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LETTER FROM EARL ROBERTS TO LORD STANLEY REGARDING "THE FRIEND."
LETTER FROM EARL ROBERTS TO LORD STANLEY REGARDING "THE FRIEND."
Bloemfontein , April 13th, 1900 . Dear Lord Stanley ,—I understand that on Monday next, the 16th inst., The Friend will come under the new management, and it will, I hope, continue to thrive now that it has been established on a sound basis. The Army owe a deep debt of gratitude to the gentlemen who so kindly came forward, and who have given their services gratuitously in the management of the paper. That their labours are appreciated is evident from the eagerness with which the paper is purchas
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PREFACE
PREFACE
Lord Roberts is the first General of whom I have heard who ever recognised and acknowledged the Value and Power of the Press by establishing a Newspaper as a source of Entertainment and Information for an Army in the Field, and as a Medium for conveying such Arguments and Appeals as he wished to make to the Enemy. This he did, as one might say, the instant he conquered the first of the Boer Capitals, almost simultaneously with his appointment of a Military Governor and a Provost Marshal, and the
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CHAPTER I The Birth of "The Friend"
CHAPTER I The Birth of "The Friend"
Showing how it was Fathered by a Field Marshal, sponsored by a Duke and three Lords, and given over to four certificated male nurses. We reached Bloemfontein with men who had done extraordinary marching, fighting, and feats of exposure and privation. Some of the troops, notably the Guards, had walked more than thirty (more than forty, if I am not mistaken) miles in one of the three days' continuous marching. Many had fought at Jacobsdahl, Paardeberg, and Driefontein, not to speak of lesser actio
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CHAPTER II Its Infancy
CHAPTER II Its Infancy
A little Thing, puling Great Promises in its Nurses' Arms. On March 16, 1900, there glimmered (it cannot be said to have flashed) upon the Army and the half-wondering, half-treacherous population of Bloemfontein, the first number of The Friend . It was produced in the office of the former Friend of the Free State —an office that had the appearance of having been arranged out of a dust-heap, and stocked with machinery, type, and furniture that had been originally bought at second-hand and left to
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CHAPTER III We Publish a "Curio" Number
CHAPTER III We Publish a "Curio" Number
Also a Kipling Poem, a Bogus Love-letter, and other Novelties. (Edited by the War Correspondents with Lord Roberts' Force.) The above was hereafter to be the wording of the full title of the new paper. It was again of the small size, necessitated by the infirm and petty possibilities of the dust-heap in which it was produced. In this second number appeared a verse of a poem by Rudyard Kipling, who, unknown to us and unsuspected by himself, was soon to be so closely connected with our enterprise.
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CHAPTER IV We Begin To Feel at Home
CHAPTER IV We Begin To Feel at Home
A Strange Editorial Adventure—Lord Roberts's New Government under Way—The Sin of Horse Theft. Once, far along the Grand Canal in China, where the people were all afraid or hostile at the first sight of me, a beautiful girl of sixteen or seventeen ran along the bank of the canal after my boat, beckoning to me and to Mr. Weldon, the artist, who was with me, to disembark and visit her home. She was out walking with her mother. There was no doubt when one considered how far from any big town she was
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CHAPTER V Treating of Many Peoples
CHAPTER V Treating of Many Peoples
A Flesh-and-blood Miss Bloemfontein resents my Love-letter. " The Friend " of March 20th contained five advertisements for stolen horses, one of which described the favourite horse of one of the editors: picturesque justice, some will say, for our light and trifling attitude toward the growing evil of horse-lifting. The editorial of the day, "Greater Britain," was one that I wrote, and the note of it was this: "It has been said that each of the preceding centuries during a long period of Europea
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CHAPTER VI Ours was no Bed of Roses
CHAPTER VI Ours was no Bed of Roses
Kipling's regard for "Tommy Poetry"—Our English as it was set up by Boer compositors. "THE FRIEND" was an afternoon paper published at three or four or five o'clock in the evening, according as the Dutch compositors chose to get it out. We editors went to our tiny editorial room between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, and worked until lunch time—one o'clock—writing, seeing visitors, correcting proofs, and reading manuscripts. What I have called "seeing visitors" mainly consisted in turning
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CHAPTER VII Rudyard Kipling, Associate Editor
CHAPTER VII Rudyard Kipling, Associate Editor
A chapter which introduces a Prince, and tells of our Appeal to the whole Army to write for The Friend . The next day's issue, that of March 22nd, was the best-looking number we had produced. We dropped those little frames on either side of the title of the paper which journalists call "ears" or "ear-tabs," so that the front page looked dignified and ship-shape, and the title read simply The Friend , without its former addenda of "Playing cards" and "Cue tips." In place of these we printed the r
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CHAPTER VIII Lord Roberts's Headquarters
CHAPTER VIII Lord Roberts's Headquarters
Like a beehive for industry when Rudyard Kipling went to lunch with the Field-Marshal. Rudyard Kipling was paying visits and getting acquainted with the local situation. He had left his wife and family at the far-famed Mount Nelson Hotel—the "Helot's Rest," as a statesman had called it—with its strange assembly of Rand and Kimberley millionaires, and other refugees from the two republics, its army officers, both of the invalid and the idle class, its censors, war correspondents, sight-seers, and
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CHAPTER IX "Oh, How Good it Was!"
