| Show vv vv wv v V V V r LADYS AS IT LOOKS TODAY Tho The Once Besieged City Revisited od by n a Correspondent ol of Memories the London Dally Daily Moil Historic Scones Scenes and I 5 riley still talk siege In Ladysmith but perhaps that Is s tho the fault of ot the tho too Inquisitive visitor I Fortunately tho the citizens of at Lady Ladysmith Ladysmith smith seem to have no objection to liv living ing the tho sIege oer again in fancy tancy On summer slimmer evenings with a IL long Iced Icell whisk and soda beside them they will talk dreamily of ot the days when tho the muddy mud y water of ot the tho Klip was na n s a their ape anti and only tipple tippie Or 0 r when the dining dimming room of at t the Royal Hoal a Is la n a place arc ot of lights and laughter and appetizing odors they the will etc recall al I the delicacies dt de d i a h menu as ns they toy to with willi an entree of ot the lime orthodox sort And really they tho do not look any the thu worse for Cur their former privations To enjoy the distinction of having been bee II through the time sieges siege eem to have hae been lleen waned earned easily enough by b some urne nt al least of ut the civilians I was assured as by IJ reel resi residents rc I dents of ot Ladysmith that there art are ore peo people pie living In hr the town now British by IJ birth hirth though evidently not by b breeding who when the siege began hegan join the time Town Guard Ollard or to 10 do anything to assist In the tho of ot the place GRIM MEMORIALS Ml In the and the tho hotel lounge you OU got get the comedy of ot the siege The fhe tragedy needs no telling No words are wanting to impress it on the Im Imagination imagination of at the tho visitor The Tho wonder Is le that there Is so eo little to show In the way of o destruction for tor AH All the energy ot of the Doer hoer Lang Toms Tamil The Royal hotel lintel was seas certainly well peppered The doors mid anti walls stalls display plentiful signs of ot bombardment and l the tho management wisely refrain from and re to decorating these thelle places From Irom to my III b bedroom droom lied room window one olle stared straight across at huh wana wants und anti tho the walls vails of ot the room were fairly ripped up with fragments of oC o f shell The tower and the belfry beltry of at the Town Hall Bali also stand as ns they the have havo stood since they the made the acquaintance of ot a a n weighty weight billetdoux from tram the hoer gun gunners gunners ners flora One side Is completely smashed In How the tho battered b masonry holds hold s together Is IB one of oC those little tittle puzzle puzzles s thoughtfully provided by b the tho municipality polity for tor the benefit of ot tourists A corner has tins been chipped off orr a church too and the time vestrymen are arc as thought ful ns liS tho the councilors They leave lea 10 the time e thing Just as S It laeven to the tho pile of at o f atones In Uie Ow pathway Tho The g guardian I of ot antiquities anti ul les In the ho Roman Itoman Korum I orum m could not be more careful to preserve these relics of or an nn agitating past pas t The town of ot Ladysmith Itself has bu but t few tew Interests and l but little lit tie attraction I for far the tho stranger A dull dirty dirt slat slatternly little town sprawling shameless ly I and shapelessly beneath Its Ita tall blue bit me a Roma gumti and beside Its arid acid kopjes The Tho Th mean meRn coolie hovels the tho architecture architectural squalor of the the time open spaces time the dusty gling hedges tho the stunted thorn Ihorn trees river the turgid noiseless earthy earth river these theRO things combine to make a n some somewhat somewhat what unfavorable Impression until unlit one en o remembers all nil that lies behind the Ili deeds that here were ero done dont the tin quiet endurance time the th heroic fortitude of at the halt half garrison and Md re remembering reo these theA things even tho rho corn com and the ugly uI become glorified In the lIht of ot an nn honest and worthy patriotism Ia HISTORIC SUBURBS The Tho story afar of or the slogs Riege however Is III OH as rather with the outskirts of ot the tin e town with the perimeter of 01 rocky rod red dish low lua lying kopjes held hell for tor so man manst many Y weeks st by IJ our troops And of these the tin theono theono e eone ono one which the tho stranger tranger naturally de desires sires scree most to vl visit lt Is la the long gently g gent undulating range originally called roll but Immortalized since the th siege ns nil Camp and amt Wagon n Hill 1111 Every Evers Inch of ot the limn ground Is his lode tori every cery stone alone lute has almost sacred ni nil II for Cor the Briton and nn l I might t alto also odd add for tor the Boers as 01 well for Cor on that grim harsh lith of or January the Boers fought ns as valiantly and as well 11 AS no we ae did There Thre nn this bare stony tony most mo t unromantic hill hili Briton and Boer bet fared faced each other with equal ual bravery braer and almost equal tenacity for fifteen long awful hours v vOn On the extreme eastern spur of ot Wag Wa Waon on Hill 1111 lord hard by a n solitary mimosa stands a n simple stone tone cairn Here fell a tow fow of ot tho the engineers who were engaged making the emplacement for a n couple of oC naval guns at nt the rho very sety er moment of ot tho rho Boer Boar attack On January Ii 0 there were ore practically no nil defences on time the hill bill The stone alone to be its seen lIn now constructed later latt r Apropos of ot throe these stone alone I T discovered n few