The British-Boer War. EXPERIENCES OF LANCE CORPORAL C. A. WILSON (3rd NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT).

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 64, 27 October 1900, Page 3

The British -Boer War. EXPERIENCES OF LANCE CORPORAL C. A. WILSON (3rd NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT).

(Gbncluded.) It was a Monday night v/ben we camped in Bloemfontein, with the full expectation of leaving next afternoon. But we did not» Instead, camp] routine hegan again, Our saddles needed re-stuffing, as all new saddles do after a spell of use, so thr-y wero taken to a saddler's shop in town. The flout'ngc rfC saddlers bad no convenience for dealing with such a number. About sixty new military saddles were issued in place of ours, new picketing ropea and pegs and horse blankets were issued, and, hardest of all trials, helmets were issued and our slouch hats were consigned to our kits. It was almost impossible to distinguish even men you knew well. Those who had not left their pay behind in New Zealand drew their New Zealand pay. Fortunate fellows 1 I drew nothing, but was comparatively well off, as I j had 4s. This fell Is below the price of a very moderate " hotel feed," so I was forced to deny myself. But we did fairly well. Bum was served out on two occasions, aud bacon, sliced and tinned, on another. There was a vague rumour of cheese, and we did get some jam. The event of the Tuesday was the arrival of our first r tnnil, which should have reached us at Wepener. What excitement there was, and how the men crowded round, eagerly passing along the last name called, while waiting anxiously for their own 1 No one wa3 disappointed, but many were not there to receive their due. Where we knew ft man's hospital address we re-addressed his letters, but it was often a trouble to find out. Men were taken ill and were sent at once to the hospital, uni. tho rest of the company would never know, unless they missed a personal friend. Another , small mail arrived on the Wednesday. Marching orders cauae late the same night, and all was excitement and haste. A couple of hundred Argontiue' ponies were brought up as remounts, and all who required them were out picketing the least sorry of the boasts, What the Argentine pony is good for I do not know. I had no lengthened experience with them, but riding in and out of town and out to the camps, as well as a couple of days' maroh, did I not enable me to see ooe that was any good. They look in good condition and are quite sprightly till mounted. Then they amble along for an hour or two, when they are "tired out, and- no j persuasion caa induce them to break their slow and «fceady walk. On the Thursday morning one did summon up sufficient energy to fall down and roll on its rider. - He was taken into his tent and the troop marched out. A large mail was due on Sunday, so I was directed to renuaia behind and bring it on to rail head by train. It was exgected. that I would have to wait two days for the troop to come up. I had also to aot for Major Jowsey in endeavouring to get our base shifted from East London to Bloernfonteia. Lance Corporal Jowsey had ' gone t© East London to bring up th 6 i baggage, but there was some hitch. The authorities refused to allow the i baggage to be " removed until they could make Kroonstadt the base. A baggage guard was left behind to strike tents and attend to kits, also to clean up the camp. Walking among the tents when the boys had gone, I easily realitsod why fcroopa contracted fever. 3D very whore lay pieces of meat, boues, lish-tins and every conceivable rubbish. Myriads of fliea swarmed round, aud in the intense heat the smell was overpowering. The guard made all haste" to rake this refuse together and burn it, for a few days longer would have rendered the place untenable. The flies were terrible here. If you were eating a piece of braad and butter you had to shake it violently to dislodge the black mass and then bite quickly before they had thne to settle. This is no exaggeration. I took the opportunity, while waiting for the mail, to write fourteen letters. This was the first since debarkation and I did not know when another opportunity would arise. Bioenifontein was at that time decidedly a town one would desire to be out of. There were about; 20,000 troops quartered all round, everything was excessively dear, and the dust was something awful. It has many large buildings, prominently the Raadzaal. or Parliament House, the Govornmont House, the Government Buildings "and the Post Office. It has a flue club and a number of large, wellTbuiit shops. The business part of the town is built round ,a square, in, the middle of which ' all the farm produce ia sold daily in the early morning. There is a roofed open building with largo ti'tsßtiwd tables, and on these butter, eggs, moat, fowls,

etc., are sold. While I was tb.9re, ft. massed bands o£ the SzXtii Divisio played every afternoon in front of i\Clu'o. Such a baud I It was a treat thear them. Several times (for Iwh icy own =mastws I went to town, an. purchasing a cup of coffee * aud soin cakes from the little shop in tin rnarketgbuiidings, I sat listening to the baud till the final tune. I was much amused one day at chs repertoire. It included "The Belle of Now Yoik." " S-oldiers of the Queen," " The Absent-minded BpggUr," and then a selection of Irish airs, ending wiih "Would You Troad on the Tail of My Coat." Verily, inaoy of those listening had tried that ancient game, and the reaulfc was before their sullen eyes. Then the sun was waning, and the never-failing expression of loyalty to their sovereign was expressed. Instantly, every Britisher stood at the salute, Sikhs, Canadians, English, Irish^t Scotch and colonials in khaki, officers on the Club balcony, and men on the square beneath, British civilians bared their heads, and the Kaffirs and Zulus followed their example. Tht kist stave was played and the crowd on the square thinned, each to do hU part in the service of that Queen whom ' they prayed God to save. On Sunday the mail arrived, but I could not take delivery, as tho com j pany had gone ahead. Neither could I sort out the letters of tup detail. So i I had, perforce, to leave it an.l j endeavour to reach the front sonn \ other way. It wag a weary job trying ' to get permission to go forward. Foi two whole days I roamed from one office to the other, and during this time I saw a good deal of the town. There are many nice gardens and I have no doubt if the water supply wore good they would be very healthy and prosperous. I now discovered where we had been getting our water ibupply* Thore was an iron pipe leading into a small creek near our camp. This pipo ran constantly and the water seamod clean, "btft 1 X' never drank it unless it had been boiled. Others did, and the reason they were taken to the hoypital was bocp,u<?e this was tho outlet of the suEr.-vos drainage of the city. Tho streets of Bloemfontein are fairly good, but t.ho footpaths just outside the centre of the town are terrible. They have generally got large trees growing in the middle foe i shade purposes. When a man can afford it, that in, wheu close to town, he has a footpath of concrete blocks laid down. Thos9 rise a foot or two above the level of the vosfc ana would not be nice to va&at in tho. dark Others are a few inches high, and a live municipal body would have plenty work. The PosS and Telegraph Offices are in the hands of the military authorities, although many of the original officials still retain their positions. A military censor inspects every telegram before it is allowed to be sent. There ia a •niih'fiary post office, aud here all letters bear an English stamp. On the Monday evening i managed to secure permission jto travel with Lieatenanlj Johnson, of the First New Zealanders, w"ho was going forward with various colonial details, in charge of, the Undaunted's remounts. The dust, as we rode down Monument Hill, was so thick that the man in front of you wa3 seen but dimly. The road across the veldt was the same. Thousands and thousands of men had marched out with Lord Boberts, and their transport on the unformed road had made spveral inches of dust. It was bearable when the wind did not blow, bufi when it did — —I In two days we reached Brandcford. Here I contracted pneumonia, probably from 'drinking water while warm and also from inhaling dust. To show the prevalence of this frightful disease, I may mention that nine British officers died of it while I was in Bloemfontein. This appeared in tho Post. , Exposure to the dew, frost; and rain will bring on anything, the dust puts the coping stone onuthe structure. What wonder that the path t)f every column was marked by dead horses and sick and dying men. In next issue I will commence my experienoea of military hospitals, taking up the thread of my narrative where I . now^nd.

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