Conservative.
cd by the frost ) also went out to hunt
for something to preserve existence.
Near evening wo woundpd a buffalo
with three balls , but had the mortifica
tion to see him run off notwithstanding.
We concluded it was useless to go home
to add to the general gloom , and went
amongst some rooks , where we en
camped , and sat up all night , as from
the intense cold it was impossible to
sleep : also , hungry and without cover.
"January 19. We again took the
field , and after crawling about one mile
in the snow , got to shoot eight times
among a gang of buffaloes , and could
plainly perceive two or three to be badly
wounded , but by accident they took the
wind of usand to our great mortification
were all able to run off. By this time I
was become extremely weakand | faintbe
ing the fourth day since we had received
sustenance , the whole of which time we
were marching hard , and the last night
had scarcely closed our eyes to sleep.
We were then inclining our course to a
point of wood , determined to remain ab
sent and die by ourselves rather than re
turn to our camp and behold t he mis
ery of our poor companions ; when we
discovered a gang of buffaloes coming
along at some distance. With great ex
ertion I made out to run and place my
self behind some cedars , and by the
greatest good luck the first shot stopped
oue.which we killed in three more shots ,
and by the dusk had cut each of us a
heavy load , with which we determined
to immediately proceed to the camp in
order to relieve the anxiety of our men ,
and carry them some relief. We ar
rived there about twelve o'clock , and
when I throw my load down , it was
with difficulty I prevented myself from
falling ; I was attacked with a giddiness
which lasted for some minutes. On
the countenances of the men was not a
frown , nor was there a desponding eye ,
all seemed happy to hail their officer
and companions ; yet not a mouthful
had they eaten for four days. On de
manding what were their thoughts , the
sergeant replied , the most robust had
determined to sot out on the morrow in
search of us , and not return unless
they found us , or killed something to
preserve the lives of their starving com
panions.
"January 20. The doctor and all the
men able to march , returned to the buf
falo to bring in the remainder of the
meat.
"On examining the feet of those who
II were frozen , we found it impossible for
two of them to proceed , and two others
only without loads by the help of a
stick. One of the former was my wait
er , a promising young lad of twenty ,
whose feet were so badly frozen as to
present every probability of his losing
them.
"The doctor and party returned to
wards evening loaded down with buffalo
meat.
"January 21. I wont up to the foot of
the mountain , to see what prospects
there was of being able to cross it , but
had not more than fairly arrived at its
base when I found the snow four or
five feet deep.
"January 22.I furnished the two
poor fellows who were to remain with
ammunition , and made use of every ar
gument in my power to encourage them
to have fortitude to resist their fate ,
and gave them assurances of my send
ing relief as soon as possible.
"We parted , but not without tears. ' *
Toward the end of February they
were captured by Spaniards , which was
probably their design , and taken to the
city of Chihuahua.
THE OTHER SIDE.
Editor Conservative :
In your issue of February 27th I no
tice a letter from Mr. Lumbard , of
Omaha , who , in speaking of the war
in South Africa , says the contentions
of the British in this conflict are in
defensible on any grounds whatsoever ,
and alludes to these countries as re
publics. If this article had appeared
in the Commoner or some other Bryan
paper , it might have been passed as a
political subterfuge , for the party
that has tried to ruin this country
twice by debasing its currency sys
tem , now tries to plunge us into war
with Great Britain , because they are
conquering two so-called republics.
It has always seemed to me that the
word republic means back to the
people and that Mr. Lumbard has as
sumed that any country having no
monarchy must be a republic. For
my part , I would choose to live-under
the Czar of Russia rather \Iian under
Mr. Lurnbard's friend , Paul Kruger.
Mr. Lumbard says the country now
being sought has never boon part of
the British Empire. I maintain this
territory has been under British pro
tection , the same as Uganda , Egypt ,
and other possessions are now. I
maintain further that there never
were two republics in South Africa
unless wo assume the following , viz :
One man president for eighteen
vears : no concessions to foreigners :
foreigners invited to the country ;
forty-two dollars allowed per head to
educate Boor children ; thirty cents
per head to educate the children of
the foreigner ; Roman Catholics and
Jews not allowed to bo citizens under
any circumstances ; all dynamite used
in mining taken charge of by Krugor ;
heavy railway tax , etc.
In fact , 999 per cent of the taxes of
the Transvaal wore paid by the for-
eicnor. If this is all right , why did
wo complain a century and a quarter
ago , when George the Third was an
exact counterpart of Kruger ? Taxa
tion without representation was the
direct cause of this lamentable war ,
and while I see much to admire in
the Boer , I fool that any man who
will dismiss all political prejudice
will admit that the men who have
done most for this country and the
world at largo are of British origin.
Look at Canada , South Africa , Aus
tralia , New Zealand ; do wo enjoy
more freedom than they ? and again ,
let mo ask Mr. Lumbard if ho would
choose to live under Paul Krnger , or
bhe British flag ? One delusion Mr.
Lumbard labors under is that England
declared war ; al v me to say Kruger
declared war , and if there had been
no Krugor there would have been no
war. As to Great Britain's decad
ence , when she arrives at that stage
it will be time to disouss it. Let mo
ask Mr. Lumbard whence came this
money that has carried the Boer war
so far ; wore the Boers a rich na
tion ? For they had the finest artil
lery the world has seen. They paid
high prices for some of the bes.t gen
erals in Europe. To buy up the con
tinental press , to pay well for speak
ers to come to this country , to pay
for envoys traveling Europe and
America to make hatred and envy.
JAMES H. HUNTER.
South Omaha , Neb. , March 18 ,
1902.
LIFE OF GENERAL STEVENS.
My first knowledge of Isaac Ingalls
Stevens was obtained when I first began
reading western history , when in young
Mr. Edward Everett Halo's book on
"Kanzas and Nebraska" I read an ex
planation of the name of the South Pass ;
how it was so called because it lay south
of the pass found by Lewis and Clark ,
which Governor Stevens was then ex
ploring in behalf of the government.
Since that I have read more than a little
of him. Still , even with some know
ledge of his work in the northwest , it is
a pleasure to gain such an acquaintance
with the man himself as is offered in the
biography just issued by his son , Gen
eral Hazard Stevens.
A handsome two-volume book , nicely *
gotten up by Honghton , Mifflin and Co. ,
it tells a fascinating story of a fine
character. Born in Andover in 1818 , of
an old Massachusetts family with a
military record ; taking first engineer
honors at West Point ; serving through
the Mexican war and coming home with
a crippling wound ; reorganizing the
Coast Survey ; electing to eat at the
second table at the Washington boarding
house , rather than lose his children's so
ciety : demanding and obtaining in 1853 ,
the governorship of the new territory of
Washington and charge of the survey of
the northern route for a Pacific railway ;
executing , with his friend George B.
McLellau , that great work , on the lines
now occupied in great port by the Nor th
em Pacific road ; spending eight years
in active work in the mountains and
among the Indians of the northwest , and
in congress ; and hastening to Washing
ton on the outbreak of the war , and as
colonel of the 79th Highlanders , dying