H THRILLING BATTLE
IN GRAIN PH
U. S. Soldiers Surprised Whil
15 on Foraging Expedition.
I A CLOSE CALL
I' FOR TWO MEf
Matabele Tried Smok
ing Them Out of
Ration Pit.
I
?** '
m It was a couple of days after ou
first fight with the Matabele on Nc
vember 4, 1893, at the Inguesl rivei
that a small party of Raaf's Hors
were out foraging.
Rations were very scarce with ou
column, which was under comman
| ^ of Major Gould Adams, so we used t
| thoroughly search the Matabele kra
als to get supplies of grain. In thos
days the natives were in the habit o
storing grain in enormous pits unde
their cattle kraals, the entrance be
ing through a narrow shaft abou
three feet deep. You dropped dowj
i through that and found yourself ii
a vast cavern full of grain. At th
sides there would be big straw bask
-ets, or big clay tubs, in which w
usually found nuts and beans.
Txrv.rt-n T fifof c.t m-ielr nrtp nf t.hfiSi
UCI1 i UXOl WVA
r*.t underground granaries it seemed t
me like a kind of Ali Baba's cave
There was very little fun about ex
- ploring it, though. It was all soli<
f hard work. Our method was to sen*
down our thinnest man. He woul*
make a sack of his shirt, and so sen*
up the grain through the shaft. Un
happily for me, I was usually select
er for this task, as there was ver-:
little spare flesh- about me at tha
time. The grain gave out a kind o
heat, and as one worked at full pres
sure it was most fatiguing.
One day our party had struck ;
large kraal, and after carefully goin?
through the huts for any stray Mat
abele we proceeded to the cattl*
closure. Here I shed my tunic am
rifle and dropped through into th<
pit. A couple of fellows were postet
1a short distance off to keep watch
the remainder being at the mouth o
the pit busy filling the nosebags wit]
the grain I sent up.
I had been at work for about i
quarter of an hour, and was thinkini
it time I had a rest, when all of i
sudden bang! bang! went the rifles
and I could hear the Matabele yelling
'fStay where you are; the nigger
arej right on us!" some one shoutei
- * J
,k * down to me, and then off they went
leaving me alone. Above I could hea
a terrific racket?shots, yells and th
pattering of feet.
As there was nothing to be done
and I could not get out of the cav
without assistance, I promptly retir
ed to the farthest corner and cuddlei
up behind one of the grain baskets i;
j v case of trouble, for I had not even ;
knife on me.
n *
By the amount of yelling going oi
the Matabele seemed in force, and
began to wonder how things woul<
pan out, and whether our men woul<
rvrwmnoiiofi tr> rptirft. I knew the
VC V/Vlii VV* w - W? ? - ? ,
would return sooner or later, bu
there seemed a chance that the inter
val might prove rather more excitin
than I wanted.
After a while, as I sat there, listen
ing intently, I heard the Matabeie a
the mouth of the pit. Fortunately i
was only light just under the en
trance, the rest of the cave being i:
i deep shadow. Unless a very thor
ough search was made, therefore,
should not be noticed,
i % Suddenly, plunk! down dropped
Matabeie into the grain pit. I crouch
ed back, hardly daring to breathe, fo
what might happen if he discovered
me was not pleasant to contemplate
From where I was hidden I coul
plainly see him?ra stalwart youn
warrior?but what I observed par
ticularly was the tfact that he had
couple of most business-like asse
gais, while I had no weapon at all.
T'V.r-. T o to 1 nil o InnCiiSP'o it nlmOS
-A. 11C Jiawuwviv .
*
identical with the Zulu, and I \va
therefore able to understand whenth
intruder shouted up to his people tha
there was no one in the pit. He the:
called to them to reach down an
pull him out but they told him t
^ send them up some nuts first.
Sulkily he made for one of th
baskets near him, and was soon bus
at the very game I had been occupie
at. I was now feeling much mor
at ease, as I reckoned that my unwe:
come visitor would soon leave.
