The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Modder River Battle. Fierce Work of the Artillery and Its Effect on the Enemy. INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE How the Guards Crossed the River Only to Sink in the Mud-As Told By Julian Ralph. The more one see* of Modder River battlefield, ami fh more one consid- ers the ba"ln the mure terrific it is eeen to ha.v ne^n. Some piia-eH of the battle and iome of the tali's we hear of the part the Boers played in it make it certain that then i ,.-r was a battle like it. At first we were impressed bv the agacity shown l.y the Boer leaders in entrenching their men where they did at tin' >. i. nnil back of a Taut smooth im-liiieil plane, every inch of which was visible to these hidden men. But by remaining here long enough to go thoroughly over the field we have learn. -.1 that an even stronger and in all \v:iy- letter position conld have Ix-en ma.:, tor most of them just behind the one thev chose and on the island in the river. It most be understood that their horde lay entrenched on the edge of th river at a point where the Modder and Reit join one another. The land between the two i* called an island, and this land continues the upward slope of the Teldt, to that it b higher and more commanding and better yet lor Boer purposes; it is LUXURIANT vVITH TREES AND BUSHES. Here, in fact, the Boen did put their sharp nhooterg, and her* they manipulated their deadly "Putt-putt" *nn, as our armv has nick-named the Tickers-Maxim quick-firer, which oommixini. : -udi respect as to make every man who heard it bow hi* head e* prostrate bis body. Men so shrewd and instinctively soldierly ax the Boers mast have known that this more elevated pos- ition, with the river in front of it as a moat, was Mi;>.-nor to the on* they elected. A story which many Boer prisoners hare told us tends to explan why the lower around was chosen though it is a tale which cau be credited only by those of ns who are accustomed to the extraordinary phases and condi- tions of this strangest of modern wars. The *tory is that a large proportion of the Free State Boers were so aver-,- to fighting in the first place, and so shaken by our incessant and accurate artillery fire, that they were only kept in the trenches at the point of revolvers bold over them by their leaders, who swore to shoot any man who trieil to divert. This story was told us by many pris- oners takc:i at different time* and place*. If it is true, it may well be that there was a serious purpose in chas- ing the lower ground for the Boer position, because thus the ri"'"-. where it is the deepest and impossible to ford, was IMMEDIATELY AT THEIR BACKS After I bad seen no more of the field than their three-mile line of trenches, I could not understand how we had been able to dislodge them or why they had at last left the field to us. Their position seemed superb impregnable. But a search for the place from which the putt-putt gun Wan fired led inn to the island over- looking the river and the trenches. Then I saw plainly why and how w had rained the victory. Beyond the British ui'';imrv lines, where our Guards' I :is so cruelly forc- ed to lie for mor>> than eight hour* under ail 'i of lead from an uemv th.-v eo'ild never see, we work- ed three Rnv.il Artillery batteries. These \\vre IBM l-,li and 7,~>fh. which fired all day long, mid thefc-'nil, wlii'-h came INMMI y miles to our aid and gut into action at half-vast four in the afternoon with horses so fagged that the men had been obliged to walk the! last few miles. These batteries played on tS treuchs and on the inland, which two points are so elo-e that lioth were dam- aged alike. 'I which MM ed their shrapnel ujm the men in trenches carried their heavy metal OVER ON THE ISLAND. Much of the tlirannc-1 was also carried there. The result, as it is to be seen to-dav. is a scene of surface devasta- tion almost I)H tiling description. In a space of a mile in length ami a quar- ter of a mile in width, there i* scarce- ly a square yard that is not torn up. fsrforated. riddled, ploughed, and taked. Shravnel bnllefs. shell cases, fuel, and bits of metal lie all over ti f place. Incredible ae it sounds, there now lie on that ground two rusty old tins one a small "bully- beef" tin and the other a biscnit tin. Both of thee are riddled with shrap- nel and shot. In that scene lies the explanation of the flight of the Boers. In that scene one finds some confirmation of the story that the Boers had to be kept to their work at the point of the revol- ver. A common reliance of the Boer wa* upon gin Emotv gin bottles, bottles still containing gin, and one full bottle of that