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ANACONDA NEWSIHOWlllt BRITON VIEWSITMr. Abbott Writes the StandardFrom South Afrioa.J*..*ORGANIZED a new corpsHoward'* Canadian Scouts la a DivisionThat Wants to Gat Into the Thickof It—Soma of Howard'*Characteristics.The Standard Is in receipt »f a letter trom G. L. Abbott sergeant in Howard's Canadian scouts, mounted infantry brigade. The letter is dated at Pretoria Jan. 22 and contains information of the formation of a corps composed of Americans and Canadian*.Sergeant Abbott also presents viewsfrom an Knglish standpoint. -Mi Ab-bott’s letter is as follows:“Pretoria, Jan. 22. 1SMM. To the ICdi-tor of the Anaconda Standard I»ear Sir; I have been requested to send youa brief account of a corps lately formed in the Transvaal composed *f Canadians and Americans only. The corpswas formed on Jan. 12. 1900, and is called Howard’s Canadian scouts and battery. The formation of the eorps originated with Major Howard, formerly known as Cat Howard, who made nts name known during the Northwest rebellion. The corps Is at presentabout 150 strong, divided as follows:Forty in the battery and lio in theat'OUt*. The battery consists of six Colt machine guns and one 1-poundpompom, under tin* direct supervisionof Major Howard, assisted by three lieutenants, namely. K. Hilliam. formerly of th** Northwest mounted po-Jiee; A. Mc Millan, Nottltwest mounted police, anti It. II. Itynn. Loyal Canadian lt;iragoons. The scouts art* headeday Captain C. How, formerly yard-piaster of tlie Great Falls Ar Canada lie is an old-timer in Montana and was m scout with Granville Stuart during the Nex Perce war. Captain ltoss is ably seconded by Lieutenant T Callaghan of Maple Creek. The sergeant major. J. Davis, Is the son of I). \V. Davis, formerly of the I G. MakerBrro.“Fp to the present time the corpshas had but little chance to show its mettle, but the little that it has d •m*1ms raised it greatly In th»* estimation of the general commanding the brigade.“The corps is attached to the mounted infantry brigade under General Al-dcrson. who is well liked by all under his command. The officers and men sgree surprisingly well, all working in perfect harmony.“The war at present is at a standstill owing to a proclamatl n issued by theromtnander-ln-chlef, allowing until th** end of the month for all Hoers to surrender. After the end of the month all Hoers captured with arms will be severely d'-alt with. At present thereare between 50,000 and 30,000 Hoers in the held under arms. They are carrying on a kind of guerrilla warfare: In tact, it is more of a btndlt warfare than guerrilla, as they will only fight a very inferior force. They seem to care fnr nothing but plunder and they foot friend ami foe alike, making no exception.“At the conclusion of the war I expert a few of the corps will remain In this country, with a view of bettering their fortunes The country is very rich in minerals of nearly every kind, such as diamonds, gold, silver, lead, copper, coal, etc.Following upon the heels of tin* letter from Pretoria comes the Minncu(ntis Times with a signed article in regard Howard. Howard is dead. The itemfoneernlng him and his peculiar lt;har-• teristics is as follows:The death of Captain Howard, re-fently announced in Lord Kitchener * dispatches from South Africa, recalls to the writer the spring of 1 sm5 and ih** ltie| rebellion In which the dead officer tained his sobriquet of 'Gatling Gun Howard* and also won for himself friends in the Dominion of Canada andadmirers everywhere. It was duringthe four days' battle at It itoche, in theKiel rebellion, that General Fred Mid-fb*ton. commander of the British forces»nd since dead, remarked to me: ‘That nan Howard is an enigma to an Kng-Jshman and I think your country aloneHe is a brave brag-ordinary commercial tourist is not required to undergo. I remember that he was dressed in the full uniform of a captain of United States artillery and, as 1 made some protest, knowing thathe was not in our regular service and having had some experience of his ability to sound his own exploits, he explained that he wore the uniform by right as being a captain in the galling gun battalion of the Connecticut national guard. He had made the military authorities at Ottawa provide him with a splendid Kentucky horse and this he rode through the campaign tnat followed, always In plain vie w of the enemy, devoid of tear. He was a confirmed looter and explained om time to a group of Canadian officers, who j were making a semi-jocular protest. j that he had former! the habit while sergeant in a troop of the third United States cavalry engaged in active service against the Indians in the Southwest.It was easy to forgive Howard all his sensational reeountals, in which the personal pronoun figured largely, andalso to ignore his solecisms of speechand table manners because of his indubitable bravery and more particularly because he saved the lives of a lot n f us upon the occasion of the opening of the fighting at Hatorhw (lenentl M iddleton, Lord