Presently, however, I heard a yel
| ; from the niggers on top. "Amikawa!
(the white men,) they shouted, and
could hear the thud of their feet as
they rushed off. The young warrior
r startled, made a leap for the shaft
but there was no one to help him up
for all his friends had bolted. As h
was struggling hard to try and climt
out J rushed and got him round th
g waist. My word, didn't he yell! Evidently
he thought the spirits had got
hold of him. 1 soon found I had
caught a Tartar, for the beggar managed
to get an aim clear and jabbed
me down the ba^k with one of his
assegais. We rolled over and over
and at last I got him by the throal
T and started to cliokc him into insen
sibility, though ne sun .siruggiet
furiously.
"Hurry up, Haigh," came the cry
in a familiar voice. "The niggers arc
- here in hundreds, and there's not a
moment to spare.'
"Help!" I shouted. "I've got a fellow
down here, and if I let go he'll
stab me." With that, down through
the hole dropped my chum, O'Leary,
In an instant he had sized up the situation,
and gave the Matabele a crack
r over the head with the butt end o!
i- his Martini, which effectively quieted
. him.
"We've got no time to waste," he
0
said, "Kneel down, so that I car
reach the top with my hands, then I'll
r be able to pull you out."
d I bent down, he got on my back
o and shouldered himself up through
- the shaft. A second later he came
e down again like a shot.
f "Good heavens!" he cried. "The
r brutes are back again, and they spott
ted me!"
t We were now in quite a fix. 1
a learned from O'Leary that he had
a come back for me alone, the rest have
ing gone on as hard as they could to
- bring up Raaf, so as to attack the
e Matabele in force. O'Leary had his
rifle and about 30 rounds of ammunie
tion, also a revolver and a few carto
ridges. The revolver he handed to
(. me. We then retired to my corner
- and listened.
3 There was a hot argument going
3 on at the mouth of the pit, but no
3 one ventured down. All the better
3 for us, we thought, for every moment
- meant that help was getting nearer.
Presently we heard a shout, and
y soon learned what it meant. Down
t the shaft came a bundle of lighted
f thacht, then another and another. In
- half a minute the smoke was blinding.
a O'Leary kept his head well.
? "Put that stuff out," he gasped.
- "Throw grain on it. Get it out somee
how or we're done for.
1 For the next few minutes we work3
ed like fury, but the Matabele gave
1 us no rest, throwing down more and
, more grass till the place was aglow
f with fire and thick with pungent
i smoke.
"Look here" yelled O'Leary. "We
a have got to plug that hole. Where's
? that blessed nigger?"
a Turning round, he snatched at the
>, unconscious man's shoulders, bade
me catch hold, and by main force,
s we heaved the warrior up the shaft.
3 He had only been stunned, and I
:, could feel him kick feebly as we
r lifted him. Suddenly we felt the
e native's weight taken off our arms.
He began to go up the shaft.
"Hang on to his leg," shouted
e O'Leary. "They're trying to hoist
him out."
d I hung on with all my strength, but
q I could still feel him going up. There
a must have been quite a lot of Matabele
pulling at him.
a "Bend his leg over, or they'll have
1 him out," snapped O'Leary.
d I pulled one way, O'Leary the othd
er, but it was a mighty hard job to
y keep our human "cork" in position,
t The unfortunate negro had by this
- time recovered his senses and was
g shouting his opinion of the proceedings
in no uncertain voice, kicking
and struggling like a madman, sc
t that it was all we could do to keep
t our hold on him.
i- Failing to achieve their object by
n main strength, the Matabele up above
- now tried another plan, and incidentI
ally showed us what little value they
attached to human life, even that of
a their own Kitn ana Kin. cringing up
i- a musket, they shoved it down alongr
side the poor wretch in the shaft and
d pulled the trigger, no doubt hoping
!. to hit one of us. In the confined
d space the report sounded like thunder
g but beyond scattering the grain like
- a charge of shrapnel, the bullet did
a us no damage. I believe, however,
?- that it passed clean through the Matabele
in the shaft, for they let go of
,t him, and we felt his body sag limply,
s but we managed to keep him in poe
sition.
