A Letter from South Africa.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 92, 6 January 1900, Page 3

A Letter from South Africa.

\ loiter to Mr Chis. Akhnrst, Witun ite, fr >m an old \ r «w Zjolanl Iny, anl dil"(i King vYiihamstown, N> ember 27th, will be read with an 'h interest. The writer is on 3 )L t,h 3 Jo'-i moabai'jj refugees, and iiys: — "I wnxe to yon jast before rjhe cnuawuc'mant of the war, but smc? th j n, t'l'ii^i h ivo been in i t!3'i a sWo of exjitem j at, th.it 0113 1 )_<? hoc foji at all inclined t' % j vjLie dd r >wn to letter writing. A viy r i to I shj.ll mike an n I give you as m'lc.i So'ith Africi •i *ws as [ cm. io b^g n with, a •Irtish S'lbj-ii^.s, e'voept a few wh ,vho wjrj guuitod permits to r mvi, wjre ordure 1 o ifc of th lVunvi.il. Nearly all the mu; o1o 1 ■)■>*! (1 3. ''a at Uie Cud of Septeai bir, owing to the hi'-k of b!ao\ I i.b )iir ,u)'l c mi patent white aiin^ix 'i T hj Governm nt con ii-ac iled '\v> mines from the 'My to the I'obin -.on ''oinp'ny'o (about ten m.nes) and are n.)W working them for gold Flu mij >nty of the men on i he lii'ivjs pivCtMTod to lea » e the country L-d'hoi.' than woik them for the benefit of the Transvaal (lovern m"nt, and so tr.rnibh them wit!i the of v.'.ir wherewith to flight oiir cm n troops. Ymi should have -pou the trams wh'ch left JohannesII ir^, ! fc w.ls a pitiful s'»hl» to vSe i \\oi\ien and )oun'4 children packed in I co )ped tip as th^se weie, and !>! > > hai.Kliiws the poor cren lures h.i 1 to un leiiro were terrible. !i u w.iy c.unages weie out of Iho i] lection, and upon cattle and con I i 'cl> were cilii'd in L o requisition a oider to cjpo >\i:h .he e\oilus ot ti» pjop'e What witli the b irn.ii*_j snn, the rain the li^at of the i i) aivl the c )ld of the nii>ht, I can '•>^.iro you the ri'tn^ept, h;i,d any1 h'n jf bit a pleasant jim > im >y to a ,-lrice of & ifety. J3.id as f In* state ot cifi<uv3 was, it Wcis marie even W'H-iL' by the action of the oincuils ,n c iiiun nJoer'ng lh*' i))nwy the ■ ifayees carried on llu'ir pei-hons. ['his coining leering, I ian qlikl to -ay, did not begin until the la-st fortnight of tl'ti exodus. All Jo hann.-obii^ baincuied and people had to lea\e their houses j i •">(■> as they stood, wn.h eve-'ythmg n ih^m. i\ly brother and I lett j ar!y iv ' )ctober, a week or s ) before mutuil law was proclaimed m the r.insv al, and we had a journey shn 11 never fc get. We had to iide in open cattle tiucks, and these were bimp'y crammed full of in>n closer than lardines in a tin. here was no possibility of moving ibo lit ; you j fat had to kneel or < nd, ice o •ding to ihe fit st position | >ou Look up, nnlil the end of the I uuney. Nothing on the face of bis ' arth, will or can make me a> tied ai;a;n as that nd° did. People \\ ho had bought first class tickets had to travel like this so you cm .nitgine what it wab like. What hj poor women and children must nave s altered, is better imagined Mini d scribed. We armed at our lestiiiation de id beat, and the wash i !(1 sleep I then had were the finest I ever enj >\ed. Father decided to remain in Johannesburg ' ,n the hip. 1 of obtaining a permit, is- he did not lika the idea of oaring our home to the nmrcy of .lie Jioe s. HoA'tver, he could not obtain this and so left for Gratnuns5 Avn after martial law had corae into eifect, and it as not seen his luggage since. My brother and I got our U\g? ge after a de'ay of nearly a «eek As it was I had to " tip " ill round at Johanncsb irq station^, to get it booked. We were ail right at Molteno (a town near the i'Vee bolder) until the Boer commandoes invaded the northpr.tt districts of Cape Colony. The i'riiish troops stationed at Storm-b.-rg Junction, soon after evacuated that place for Queenstown, leaving rlie ! !oers to work their o\vn sweet will at commandeering the northern iisineis. We left at midnight by goods train on receipt of a communication th it after tnat night all foam communication was to be indefinitely Ba^pende-l. The Datch tarmeis m the Molteno disfcrjc, are anything but lo)|l, and things are exciting up theip, a J3oer commando being about 15 miles from the town. I shoiildj have liked to havo joined the Imperial Light Horse which was enrolling a large number, ot " Village Mam Keet " men, more especially as Doncton and Bofctomley (late manager and s.ietetary of the mine) bad received coinmibsions as captains in that troop. Circumstances, however, prevented me much to my chagrin. And now for some war news. You will have "heard of tha battles d!