yards arb down the southern slope of at the hill hili a II hole dug lutr In the earth with a few stones atones piled plied In front This had evi 1 drolly dently denU been used neat by b one of ot our marks marksmen men who took look rot pot shots hotl at the floor Boer r snipers sniper on the hill hili opposite About two feet teel below belo the halo bolo was wan a slab atop of ot stone and almost every ef r Inch or at IhU stone was syn marked by UY b hirer Boer bullets The he slab dab must mutt have plastered with lead For Tor I or fifteen hun l i yards range that hl be called fair shooting TIff THE nnA THAT Ann ARB No MORE Passing ra along alons Wagon Vagan mil Hill one comes cornell to n a rounded grassy sweep u p of the th hill hili top tap At t this lonely Sat pot a II atone stone mono mon bt tI the following Inscription To the Glory of Dt God and ana In memory of oC the tha following N C t officer sad and mill nta ot or the tat lit lyoa J 1 Devonshire Regiment whit fell In tho the gallant and successful charge made mad across this place lIlac by b three companies d luring the fight on January 1900 1809 tiomi r It H would be an Im Impertinence pertinence for tor me to add any nn words wordy of ot u description to all nil that imams has been wild Mid dad so ev vividly and ond earnestly said on Oil r this subject No o mere more words wards and could rout rf ever do full Justice to the rho charge of o othe f th the herons or to the undying tame faun which w Is theirs At time Hie point w where hero Wagon Hill Joins the th e Camp ridge e there here t Is la a n de Ie depression deh dee h anti and here hare It was that tho the Im lm I Light Horsemen were ego ero stationed Standing on the edge of or CI sar Hill ill one o ne looks down from tram the tho steep rocky cork slopes a Ies to i o the f hC level plain n loin below where e stand Hesters farmhouse embowered d In trees tree The dongas and watercourses watercourse s were dry Iry the sun lIun blistered tho the parched veldt One tried to Imagine tho the scene seen e on the afternoon of at January rrth e blackness of ot the storm momentarily lit li lip t up u p by b appalling Hashes flashes of ot lightning the tho th e ls driving of at the rain and wind wI nil the tho t dongas converted Into raging tor tar torrents torrents rents crate These the teeing fleeing doers Boers tried to t ford tord or swim while our men mod mad with wit h victory v and with Joy jo lined the crest errs of at the rIdge and fired Into the fugitives c until mull tho the mists and the rho night nl ht shrouded d from Crom their gaze this veritable volley valley of ot a df f the tho shadow at of death Yes January 6 G Is Indeed a day which It behoves the tim e c empire never notor to forget Some five or six miles from Crom Lady Lad smith mith s lies Nicholsons Nek a place no not so an frequently visited but bul well worth a n visit v isit IN TIlE THE CEMETERY Leaving Ladysmith one passes on o n the tho left first Observation Hill lilli from fron t t which w Ladysmith watched time the battle bath o to of ot hop Koj then Surprise Hill 1111 where 0 a n Boer hoer gun cun BU was destroyed s Hill a 11 miserable mound of or earth being bein g some Borne little distance to the right The Tim Th ge e climb limb c up the tho hill hili abutting on Nichol sons Ions Nek Is n a stiff atilt one as rte the grass gras s conceals the rough couch stones which are arc everywhere e here and the angle lingle Is acute Up UJ on o n arriving at lit the summit Qt f tho the hill hlll an nn a n undulating plateau u covered with grass gra 8 C G feet teet high one realizes realties how un tenable was Wa the position held by Col Co oriel onel Carleton and his hta men Tho The Smell small entrenchments hurriedly thrown up by our men are arc still there them and nn In the middle of ut the long grass are some earns stone obelisks marking the lone lonc lone I ly graves craves of ot the and the Royal Hoyal Irish fusiliers who fell tell In action Altogether a n very sad and solitary hill hili crest Time The wooden crosses on the graves are arc without names and no names amass are as nil yet et him bit the monuments the ilia place In the masonry reserved for tor a 1 marble tab let being unfilled Some kindly die dis posed person has planted 1 wild flowers and the blooms lend lel color and beauty to the time desolation of the veldt Near Devon Post at the time foot toot of time the red fed kopje and bounded by b the tM silent alp Klip J lIp river elver lies ilea the tho Lady I adyr smith cemetery The blue gums gum and cypresses stand sentinel over oer the tho rough simple graves below v The swish SIAh of ot tho llio autumn air makes plaintive music mush mus In tho ime t patches of ut lone bug Ion grass gras So 80 many good Oed men moon sleep hero here 0 G W ll Dick V P C e the th 1 of ot R are arc all nil within n a few fen yards ot oC each ellch other Plain white wooden n crosses mark their lost last re Away Awny out there here across the he level Ivel veldt looms lit by b the setting FellIng sun Run and like n II dull crimson cloud on the dominating horizon How claw complete ly I how haw hopelessly I hat horizon must moat have dominated beleaguered Lady roHIt One OM thinks of oC the tho words of at poor Beyond U Is la the and love hove 10 Clory Clery Cler marching on nn Colenzo and nil all that a man roan holds hold dear In Ina a lit Ill tie tle Island under the North Star Alas AUs III that so GO many were Iro destined sever never again to ie know knew that world beyond until death came tacitly and took them crab f rho h deep In m peace |