:i "Work round to my side," said
n O'Leary. "I think we've got 'em
d beat."
0 j As he spoke, down came some
i pieces of thatch, and more still, and
e | then pieces of burning grass dropped
v past the figure in the shaft. It was
d j his life or ours, however,, so we just
e j held 011 grimly, though our arms
1 I ; ? a m-ao Ulirirlzifl
l- W ^ I't* clClllUg anu w u. i wiiuuvo
with smoke.
11 After a while the fire ceased, and
" suddenly the place was in darkness.
I "What's up now?" said O'Leary, ir
5 surprise. "Pull down our cork."
We hauled the warrior down, and
9
he dropped limply on the floor?stone
dead, killed by his own comrades.
O'Leary took one glance at the
5 corpse, then he stepped to the shaft,
now dark as night.
; "See," he said, "they've covered us
up, and I'm going to investigate. Get
me one of those assegais."
Groping around, I found one and
I handed it to him. O'Leary then stood
- on my shoulder, and using the spear
I blade, managed to slightly prize up
5 the flat stone which covered the top
, of the pit.
"Yes," he said, calmly, "they're
putting more thatch on, and are going
I to try to roast us. But they'll defeat
themselves. All that stuff on the
. top is bone-dry, and when it's well
' alight they won't be able to get near."
i He paused, then added, in a different
voice, "I don't know whether we shall
roast, but anyway, youngster, you're
I going to taste hades for a while."
i With that he jumped down, leav
ing the assegai in position under the
stone, and we took it in turns to get
; a small breath of air by prising it up.
"There she goes," said O'Leary,
I suddenly, and I heard a dull roar as
the pile of thatch over the pit-mouth
! caught fire. We promptly retreated
1 to the end of the cave and lay down.
! It had been hot enough in the place
before, but now it got hotter than
; ever. I felt sick and miserable, and
! also decidedly scared. I had no hope
! of getting out alive, and saw nothing
before me but a dreadful death. The
! temperature was rising momentarily.
Every breath hurt my lungs, and the
roaring of the fire, to my excited
fancy, seemed to be getting louder
^ and louder. I suppose I must have
said something which showed my
' state of mind, for the iron-nerved
! O'Leary soon brought me to my sen1
ses. i
"Don't be an ass," he growled.
"This will soon be off. and the smoke
? of the fire will bring our fellows back
double quick."
Presently it seemed to us that the
: place was a little cooler, and my
1 companion moved closer to the mouth
of the pit.
"Come along," he said. "The grass
has all burnt, I think, and I'm going
to shift this rock."
Levering on the spear, he managed
to shift the stone somewhat, and a
little light and air filtered down to
us, but the heat and smell were still
fearful. Not a sound could we hear
of the Matabele; they seemed to have
cleared off temporarily.
Taking courage from this fact,
, O'Leary made a big effort and shifted
the stone right off. He then dropped
down, and gave me a lift up. I got a
glorious breath of air, but had my
hair all singed, for the stuff at the
mouth of the pit was still burning.
Just then we heard shots on every
side, and soon, to our intense delight,
1 our fellows were back at the krall,
having driven the natives off. O'Leary
got his head out and shouted,
! and we were quickly hauled out. We
got somewhat scorched in the process,
but it was a trifle to what we
had gone through. They gave us
! water, and didn't I drink! I could
! have emptied a river' I expected a
little sympathy, after our narrow escape,
but all I got for my pains was
^ a horrible ragging from my captain
' for losing my rfle.
The plucky O'Leary later became a
; sergeant major in the Matabele
mounted police, and was the first M.
M. P., to be killed in the '9 6 rebellion.
I saw the poor fellow's grave
at the Bembesi river, on my way
back from our fight at Thabas Amamba,
in July, 1S96.?Wide World Ma1
gazine.
