The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 21, 1901, Page 7

ave turned out es Town Guards ning the forts night and day s This Our men about The whole ck nt of be soldiers were covered 3 and the men were cheered lustily as e down Jones street en route to L captured about thirty-five Boer prisoners and a more God-forsaken, half- t looking lot you could ey are fine samples of the 3ywooners™ and it is hu- that this sort of crea- trying to starve us out. De Beers are meking their own shells at the work- shops, stamped with “C. J. Rhodes’ com- pliments.” (A fact, as T have seen them.) This morning’s business was a genulne ettack from our side. en attack this afternoon from the Boers. To-morrow being Sunday there will be no fighting, &s both sides observe the Sab- bath (sie). We dox’t know the number of Boers d this morning, but imagine there will be & great number of funerals to- morrow. Where is Mafeking? We have had no news for a long time—thres or four weeks. The last news is that the Boers have given up the Jjob there and declare the Mateking people devils, not men. I wish the siege would come to an end, as I am using up too much of Colling’ paper. You remember Herbert Inglis Colller, who lived in De Beers and who wrote to you an sccount I pressed him for. He wds killed in this morning’s fight. November 25—(Forty-two days of slege). Brerything hes been quiet since Saturday, barring & few shells sent in, but no dam- ege don It seems marvelous that nearly 1000 shells have been landed in here and only one person killed. The relief column is close at hand, and the firing, twelve miles off, at Spytfontein, be plainly heard. There are thou- Boers there, with a good number f our crowd, that is the D, . the regular in- 4 town guard, have or- ders to be on the qui vive to-night. The reesion seems to be in Cape Town that rved out and that our lled off till there are bodied men left. What = it would be for the Boers if not imagine. T swest class of can MUIR RODE REFUGEES SEERING SHELTER FROM THE SHELLS% We are expecting armed men, plenty of ammunition and food to last at least two months longer. ‘We will have some hot fighting to-morrow or the next day. You will perhaps have read the Boer commander’s invitation to us to surren- der, dated November 16, and Colonel Keke- wick’'s reply “To come and take us.” If they do come they will never forget Kim- berley to their dying day. We have the stanchest crowd you can imagine and every man is game to go out and meet the enemy on open veldt. . Thursday, November 30.—Yesterday was the blackest day we have seen in Kim- berley since the big fire in De Beers’ mine in 1888 Our mounted men and artillery, etc., ‘went out to meet the enemy on Tuesday and it was a fearful disaster for us. Yes- terday the funerals of twenty-one men took place and it was a sight seldom seen in Kimberley. The crowd was enormous. Most of the mineral water wagons are in the ambulance service and they con- tained each two or three coffins. The commander of the Light Horse, Col- onel Scott Turner, was among the killed and his body and also that of Lietitenant . Wright were on gun carriages. The Boers have assembled in large numbers at Scholz's Neck to meet the relief column coming up. They buried three more of our dead this morning and brought in nine more bodies off the field. We have between forty and fifty wounded in the hospital. Decennar 11.—Worse and more of it. A terrific battle took place here this morn- ing; that is, it happened at Spytfontein, about twelve miles to the southward. The guns commenced booming before 4 o’clock and did not cease till after 8. In spite of the distance, the roar was awful. The advance guard of the relief column en- gaged the Boers, who are very strongly fortified on the kopjes by Spytfontein. Your old friend, T. J. Moore, who was recently reappointed traffic manager herd, died last week. TFood is running very short. No milk, condensed or otherwise; no potatoes, tinned meat and, In fact, we are all on allowance and the quantities served out are regulated by the military authorities. A notice appeared in this morning’s pa- per to the’ effect that all perSons desir- ous of leaving here when the line is tem- porarily opened can do so free of charge and go to any destination in the colony. This, of course, applies to those who have not enrolled themselves in any of the de- fense corps. The idea 1s to repair the line, get as many people away as possible, rush up a few trainloads of grub and abandon the line again. I shall not post this letter here, but send it by some one going away, who will forward it from the coast. When you read this please readdress it to Mrs. BE. J. Clark, 1198 Haight street, San Francisco, Cal. I may not have time to rewrite it. All of the horses not used for military purposes are ordered out to the veldt to graze at the owners’ risk, the forage all having been commandeered for military horses. December 13.