G'encoe, TClantM mgte (or rather Elandslachter) and Belmont. Also of the surrender of a body of oui men »t Larlysmifh. The Trans j vaal "ultimatum came" as a surprise" to Ku gland, though in Johannes j burg it was spoken of as a possible contingency, an* 1 thus our troops were unable to take up the often ! sive, and the Boers assumed the aggressive, and laid siege to Mafeking, Kimberley, and Lidysmith, j •md raid d the colony. Our troops held th ir own splendidly till reinforcements arrived, and now our inirngs hav3 commenced. Js not Mifekmg_ giving a splendid accouni ' L itself ?' Fancy only 1500 irregnla's holding 10,000 Boers at bay. The Boers huAe surprise! e\eryone by the manner in which they have -been fighting. They have, however on many occasions ma.le a treacherous use of the flag of truce and ha\e no sense whatever of military etiquette and honour A Lir-^s number of Germans. Hollanders and Irishmen are fighting in the Boer ranks, and to this foot is attributed tho q >od handling of their artillery, theeffec' of which, however, is ren 'loved almost harmless since the Roei 'mm inifcion qm b^pn •' faked " by 'ie European manufacturers, dome >f their shells which have failed to >us. have been found on examinao ) to be filled with sand. The Colo'i il in 1 N ital volunteer f )rces are ju To ing .splendid services atrl have unjd the praise of Gen?ral Bnller ail t!i3 Jioni3 newvap) s. Yo i jm have no idea uf tlie deep feeinj of cirhu.siarm and kmshij iwakened out hjre by the offdiv-5 oi colonial con> indents. The people >imply go mul with enthusiasm >)>er the contingents when they land, and give them a spWidid r 'ception and a hearGy welcome. The New Zealanders arrived at ''apekmn last week and w.-re accorded a grand reception. The,> remain in Can. 'town until the iii-rival of the Australian and Canadian contingents. Then the combined force v, ill march through Capetown pnor to their departure lor f he front. I would like to be in Cip'ifcown then. The colonial contingents must be stirred to the bottom of their hearts at the feeling of brotherhood, and tho warm and henity recip ion they have ecMved •md siro to receive on ill sides trom {.hdii fellow co-n'r\mon in South Africa. \ll this momh 'oioopship^ have been arriving and tho lust of the troops wi 1 arrive this week. \lready our forward mrirch ha Ibegun. '! he Kiinburley r- lief force, nnfer General Alethuen, lelt De Aar a week ago and expects to be at Kinib^rley tomorrow. They gi\e the Boers a fe rfiil licking at P>elmonr and I expect they they will repeat it outside Kimbeiley. The troop-* from the Qpieensto7Q p ieenst07, Tv i hasp ha\o moved too, but 1 don't think they wit! have any serious fkhting until the Free -Late. 1 think that when Kimberley has ueen relieved the troops will make a dash foi Uloemfontein, which is only 87 miles distant, and so take th.- Boer& in tho rear an! distract thenattention from Natal. At the same time the troops from Queenstown will push forward and engage the B oers mt h e 1 r on t . F rom Bul u w ay o . Piumer's column is marching ao\\n to the relief of Mafeking, so that in a few da}s we are likely to heai that the Boer forces of the western front have been beaten and have fallen back. Turning to Nata 1 the news there i-> reassuring. Though Joubert managed to snriouu'l ami inveht General White ' lv L.uly^uiith, ho lias burnt hi^-h'nsrei-s over the other Uiibineso. | The Boer.s h.ive occupied Natal a> t.ir down as Moon liver, and it was bi'lievetl that Joubei-tV ailvuuce was for the puipnse of making a dash for Mantzbuig before our reiiit'o cements coubl ain\e on the scene. To- day's news, howH-ver, etaies that Joubet is retiiiug to his comiliaiKios left iouiUl Liulysmith and th.it our reinforcements are advancing and clearing the way to the >elu-f of that town. 'iheßoeis have been bombarding Ludysinith with their 40-noumtais Longr 'J'ouj, but have iailed to do very much eh ninge. Taken all all round the news is reassuring and our forward march hub begun and will be in full swing before m..ny <l<i>s have passed. I expect the wai, so fair iis the fighting ih concerned, will be over early in Febi vary. I urn ufiaid many c\\x' Inning a vevy bad time of it now, and distress is veiy prevalent, ihousunds of refugees aie dependent on charity, numbeis having to leave the Tian^vaal absolutely peunijes.% and otheis have spent neaiJy all they had. Tnere wjll be fearful distiess timoiig thousands of the poor lviuLe s it' the war drags on much longer. As soon as possible Johannesbuig shall see me igain, as I mean to be back there early, to try anil catch some oi" the " worms" if there are any. It is no use going back until ut- least a mouth alter the cessation ol hostilities, us everything will b^ in diborder. The Boers actually tuin 'd all thennises out qf the Johaunesbusg Hospital when martial law > was proclaimed. Such an outrageous thing I never heard of before. I met one of

the nurses down liere, and s) c said she means to be the first oi lie nurses to be bapk again in Johannesburg.*'^ , Mr Akhttrst~-intorms^ us thai he hospital \v..=* a unhlio inafifu tion supported by Uit landers anc! Mid lioeis alike, and hiibspn^cl by the Government. It had a? iv'eruge roll of indoor putients oi ',) X), with many hundreds, ol outdoor patients. What, became of these it is impossible to say.