1 They Chew Cordite.
One of the troubles of most Euro;
pean armies is that those soldiers
> who can get hold of it insist on using
.L ;li. 1 ?- - ,3; + ^
I inai lernuie e.\pii>si ve uuiuuc a.? n
it were a sort of chewing gum.
Its popularity is due to the fact
; that when chewed in small quantities
it has a stimulating and exhilarating
effect, like small doses of alcohol.
' Its taste, too, is sweet, cordite being
i three-fifths nitroglycerine, an ex
plosive which is sugary to the taste.
[ When chewed in large quantities
; cordite becomes more powerful in its
[ effects, bringing on a blissful state
of ecstasy, and sometimes making
; the victim of the habit ^ee visions.
[ But the real danger of the habit lies
, in the fact that though nitro-glycer
ine will only explode when given a
: very hard blow or touched by anelec,
trie spark, there is always a possi
bility that the grinding of exceptionally
hard teeth might provide the
I necessary hard blow. Within the
i last few years, at least three soldiers
I ?two German and one Austrian?
j I have been blown to bits, the use of
11 cordite as a chewing gum being the
1 suspected cause.?Philadelphia Led
ger.
15ody of Poet Cremated.
1 London, June 5.?The body of Alfred
Austin, the late poet laureate,
I who died on Monday, was cremated
. at Golders' Green today without any
i ceremony.
POLICE SEEK MRS. GRACE.
Requested to Leave Hotel.?Couple
Exposed by Woman Detective.
Westchester, Pa.?Mrs. Daisy Ulrich
Opie Grace, who was acquitted
several months ago at Atlanta, Ga.,
after being tried for shooting her
husband, is a fugitive from justice,
following a warrant issued by Justice
of the Peace S. M. Paxton.
Charles H. Oldham, manager of
the Chester Valley Electric Light
company, also is a fugitive from justice
on a similar warrant. Both war
rants charge statutory offenses and
are based upon alleged actions of
Mrs. Grace and Oldham at the Swan
hotel at Downingtown, where, it is
charged, they lived as "Mr. and Mrs.
Oldham" for several months until
last Tuesday, when the proprietor of
the hotel requested "Mr. and Mrs.
Oldham" to vacate their apartments.
The warrant calling for the arrest
of the couple were made at the
instance of Mrs. Ida Plummer, who
followed Mrs. Grace to Downingtown
and became very friendly with her.
After Mrs. Plummer had obtained all
the information she desired she told
the hotel proprietor that "Mrs. Oldham"
and Daisy Ulrich Opie Grace
were the same.
Following her revelations Mrs.
Plummer came here and was closeted
for several hours with District Attorney
Sproat and County Detective
Jefferies. The conference ended in |
the issuance of the warrants for the
arrest of the couple.
Mrs. Plummer told the district attorney
that she represented the
Mothers' Congress and that she was
interested in the case, as she sought
to prevent Mrs. Grace getting a divorce
from the husband, who is a
helpless cripple as a result of the revolver
shot which Mrs. Grace was
accused of firing.
She gave as her reason that if Mrs.
Grace obtains the divorce she seeks
she can gain possession of her 8-year
old blind boy by her first husband,
who is an inmate in an Overbrook institution.
Other persons declare that
Mrs. Plummer is a detective in the
employ of Grace, who is seeking a
divorce in the Georgia courts, and
that she is a personal friend of Grace.
Pistol Bullets in Temple.
Paducah, Ky., June 8.?Sol H."
Dreyfus, wholesale distiller, was
found dead in his office here to-day
with two bullet holes in his temple.
The family attributed death to an accident
and the coroner's verdict was
non-committal. jDreyfus was reported
recently to have suffered financial
I reverses.
Lots of farmers declar
is worth more than it cos
known farmer living n
writes:
"I had occasion to <
hours after my telephor
your exchange. My mc
fell down the door steps
I called the doctor. He i
I could have gone to hi
automobile.
"We would not be w
more than it costs and a
you rendered us."