—Another artillery duel took place between the Boers and relief column this morning, but owing to the 4 MILE IN & MINUTE ON AN AVALANGHE IN YOSEMITE VALLEY- untaineers go far enough e avalanche regions to see f them, and fewer still know ng exhilaration of riding on Muir in the April At- wild mountaineering I one avalanche ride; s so sudden and the end t but little of the th this sort of travel, st at such times. One ing in Yosemite, after ad given three or four W to the mountains, be- s many avalanches as wide views of the peaks ager to see and forests arrayed In their new robes before the sunshine had time to change or rearrange them, I set out early to climb by a side canyon to the top of & commaeanding ridge a little over 3000 feet above the valley. But I was not to get top views of any sort that day, but in- stead of these something quite different; for deep trampling near the canyon head where the snow was strained started an avalanche, and I was swished back down to the foot of the canyon as if by en- chantment. The plodding, wallowing as- cent of about a mile had taken all day, the undoing descent perhaps about a min- ute. When the snow suddenly gave way I instinctively threw myself on my back and spread my arms to try to keep from sinking. Fortunately, though the grade of the canyon was steep, it was not in- terrupted by step levels or precipices big enough to cause outbounding or free plunging. On no part of the rush was I buried. I was only moderately imbedded on the surface or a little below it, and covered with a hissing back-streaming veil; and as the whole mass beneath or about me joined in the flight I felt no friction, though tossed here and there and Jurched from side to side. And when the torrents wedged and came to rest I found myself on the top of the crumpled pile, without a single bruise or scar. THE SUNDAY CALL. wind being In the oppogite direction we did not hear much of it. A deep gloom is cast over the place. We expect the fiat to go forth any time that we must ail leave Kimberley &s soon as they can re- store the line. That means ruin to al- most everybody. It is estimated that it will take sixty- five or seventy trains to take the non- combatants and natives away. De Beers have shut down. My wife is in a dellcate condition, and the doctor says it may cause her death to be sent away now, so perhaps I may be allowed to remain. But you know what martial law means; they can send you to the station at the point of the bayonet. We had a scrap a few days ago and one man killed, but altogether it is now very quiet in spite of about 35,000 British and Boers within twelve miles of here. We had some news this morning, taken from a Standard and Diggers News found on the veldt. We are either abso- lutely cut off or the news is being sup- pressed, as we know ‘scarcely anything of what is going on outside of here. We are making a list of goods out on the H. 8. etc., and think it will be wise to have our eggs in ome basket this time. ‘We will take back and store all we can in our warehouse and if the customers don't come back we will know where to find the stuff. Food is getting very short. There are no eggs, butter or vegetables to be had,, but there is plenty of typhoid fever and Gysentery. The tinned provisions acc nearly finished. This war is the biggest order England ever took on and we now think it will take from nine to twelve months to finish it . January b.—Since my last date, Decem- ber 13, nothing of Interest has happened. ‘We have not had any relief yet, aithough Lord Methuen is only about twelve or fifteen miles from here. The Boers drop a few shells in here occasionally, but do no damage. They only do it to let us know they are still alive. Food of all sorts is now cém- mandeered and Wwe are on rations and the fight to get permits from the supply commissary and thensto get the groceries and meat is something awful. We have to stand in line, 500 or 600, two by two, rich and poor alike, and take what is doled out to us. It will be a case of eating horse flesh before long, as the cat- tle are giving out. De Beers are making a forty-pounder breech lcader and it will be ready in a few days. They have already made tons of shells. The water supply Is only on two hours ger day and the gardens are all dead. January 11—Cats’ meat, right from the Knacker's. We have struck a siege this time for certain. We are eating hors: flesh now and it is pitiful to see men, women and children, including the princ!- pal inhabitants, such as Bennie, Oliver, Hazel, Deary and others, waiting thei turn at befween 5:30 and 8 olclock in the morning for their quantum of cab horse— four ounces per day for adults and two ounces for children; two-thirds of that is bone. We are always hungry now. The bread allowance is just enough and noth- ing over. ‘We are all dispirited and fed up with the siege business and will sell out cheap. We all believe that the biggest battle in the annals of British history is going to take place within twelve miles of Kim- berley. X The Boers have mounted about ten big guns round the town and we hourly ex- pect a bombardment that will make us tired of living. All lights out at 9:30 {3 the latest and I can tell you it is like being in a graveyard. You have to sit in the dark or go to bed. January 18.—A terrific bombardment is going on a few miles from here, but we can scarcely hear a sound as the wind is in the other direction. The only meat served out this morning was . horse flesh(?). It looked more like dead donkey. I am not taking any. Captain Tyson, Mrs. Rochefort Magulre and others are dealing cut soup in lieu of meat to any one who wants it at 3d per pint and I can tell you it is a godsend. It is guar- anteed made of beef and has plenty of vegetables in it and is good stuff. Fowls are about 15s each and eggs are 18s to 20s a dozen. Fancy eating eggs at is 6d each. All_ tinned goods have been com- mandeered and are only served out under a pedical certificate. I'inspected the De Beers gun yesterday at the workshops and it is a marvel. It is called a twenty-five pounder and is about ten feet ten inches long and has a 5-inch bore and is rifled and finished beautifully. It will be put into action to- morrow or the next day. I hope it won't “bust.” My dinner to-day was a grand feed— menu as follows: Siege soup, a la Tyson; veal and tomatoes, boiled rice and raisinz, tea and bread. The veal I got as a great faver (four ounces). The tomatoes, out of my own garden. I can get 1s each for them. The rice is the last, as it has all been reserved for the Asiatics. Butter we never speak of now, except as a memory. Oates of Db Beers Co. informed us this morning that the siege won't be raised till the end of February. January 25.