them some tough food for meditation. Tile <!crman people hold sacred, and rightly so, fatherland, kindred and home. But there is one great thing that they have been taught to forget. There is just one thing what a man must not do, even for his country, kindred and home: lie must not for their sake lose his own soul. The Oorman nation have forgotten this, the one tiling needful. Hence their calamity, and the world calamity, of to-day. Whatever failings or errors f!reat Britain may lie responsible for. she has acquired the art of successful colonisation and race conciliation to a degree unparalleled. I suppose in history. Kultur is not in it. Unlike, -Charity, Kultur vauntoth itself and is puffed up. Yet it is not wise, even in its own generation.

TIIK PLAGUES OF EGYPT. Previous to General Botha's move the Union troops both north and south had experienced a scorching heat wave, fed by a raw hot wind from the interior, and accompanied by khaki-colored clouds of sand and dusfj. Flies by day, moths at eve, and mosquitoes by night would have tried not onlv Job but the jolly Mark Tapley. The men were thankful for one thing at anv ratethat a kind and thoughtful public had provided them with veils. One of the Northern force who had been in the sun in Egypt and Borneo, gave it as his carefully-considered opinion that they were having "hell with the lid oil'."

As the mercury had ' soared' through the toiis of the thermometers, the temperature could not he ascertained But at Oarub, now occupied by the Central Force, the tent register was 137d0g., and at hudoritzlmeht, the port, the shade temperature was 123:' The- worst* is;, happily, now over. Swakopnnind is spoken of as being quite a pretty place, with large, imposing buildings and treeshaded streets.

ORRMAN AEROPLANES IflT. A Windhoek newspaper, which has come to hand says:—"Our (Gorman) aviators have made, the. discovery at Aus that the British artillery can shoot very well indeed. Two of" the aeroplane's have come into unpleasant contact with Hying- shrapnel at, 201)1) metres, as may be evidenced by the appearance of a. machine going through Windhoek yesterday. Several shots have, penetrated onewing. <)n another occasion a, shell burst, above the aeroplane, and a descending fragment pierced the wings.'' Gorman, pilots declare that our shells came very close to them, and that one of the aeroplanes showed marks of 151) shrapnel bullets. CKIUIA.VS AND 'SCUTCH WHISKY.

The same Windhoek paper relates how a question arose there as to which whisky should be drunk—the Scotch or the (lerniiin. Patriotism pointed to boycotting the. British brand, but practical utility suggested that unless they consumed Scotia's wine the enemy would come along afterwards and drink it themselves. The meeting could not contemplate such a loss, and pledged themselves to drink the wretched 'British variety, even unto the last drop. And there were no dissentients.

Another whisky story is related of a well-known ollicer. who, riding a valuable' but restive mount, was unseated owing to a Herman airman dropping bombs. The runaway horse made for the Cerman outposts, and on the following day the late owner of the horse received a courteous letter from an enemy ollicer, thanking him for his handsonio'prcsent, nnd particularly the bottle of whisky found in a, saddle-pouch.

MAIUTZ NOT DEAD. •Maritz, the Boer traitor leader, who, it was reported some weeks ago, had been executed by the Germans, is, it appears, still alive. Put if he is not actually dead, he is dead to .Smith Africa, for he is a fugitive, making his wire to Central Africa. Such was fhe information given by a Cerman ollicer who was captured in Saturday's enirii"ement. lie added fhat the Hermans lire longing to get hold of him. So, to use a homely simile, -Maritz is now between the devil and the deep blue sea. He is neither injerned nor interred in Cerman ;SouthWcst Africa. .Marifx was for years a friend and protege of (he late Commandant-General Beers, fo whom he was d-tnntlv re-

btled I>y marriaee. Maritz look an in-live part against the liriiish in the Hoov war, ami raided several town* in ■:' - Colony, lie was promoted to (he rank dl' eeiiernl. Iml ,v;u liadlv wounded in one enea'iouionf. Marii'z rofu-ol to lake i!i,. oath „f alle-ianre to the la-disli Crown at (In; close of tile war. imd mier'ted io Herman West Africa, afterwards spendin;;- some lime in Mnda-i;a-car, whore lie aided as an aecnt lor dacipies Lehnudy, (lie so-called Km-!'e'-"r of the Sahara. Uurim; his sle.v in German Wtst Africa lie was a eoadm-lm-of Covointneiil trun-porl in (lie lierrero vclie'lion. Maritz is thirl v-scven Years of a.'-'--. lie liad Hie r,.,ml!'ili(,ii of'bmm- a bold. KiieriHa n.u-lUff. cKUMAN, (TmriKiSI'ONDKNCI'I. The coiYospmiiiem-fi between (lie imperial and I'niou CoveP.iinoiits which led io iiie iii.dena!;iii:.r of (lieCermaa -hmH.-W'e-l rampaion is now |.iih]islied as a Parliamentary Paper. The Imperial Go-M-n:nie„t no|i(i,,l that it roe-ardod as up-enl flu- seizure of Hie coast wireless slat ions ii-;. Swakopmimd and Luderit/.luiclif, iiiiil the eapliuv of (lie ion-dis-tance station at Windlml;; and a-Te.l Hie I'nion fiovornnieut to undertake it, surestinc; a joint naval and military ov pedilion up the on;,st : Tile Hniou (].;.

vcrmnent cordially agreed "to en -operate with the Imperial Government, and to I assist in sending an expedition for tlie purposes indicated, the naval part to be undertaken by the Imperial authorities, ami the military operations to be undertaken by the Union Government." Ciiieral Smuts informed the Union (Parliament a few days ago that the military operations in Gorman West Africa are costing the Union Government one million pounds a month. Rumor has it (hat (leneral Smuts is anxious to get to the front as soon as the Parliamentary j session is over. * j

So successful has General llotha been in his patriotic campaign, begun against rebels and continuing against the Ger-

mans, that his earnest appeal to Parliament to temper justice with mercy, and to "forget and forgive" the rebels, is meeting with a ready response. In this spi-'it the death penalty has been deleted from the Indemnity and Special Tribunals mil now before the (louse of Assembly. There will, consequently, be no more executions of rebels. -