CHAPTER IX "Oh, How Good it Was!"
All Ranks join our Corps of Contributors, and the Oasis of Literature sparkles like a Fountain in a Desert. Generals, colonels, majors, captains, subalterns, privates, war correspondents who had not connected themselves with our venture, naval officers—all ranks and all sorts, suddenly rushed to our support, in consequence of my wail for help, and The Friend took on an interest and importance proportionately greater, I think, than that of any newspaper then published in the language. Its circula
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CHAPTER X I Visit Miss Bloemfontein
CHAPTER X I Visit Miss Bloemfontein
And I also here discuss that irreconcilable maiden, Lord Stanley, and our own behaviour. We published in the next issue, No. II, of March 26th, a letter by "Miss Uitlander" (pronounced in that country "Aitlander"). It was as genuine a production of the young womanhood of the town as that of "Miss Bloemfontein" had been, and it would have been wholly to our liking had it been as exceptional and bold a bit of work as the other, for it was, naturally, very pro-English. Suffice it to say that it ans
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CHAPTER XI Our Very Mixed Public
CHAPTER XI Our Very Mixed Public
A Study of Tommy Atkins, the Inscrutable—Our Dutch Compositors Arraigned. The lady who signed herself "Miss Uitlander" was also kind enough to write for us an article on "Tommy in a Lady's Eyes." It was clever. She said that Tommy walked the streets looking as if he always had walked them—and that was true. It is also true that Tommy did everything else in the same way. Wherever you put him or he found himself he uttered no comments or exclamations, but at once adapted himself to the situation.
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CHAPTER XII "Vive la Compagnie"
CHAPTER XII "Vive la Compagnie"
Four Correspondents Dine the General, the Governor, and Rudyard Kipling, and Produce The Friend as well . "Alles zal recht komen" were the words of the late President Brand, true friend of the English, which were graven on the pedestal of his statue before the doors of the Residency. We repeated them in new "tabs" beside the heading of our paper on March 28th, with an amended English translation facing them: "All has come right." "All shall come right," we said, in our editorial, "was the motto
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CHAPTER XIII We Leave "The Friend" to See a Fight
CHAPTER XIII We Leave "The Friend" to See a Fight
The Thirteenth Number, produced by Mr. James Barnes of New York. The last of the dinner was still in our mouths, the last words in answer to the toasts had not been spoken five hours when, at daybreak on the 29th, we were all, except Mr. James Barnes, on the way to the battle of the Glen (or of Karree Siding, as it is sometimes called). Mr. Barnes most kindly remained to take entire control of The Friend , which is to say that he undertook the work of four men, and had as his only assistant a br
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CHAPTER XIV My Horse Offered For Sale
CHAPTER XIV My Horse Offered For Sale
Kipling at last writes something that pleases the Boers—A Predikant's letter. In the paper of March 30th we offered as complete and—you may be sure—as unique a newspaper as it was possible to produce. It contained the fresh news of the world, and it was at the same time full of the atmosphere of the army and the battlefield; of the outpourings of men who had laid down the sword and rifle to take up the pen. I wish I could reproduce the entire paper, but after all it was like many that followed,
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CHAPTER XV General Pole-Carew in War
CHAPTER XV General Pole-Carew in War
A Visit to his Headquarters, and a Feast of "Tommy" Poetry. At this time—on the very night before this, if recollection serves me right—I went up to the quarters of the Staats Artillerie, and there found General Pole-Carew in his headquarters. It was always like a breath of new life to see him, to hear his vigorous views on the war he believed in conducting against the Boers, and to note how thoroughly he was the master of all the information of value that could be obtained wherever he was. His
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CHAPTER XVI Our Loss and the Army's
CHAPTER XVI Our Loss and the Army's
The Departure of Mr. Kipling, leaving The Friend vigorous with the Impetus he gave it. Rudyard Kipling left Bloemfontein for Capetown on the night of April 1st, in the same train that bore away Sir Alfred Milner, Colonel Hanbury Williams, and Colonel Girouard. The High Commissioner had been declared to be leaving a day or two later, but started at once in order to avoid giving the Boers notice to prepare mischief. Of the happy days of boyish delight we editors spent with Mr. Kipling many brought