liquor were to be seen stuck in the loose dirt of the trenches. In every trench was a surprising de- bris of shell cartridge* of many sorts Mausers, Martin-Henrys, and two or three sort* of EXPANDING AND EXPLOSIVE BULLETS. The island seems to hare been where the nharp-shooters were placed on the ground, behind trenches, and in the trees We understand from the prisoners that these were always sta- tioned in couples, and that the order* wore that whenever one was killed or wounded his companion was to bury or carrv him off the field. I have told in a previous letter and in my des- patches how continually we have found the bodies of the Boer dead in the river, buried in the sand with fingers or boot* protruding, heaped in a trench, and elsewhere. When I searched the island I found profuse proof* of other burials beside theae of new dead not included in any estimate. Her* I found grave- shaped mound* of such fresh appear- ance and suggestive ihape that I ex- amined them. They were covered with short brush growth*, and lo ! when we touched these they came out of the earth and were seen to be tree- twigs and branches cut from trees and stuck in the mound*. At some distance back in the island we found a very large trench, of a size to hold twenty bodies. It emitted indntable proof of it* contents. A* we under- stand the tactic* of oar enemy, these graves are apt to be those of their humbler soldier*. We know that they carry off on cart* and acroea their sad- dles the bodiee of THE MORE IMPORTANT DEAD. This wa* done at thi* battle. A woman, who** cottage i* in the rear of the field, north of the river, de- clares that all day long the wounded came to her cottage upon each other'* heel* to have their wound* dressed, and, she says, the dead in large num- ber* were carried upon ^planks placed upon the back* of pome* northward to the Boer line*. First in the mind* of the Boer* i* the desire to hide his dead and to lie about their number. It i* from their own that they most desire to hide the truth. The prison- er* we took all said that only eighteen had been killed, but the deserters said the loss of life was very great and that in the river alone 100 were sunk with weight*. For my part I shall not be snrurised if we learn some day that in killed alone the Boers lost quite 800. It is wonderful how the formation of the country adds and perhaps inspires the Boer methods of warfare. You have beard how the burgher comes to battle with two horses, a poor one to carry him to the tight, and the best steed he has to be kept fresh until it is needed to carry him swiftly a\vny. Usually we have seen the Boers run down the far sides of the kopjes thev have been defending, to find best horses knee-haltered on the veldt, and to mount and ride them awav. At Belmont, when a thousand or more were in full flight, they all sud- denly disappeared in a mysterious way. \Ve found that all had ridden into what thev call a "sluit." which is broad and deep enough to hide a cav- alrv regiment. In this glitter or ravine they made their way to their next of rendezvous. On the island at Modder River such a ravine or gutter exists. It i* 80 feet wide and 15 foot deep. We found its bottom covered with hay and other fodder, and we knew that in it, out of harm's wav and yet close at hand, they hail kept their horses in readme** for their re- treat. After everv battle the veldt has been dotted with Boer horse* in conse- quence of the custom of bringing two horses for each well-to-do man, and in oenseqnenoe of the low of rider* by t JS*~jf ,., \\ t Y / V SECOND CAMERONIANS STORMTJG SPION KOP- deala and wounding. But both previ- ous battle-field* combined showed no such number of riderles* horse* a* Modder River. There wa* literally hundreds of them. I had lost mm* in the fight, but in the first Half hour of the next morning I took my choice of four, and might have made my pick from a hundred, saddled and bridled, before I bad gone hif over the field. We know now that it wa* our artil- lery fire that thinned the rank* and broke the nerve of the enemy. It wa* a fearful assault produced by an extraordinary discharge of ammu- nition. The four naval gun* fired, I be- lieve, 514 rounds, the ISth Battery fired 1,100 rounds, the 75th fired 000 rounds, the 8,'nd 500, or 8,000 round* in all. The report* of the rifle fire are not yet made out, but most of our men took into the fight 150 to 160 rounds, and I believe the average fire per rifle by nineteen battalion* must have been 100 round*. The ''UMAX OF THE BOERS' DESIR1 to vacate the tiel.i was reached whea a stalwart British cheer broke upon their ears by their side and in their rear. There should not be