Our free booklet tells
phone service on your fai
for it today. A postal wi
FARMERS' LINE
SOUTHERN BELL T1
AND TELEGRAPH <
S. PRYOR STREET
QUININE ANDIRON-THE MOST
EFFECTUAL GENERAL TONIC
Grove's Tasteless chill Tonic Combines both
in Tasteless form. The Quinine drives
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You know what you are taking when
you take GROVE'S TASTELESS chill
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the South as the standard Malaria,
"" " T? - A
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There is Only One "BROMO QUININE'
Look for signature of E. W. GROVE on e^
JACK JOHNSON SENTENCED.
Given One Year and $1,000 Fine for o
| Violating Mann Act. ^
11
Chicago, June 4.?Jack Johnson,
negro heavyweight champion, to-day a
was sentenced to one year and one
day in the State penitentiary at Jo- ?
liet, and fined $1,000 for violation of
the Mann "White Slave" Act.
Sentence was pronounced on John
son after Federal Judge Carpenter
had denied a motion for a new trial.
Johnson obtained two weeks time in
which to prepare a writ of error and
the bond for $30,000, on which he
has been at liberty since his conviction,
was allowed to stand.
Half a dozen deputy United States marshals,
who had grouped themselves
about Johnson in anticipation
of resistance when the prison sentence
was given, left the room when
Judge Carpenter announced that the
fighter would continue temporarily
at liberty. ?
v
The sentence to the State peniten- |
tiary is the result of a recent order I
from Washington that all persons I
convicted in the Federal Court in |
this district should be sent to the I
State prison owing to the crowded I
condition of the Federal prison at
Leavenworth. Johnson left the
Court room declaring he would not j
give up his fight for liberty. i
"It has been hard to determine !
what punishment should be meted
out ip this case," said Judge Carpen-,
ter in passing sentence. "We have
had many cases where violations of F
the Mann Act have been punished
with a fine only. We have had other
cases where defendants have been
sentenced to one or two years in the
penitentiary.
"The circumstances in this case
have been aggravating. The life of ^
the defendant, by his own admissions
has not been a moral one. The defendant
is one of the best known
men of his rac.e and his example has ?
been far reaching." I
' "The sentence shall 1oe that the de- *
fendant shall be confined a year and
a day in the Joliet penitentiary and
[that he shall be fined $1,000."
The Court denied a request of
counsel for Johnson that the negro
be allowed to serve the term in the
city bridewell, instead of the State's "
prison.
Johnson was convicted May 10 of
having paid for the transportation of
Belle Schreiber from Pittsburg to si
Chicago.
^ is
Jumped to Certain Death. a
New York, June 5.?Dr. Stephen jj
O. Stork, a dentist, 35 years old, was u
killed early today by falling or jump- b
ing from the eight floor of an apartment
house on West 58th street.
>rth More
an it Costs" l
t
t
e their telephone service j
ts. J. W. Harris, a well- j
ear Choccolocco, Ala., t
:all our doctor not two i
le was connected with J
>ther, who is very old. ?
; and broke her arm, and <
vas at my house before
s residence, as he has an
<
ithout our telephone for
ppreciare tne assistance
how you may have telerm
at small cost. Write ;
ill do. f
*
i
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sLEPHONE '
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We mean it. 25c, 50c, $1.00
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-.J i'-TTaaaapi
LODGE MEETING.
Bamberg, Lodge, No. 38, Knights
f Pythias meets first and fourth
[onday nights at 7:30 p. m. Visitig
brethren cordially invited.
GEO. F. HAIR,
Chancellor Commander.
. M. DENBOW,
Keeper of Records and Seal.
________
??
J. F. Carter B. D. Carter
CARTES & CARTER
; f.
Attorneys-at-Law
BAMBERG, S. C.
Special attention given to settlement
of estates and investi,
gation of land titles.
- A
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v?5
Attorney-at-Law
Office in Hoffman Building
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GRAHAM & BLACK
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-'ill practice ill the United States and
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BAMBERG, S. C. \'1|H
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