Melgund. chief of staff' (n ow Karl of Mint o and flu* few newspaper correspondents with the ex-it ion, were standing behind Howard's gun on the morning of May h,1 sKh watching some shell practice that Captain Drouin was making across the riv«?r w/lth one of his Whitworth nine-pon tidors. Immediately below us was a ntvlne, the slope* leading to which was thick with underbrush and scrub oak. Suddenly, almost in our faces, earn** a volle front concealed half-breeds and Indians, of whose presence we were in blissful ignorance. It is a solemm fact that every mother's son of us. stive Howard ami the two men as-jCGPtiPh.ItPiitilviintlhitlalt;toti'eigne*! to his gatling, broke and ran. Howard, on the contrary, straddled his gun trail instanter and opened on the advancing body of tie enemy (numbering probably one hundred and fifty or twti hundred) in a fashion that astonished th* tn and would have astonished anyone who had never witnesseda rapid fir*- gun in action. Charpentier, a .soldinr who was ammunition carrier) for Howard, was shot through both l»*gs and put out of service, but before he was needed th** panic* had passed away an 1 the others had returned to assist him. As it was, flu* gatling gun drove* the enemy down the slope and to their intrenchnients, hut we all knew then, and feel now. that had it not been for Howard's coolness ami quick action there would have been a longcasualty list «*n the top of that hill and many of us would have appeared in that list. After that Howard had asort of roving commission, but did notsec any very sever#* service ♦ xcept on May 1L\ when liatoohe was taken, at which time his gun came Into action,sadly to the detriment of the* bodies ofat least a half d »z**n of th«* enemy who were not advised as to tin* effective range of the New Haven doctor's petInvention.••Howard, after the Kiel rebellion, ga\e up his position with the NVwHaven firm ami removed to Canada.where he* lived until the Dominion w is called upon for troops for Booth African service. As was to have been expected. this indomitable Yankee, who loved the* 'strenuous* as much as any American living, was one of the first to ha* to the* scene of armed contention. Keyond question he has met tie* fatehe would have chosen, once convinced he had lo die.Plt;pilaesk i ri* t*. heorad*pitilibTl a |thitfoisminItSesainmI ietnnrleito• •tlagoilt ti th thint iffinhithri iofas«•For rent—I.arjio hull in Standard building ono nluht oaoh w***k. Inquire at Standard nfllc#.BLACKFOOf RIVERIS RAPIDLY RISINGIItfttlroftcl Vtrtclg#* In ttis Vicinity of Avon Threatened \\ itli !)*«tructIon *tr#i%iuiOverflow Thai* Itaukt.• •prod Urea au«h.|« rt.'“Th# lt;ntu inn wmk xomow hat mvrr»,hut It mould h«‘ unjUKt tn *a\ it uaii n*.t partUlly *1# «.*rv**d by him Mm *hII-rd i» forth. Howard Joined Middleton*f-rre. a fiw dayn after th** buttle ofK'*h Prw*k. II cam** down «hlt; South ’lt;*. *ka i. h*»w an h\ Itoai futin SaKkHtotin. bringing with him on# of tn** two pat-iinc Kunit pur« haxlt;*d hy tin* Dom nion from th* maker at N**w Haven. F.inn . Ih* other having been w«»nt to lt;'o|..m»i fitt**r’*» lt;olumn op*-ratin»: nt*ar Hatile-ford. At that time Howard was put fly aimply a ‘drummer* for th** Gat- I run v* ork»* In New Haven. with,differ* nee. that to allow hi* ware*prove* their worth it wan rrquLitehe ahouhl lake rhanm that theSpecial Diepateh to th** Htnndard.Avon. l*Yb. 2V The warm weath«*tof t lie pant f**w day* has melted tin*hiiow in tin* foothills and i* oauaingtin* Klreiima to overflow their banka.and wHHhlnr' out small bridges. Fiileto*th** Mudden rise of water in the littleMia* kfoot river Is cheeked there isgreat danger of damage to some *»fth** Northern Paeltii* railway bridge*.There is a great *i**al of heavy h*** tn tin* rlv**r and the water nxlng suddenly w ill * uuse it t** break away from the hank and l*»lge againM the bridgea, where, unlesx it is taken eai«* ofpromptly. It is very l»al*le to *arr\them out. The* railroad company hasone or more watchmen stntionedat **a«*h point where there is any dinger of damage to bridges or track from highu a t« im fu a it ilt;hepah* he sti dii c« afbethdeoil|H.detcipew;Pio * ofpeah.ihetilPlt;ci*uiiofCHANGt IN NAMEAna-Mankendtin*I hisandIhdtlHnnlthoRlnnrlAimionda 91 Alik Will lu i Vi a Hu! f HankA Ti n*! I it.Beginning t***day tic* bank Incondo will be known as tin* Ia|X Trust lt;cifiipiiny. M It. c h t on w oim| will remain in charge is at present, and so far as is known no changes in tin* personnel of the Stiff will be made. Sune tin* death «*f Mu reps Daly sp* eolation has been rife in respect totin* eh.mges that were likely to takeplace* in the ownership of the hank. Tin* estate retains its holdings, the* Dona ho*interest has been retired, several w*IUknow n Htixens have h* eoine «*th *et «»f the bank and to.dav it begins its eai.MO*vtgfIsofpiwIth«aia i
Newspaper Details
Anaconda Standard
Anaconda, Montana, US
Fri, Mar 01, 1901
Page 4
Full Page
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Anonymous
CA 25 Jun 2020
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