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CHAPTER XVII The Censor As an Editor
CHAPTER XVII The Censor As an Editor
Finding us without a "Leader" for the Day, Lord Stanley writes one. "The Friend" of April 3rd began its reading matter with a leader by the Censor. When he came to look over our proofs on that day he learned that we had not been able to find time to write an editorial. The value of a series of leading articles calculated either to inspire the army or to pacify or instruct the Boers had been newly impressed upon us by Sir Alfred Milner, and had, without doubt, been discussed at the headquarters o
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CHAPTER XVIII Our Christening Competition
CHAPTER XVIII Our Christening Competition
I declare the Original War ended and a New One begun—Enteric's ravages. "The Friend" of April 4th contained a column of offers of a new name for the Orange Free State in response to our promise of a five guinea prize to the propounder of the most suitable new title for the country. We published a ballot form for use by our readers in voting for whichever five of the proposed names they preferred. All our readers were asked to vote, and it was to be our part to discover what person was the earlie
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CHAPTER XIX Fooled by the Boers
CHAPTER XIX Fooled by the Boers
British Leniency and Credulity abused Past Endurance. For several days The Friend had been publishing this short but imperative announcement:— From to-day (inclusive) all civilians must be in their homes after 8 p.m., unless provided with a Special Pass allowing them to be out. The Police have orders to arrest all persons breaking this rule. N.B.—This does not refer to civilians who are in the employ of the British Government, who will have a pass to this effect. By order, B. Burnett-Hitchcock ,
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CHAPTER XX Dr. A. Conan Doyle Contributes
CHAPTER XX Dr. A. Conan Doyle Contributes
And this suggests a few remarks about the much-discussed Treatment of our Sick. The editorial in the number of April 6th was written by me, with the assistance of Mr. Kipling, who aided me in phrasing concisely and with force the declaration of British principles in the body of the article. The manuscript was set up and "proved" while he was with us, and then was sent to the Residency in order that the authorities might look up some one capable of translating it into the Taal language. It was th
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CHAPTER XXI Loot and Lurid Crazes
CHAPTER XXI Loot and Lurid Crazes
A chapter in which we also tell of a modest Prince and a gallant Adventurer. " The Friend " contained notices of Kruger sovereigns and Transvaal pennies for sale, of Boer rifles and saddles, but none of the postage stamps of the former Free State or the newly surcharged ones in use by the Army. Though Transvaal pennies fetched twenty-five shillings and were in great demand, the real enthusiasm of collectors was for postage stamps, and officers and others were busy as bees buying stamps and havin
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CHAPTER XXII In the Shadow of Sanna's Post
CHAPTER XXII In the Shadow of Sanna's Post
We try to Name the New Colony, and describe the Kornespruit Fight. Our ten thousand readers had been invited to send in their suggestions for a new name for the Free State, and then to express their opinions upon the names thus suggested. The first person to have sent in the name preferred by the greater number of readers was to receive five guineas, and perhaps the honour of naming a new colony of the greater Empire. The names suggested by the Army and the Bloemfontein readers of The Friend wer
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CHAPTER XXIII A Complete Newspaper
CHAPTER XXIII A Complete Newspaper
Full of matter which is no longer a tenth as interesting as it was there and then. Number 21 of The Friend , dated April 10th, was a splendid number for Bloemfontein, and for the time, yet there is nothing to reproduce except an Australian's trooper's poetic salute to the eucalyptus, or gum-trees, that he recognised as fellow inhabitants of his distant land, whence they have been sent to cheer the waste places of California, the American Plains, and all South Africa. Three solid columns of the p
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CHAPTER XXIV False Hearts around us
CHAPTER XXIV False Hearts around us