—Our new twenty-flve pound- er has been finished and fired and chris- tened “Long Cecil.” It does not come up to expectations, but they put it ‘down to the ammunition being defective. The Boers have eight long range guns about here and started a terriic bombardment ‘waterday morning and kept it up an aay and night and dropped over 500 shells right into the center of the town. Sev- eral persons were killed and some dam- age done to property, but it is surprising what few casualties there are. The shelis Grop in I T. P. road, Currey street, De Beers road, Market square, in back yards, front yards, kitchens, bedrcoms and any place and at random, two shells rarely striking in the same place or near it. A shell struck and exploded about twenty yards in front of me yesterday and I can tell you it gave me a pain in the stom- ach. The sensation caused by a fifteen- pound shell whistling right toward you is better imagined than described. We had a lull at sundown last evening and later on the guns commenced again. Our particular friend, a cordite gun on Carter's Farm, about three and a half miles from here, is a perfect terror. We know the sound of that gun and the velocity of the projectile is so great that it fs on you before you get into shelter. February 8.—Nothing of particular in- terest happened till yesterday, when the Boers opened with their new l100-pounder. The shells are about nineteen inches long by six inches in diameter. Four caused fearful destruction. They threw ten of them into the town and the results were fearful. Only one person was struck and that was a child 2 years old that had hal? of its thigh shot off. Steysler's old place got one (on tne Market square) and it tore the side of the bullding to shreds. The Buffalo Club of Southey street had another, which smashed the billlard table to pieces and parts.of the shell went 500 yards from there. Our long gun (“Long Cecil”) had a few shots at them and stopped the firing, but we expect another cer ent at any time. I would give sometning for a good meal. I'm always hungry. The provi- slons can’t last much longer. February 9.—The shelling from the 100- pounder continued all day yesterday. A bar man was killed in the Standard. (The site of the old Carne’s bar, old Main street.) y February 10.—Boers still at it. Mrs, Robert Solomon and baby were killed in Knight street. Mrs. S. was formerly Miss Scheuble, who used to sing at the con- certs. Their house was demolished. Had you been iiving in Carlyon cottage yon would have had a warm time of it, as more shells passed nearer that place than any other locality. I mean every day. They seem to be aiming for the sanato- rium where Rhcdes stops. On Friday evening (last evening) George Labram, the chief engineer of De Beers, 2 ~ was killed at tne Grana muwci while dress- ing to go out. The “irony of fdte.” He was the man that designed and su- perintended the construction of “Long Cecil,” and it was the only gun that could throw a shot near the er position. By the way, I forgot to tell you that the 100- pounder is on the tailing heap at Kam- fersdam mine. It is a disappearing gun with the Jatest mechanism. Sunday, February 4—Yesterday and last night “took the cake.” The shelling commenced in the morning, left off at midday and recommenced about 4 o'clock, and I can assure you we had a night of terror. They kept it up until 11:20 p. m., and we sat up until 1 o’clock, expecting a “good-night” shot. The Boers are very religious and do not fire on Sunday. All is quiet Sunday with the exception of great activity in making bombproof ehelters by the De Beers Company at the back of the Savoy Hotel and other places. The company offered the Kimberley and De Beers mines as shelters, and many hurdreds availed themselves of the privi- lege and went down to the 1300 and 1500 foot levels. s Not me. I stayed at home and risked it ‘We live just around the corner from what was formerly known as Lowenthal's chambers, and I can assure you it was hot in that locality. I forgot to tell you that a shel] struck Cuthbert's at about 8 o’'clock Thursday evening, set the place on fire and totally destroyed the stock and premises. Store Bros., on one side, and the Good Tempiars on the other were saved, but it was touch and go with both of them, as they were on fire at one time. You remember the fire there in 18388, when Store Bros., Salmon and others were burned out? Well, the shelling went on until the 15th, when Genera] French and his merry men arrived and relieved us. The Boers at that time had all cleared off, and there was great rejoicing in town. The siege lasted 124 days, and we have all had enough to last a lifetime. , G. H. Bonus has come back from Cape Town, but I have not seen him-yet. A considerable number of Kimberley people are on their way home, among them Montague, late of H. & H., also Jack Hyam, who will give you this letter. I wowld send you a plece of Boer shell as a relic, but Jack says he has been asked to take about three tons of them home by friends. He will perhaps show you some samples. He is leaving to-mor- row, so I must close. With best regards to yourself and Mrs. Lyon, I remailn, yours faithfully,