Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1902 — Boys In Battle. [ARTICLE]

Boys In Battle.

It is now the South African was Is ended, that there should be » superabundance of reminiscences of men who took part In It The accounts that have appeared so far show this war to be like all others, full of horror and humor strangely blended. One of these books, “With Steyn and De Wet,” by Philip Pienaar, of the Transvaal telegraph service, contains this brief scene: “I went to see" my brother, who was stationed at Pepworth Hill, some six miles t 6 our right. He belonged to the Artillery Cadets, who at the beginning of the war had been distributed among the various guns in order to give them practical experience. .> “Of the four that were attached to his gun, two had already been wounded. It was glorious to see these lads of fifteen and sixteen daily withstanding the onslaught of the mighty naval guns. The rocks around their howitzer were Jorn by lyddite, and the ground strewn with shrapnel bullets. “ ‘The British say we are trained German gunners. Quite a compliment to Germany!’ said one youngster, laughing. “ ‘And I,’ said another, Inflating his chest, ‘am a French or Russian expert. Dear me, how we have surprised them!’” A severe thunderstorm now broke overhead. They had no tents, and had to find shelter as best they could under tarpaulins stretched between the rocks. These were, Indeed, the children of the Dutch Republic.