anv confusion a* to what men raised this cheer and were the first to ford the river ; but there is. It i* dne to the fact that men of several ambitions command* composed the first body of forders. To put history right, the credit of first croasiug the river 1>1 n;; to a mall party of Coldstream Gnardsmeu who early in the day waded m to their waist* and then swam, laden with all their gear and 180 rounds of ammunition. There were between twenty -four and forty men in this body, and though many got aero**, two were nearly drowned, and all saw it to be wise to return. The river was too deep, and when they reached the further shore they sauk in mud to their knees. This happened on the extreme right of the line, where Lord Methnen made his first gallant attempt to cross. He tried again on the far left, anil it was there that, beyond any doubt or dispute, Colonel Barter, of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infan- try, got acros* by a farly good fording place with a score or two dozen men, some of whom were his own, while others were men of the Argyll and Sntherlandshire and the North Lanca- shire Regiments, they crossed against some trenches and an angle of stone wall which were held by eome 800 Boers. Just as they were crossing a battery of Roval Artillery roiled up in the rear of our men. and, before its men had time to unlnnher. all the Boer* tied, jostling ami even KNOCKING KACH OTHER down to get upon their horse*. In time our forces across the river num- bered 400. IHK! -r-ircueral t'arew tool; command. Our own < and our own rule, tire bent upon this little band, and it halted and cheered to disolo>e ;'s natonality. That is the truth of a heroic move- ment, of winch there ore already too many untrue versions in print. It is stud that the Boers fight in deadly terror of our bavonets, which we have not yet had a clmii- t e to use upon them, and this increased their fever for tight. They have al.so bad a wholesome dread of our lyddite shells of which, likewise, we have not yet made any nse but at this battle uen- eral Cronje, who watched the fight all day. supposed our naval gun* were firing lyddite, and said to his staff : "I've been watching that stuff all day, and I don't think much of it." One word a to thai phase of their warfare which must be touched upon, in justice, in every account respondents write of it. With my own eye*, being npon the scene. I saw the pntt-pntt gun and the fire of the sharp-shooters laa.iied npon our am- bulau'-e throe times, aud upon our tretcher-bearers. on innumerable occasions in fact, whenever they rose to their feet ion ijn right of the line) and attempted to perform their work. TELEGRAPHERS UNDER FIRE. Vlnt.,r V< ..rk-r on th "Tlrktr*- ar Drtln i; 1 h. 1 1 Iltiir ml lh Front. The British Covniinent Post-Tele^ graph departments have already con- tributed to the army in South Africa nearly 500 nn n. of whom more than 800 were skilled telegraph operators, who conld hard'v e --'urnd from the already undermanned service. Re- ports to the War < >lhv state that the telegrapher* are rendering cnlendid service. It >s xi.. 1 that the use of the Wheatstone autotna'ic system on the field of battle is ri.e first in the his- tory of warfare. Moreover, it was worked dnulexed. which at the or wa* oropi < imuoMible un- ue rough conditon* of campaign- ing. At the Modder River fight the te! >- graphers were under fire for a whole day. Then they worked through the night on official and press message*. I Later, despite the rules limiting - number of correspondents and the , length of a message each man can scud, the operators sent 100,000 worcs. The total after the Magersfontein battle was much greater, but the op- erator* got it through without a hitch at the high average *peed of about tOO words a minute. Delays invariably occurred after the des- patches reached the coast. A major- ity of the telegraphers are volun'rera member* of the Twenty-fourth Middlesex "Post Offi.-e Rifles." The officer in charge of the helio- graph signals with General Buller's column ha* flashed 14,000 words to and from Ladysumh in the past three week*. That ti the Name the London PrtM Ha* Given f'an&da'i Third Contingent. lorlh-XV-.l W...O.I..I H)fl.OIn K.