Where only the Women were frank—The art of the War Artist. Miss Bloemfontein was not alone in disliking to recognise the presence of the British army. Her mother was not the only person who could not bear to see Englishmen marring the scenery of the pest-ridden little town. Even while the tricky among the people joined in singing "Soldiers of the Queen," one man in the crowd turned to a war correspondent and said, "You English are strutting about very proudly and confidently, and think you own t
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CHAPTER XXV The End Approaches
CHAPTER XXV The End Approaches
We arrange to retire from our posts, but still possess the enterprise to start a Portrait Gallery. " The Friend, " No. 23—actually the 25th number we had edited—contained a notice that Mr. Kipling had sailed for England on the previous day (April 11th), and we were doing our utmost to get rid of our offspring, to find some one to adopt it. As long ago before this as when Sir Alfred Milner was with us in Bloemfontein, we had made known to him and to Lord Roberts, through Lord Stanley, that the em
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CHAPTER XXVI Wanted, a Millionaire
CHAPTER XXVI Wanted, a Millionaire
A number as sparkling as a string of jewels—Joke Portrait Number Two. A singular thing about The Friend was that the readers could make sure at a glance, each afternoon, what had been the spirits of the editors earlier in the day. The issue of April 13th was positively frisky. We were all in our gayest moods, and the principal page was made to sparkle with most unlooked-for fun and flashes of wit. Mr. Landon set out with his pen in search of an English millionaire who would supply us daily with
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CHAPTER XXVII A Notable Number
CHAPTER XXVII A Notable Number
Captain Cecil Lowther joins the Wits and Poets again. A Report by Mr. Jenkins, who was "our Staff in himself." Mr. Buxton wrote the stern editorial, "Judge ye," with which we led off the issue of April 14th. He reminded the Free Staters that England had, at the outset, no quarrel with them, but on the contrary had given them the "solemn assurance" that their independence and territory should be respected. The people of the little Republic had been led astray, had suffered conquest, and now were
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CHAPTER XXVIII Our "Friend" no Longer
CHAPTER XXVIII Our "Friend" no Longer
We retire from the paper, leaving it in able and patriotic hands. The unique and delightful episode had ended. On April 16th, just one month after we established this new departure in war, we turned The Friend over to the proprietor of the Johannesburg Star , upon an arrangement quickly and generously made by Lord Stanley. Within a week I was ordered home by the surgeons who saw the state my battered body was in. Mr. Landon preceded me by a few days, invalided also. Mr. Buxton remained upon the
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CHAPTER XXIX Adieu to "The Friend"
CHAPTER XXIX Adieu to "The Friend"
We made a money profit as well as a good newspaper—but the entire experience thus quickly passed into history. Thus ends the history of this new departure in war and in journalism. Of it Mr. Kipling wrote afterwards, "Never again will there be such a paper! Never again such a staff! Never such fine larks." It has been impossible, after all my good intentions, to tell of scores of the peculiarities of the paper, and its editors' experiences. Sometimes copies of The Friend did not look twice alike
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Messrs. C. Arthur Pearson's List of Announcements
Messrs. C. Arthur Pearson's List of Announcements
SPRING 1901 THE SIEGE OF KUMASSI By Lady Hodgson , wife of Sir Frederick M. Hodgson , Governor of the Gold Coast. Demy 8vo. Profusely Illustrated. Price 21s. Lady Hodgson has in a high degree the gift of vivid and realistic description. The reader shares with her the privations of the siege, the tense excitement of her marvellous escape, and the peril of the bush. The account is written with an unusual power of description and facility of style. ABYSSINIA Through the Lion Land to the Court of th
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Notes
Notes
1 : Gilbert H. Stevens. 2 : Copyrighted in England and America; used here by Mr. Kipling's leave. 3 : Cape brandy, also known as "Cape smoke." 4 : Copyrighted in England and America, used here by permission. 5 : Copyrighted in England and America. Used here with the author's permission. 6 : Copyrighted in England and America, and used here by permission. 7 : Copyrighted in England and America. Used here by permission. 8 : "Ten-a-Penny" was a soldiers' nickname for the Pom-pom. "The ——y Doorknock
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