-f-t-pi i,pi .41 v\ i ii ,, i pcy and Fin* linprvMlon. It i* hoped tho inclusion of North- We*t horse* in "Lord Strafhcona's Own," a* the pipers call Lor . -trata- cona's North- West corpa, will lead the) War Office to revise its decision against Canada a* a tource of bnpply for army horses. It i* understood that the Canadian Government have made special repre- sentations to Lord LantMiowne nooe the war b*-ean, with a view to indacej the War Office to make purchase* ef Canadian ranche horses, but without effect. Si far nine thousand ton* of Can- adian hay and two thousand Canadian saddles have been uurehai-ed. how- ever, a* well a* larg > consignment* of tinned meat*, dritxi fruit, and vege- Indlau Troop-' <nrolry. The whole of the 3rd Bengal Cav- alry have voluntarily subscribed one day's pay towards the Transvaal fund. The regimeut ia com[>osed of Sikhs, Jats, Ratjimt*. and Mohamme, Their example i* l-'.ely to be follow- ed by other regimens. A move;: is on foot :n. >!:_ I nropean* to rai-e a special fund for the relief of the colonists in Natal -.vhose farm* Lave been raided by i A WESTERN OPINION. Speaking of Lord Strarhcona'i project to raise a trooo of 400 stronc. Premier Haultain. of the Territories, who i* visiting in Winnipeg, says that there were more than enough efficient men turned away from service in the) Mounted Ride corps to make up the) required 400 (iesir.il by Hi* Wormhipt Regarding the o nicer* for the foroe, h* said: 'I think it would be a mi*- tak to put these. Western men untie* Eastern militia officers, who would not likely understand either them or their work. There are still sufficient experienced orticcr* left in the Wee* for the pur 4 COLONIALS IN HIGH FAVOR. Lr KotMrt.' B...I . <iiir Will b* *! Ml Frnm ThM. Recognizing the importance of col- onial troops. Lord Robert* has author- ized the format on of a complete di- vision of colonials under General Bra- bant. It i* intended to raise in Cp*j Colony additional mounted regulars. A* a (further mark of favor Lore! Roberta, it u said, intend* to seleot us own bodyguard from the colonial*. Lord Roberts. purposing not *> alienate the Caoe Dutch and to e**> that the military respect the rights erf non-oombatants, regardlee* of race e* ympathe*. hit- issued, through Lor4 Kitchener, his chief of (tatf, the fol- lowing or' "The commander in-chief wish** te) imnreM npon all oilicers who may at any time be in charge of column* or detached commands, the grave import- ance of doing all in their Duwer by good and conciliatory treatment, an4 by securing comiwnsatlon for the people of the country in all matters affecting either their owm interest* or those of the troope. "In all case* where supolie* of any kind are required, these mn*t be paid for on delivery, and a receipt for the. mount taken. Officer* will be held responsible for the observance of the rule that soldiers are never allowed te enter private house* or to molest the inhabitants on any oretext what- ever; and every precaution must be taken to suppress looting or potty rob- bery by persons connected with the army. "When supplies are absolutely necessary for the subsistence of the army and the inhabitant* are unwil- ling to meet such demand* command- ing officers may, after having satisfied themselves by careful, personal in- vestigation, that such supphe* are necessary, and available, order theee in such case to by force, S> full receipt being given." Bai Bcoinr an Kxprrt. "Are you never uneasy when your husband 001 - ' : <; "Bless yon. no! [can sX;ivs tell what lod^e he . _ by the quality of tlie .-i^arodor he brings aoiue with him." A \i-t-il'. <| ii.-( '..n. "Conld TP7, iilintify the man that sthrnek ye?/.'" asked Mr UanVrtv "1 ' IV !ll<l!lt 111.' I'd Mr l>ii|:in "In course <>l coiil.hi t \rtli.T Oi -i. I thror-h wit' 'tin Irs ,.-ii mother wouldn't kuow Mm." Washing- ton Star. A Knr fthe Would Trnat Him. "M:i. l:iin, you can't carry your um- brella, that l>nl>T and bnndhnx ami hoi. I dress up. Let me twist you !> canning your bnmlbox." "N*j ih.-ii's got my new bat Is It Tou carry the baby."-Chicago Record. nine Kip In*. The vicinity of Mr. Kioling's home seems to be permeat- ed by the "Pay. ;>av, pay" retrain of the "Absent- V csrar. " Dur- ing the holidays tae conductor of the Brighton and Rottingdeaa omnibn* has sent his bat round fo contributions from the passenger* ere they alighted at Kottingdean. reward- Ing their gouerositv with information ling the . dirt. The motor n Mr. Ki; l.ng has latelv u place of hi* familiar pony chui.M* is a general topic of in- terest. Longer Not H..lir. A Cfcper relate* an amusing story ef an incident that took place at one of the formal gui i of the loading members of the Volksraad at Presi- dent Kruger's house. The President desired to consult some papers relat- ing to the subject under discussion, and, a* they were placed on a shelf eome distance from the ground, made one or two futile uttetii; ts to reach them. Jonbert, > is tall, came te his assistance, say.ng, "Let m* bring them; I am higher than you." "Yon are longer, Piet ; not higher," oorreot- 1 ed Krugw with a frown.