tial in its
judgments, and remarks, among other things--talking of the life of the
local garrison:

'They make frequent visits, send out invitations, and organise picnics.
In the town they get up charity concerts, balls, sports, and
horse-races. It is a curious thing that the English, even when they are
at war, cannot live without their usual sports, and the conquered do not
show the slightest repugnance to joining the victors in their games or
to mixing in society with them.'

Is this consistent with stories of military brutality? It appears to be
a very modified hell which is loose in that portion of Africa.

Mr. and Mrs. Osborn Howe were the directors of the Camp Soldiers' Homes
in South Africa. They have seen as much of the army in South Africa as
most people, and have looked at it with critical eyes. Here are some of
their conclusions:

'Neither we nor our staff, scattered between De Aar and Pretoria, have
ever heard of a single case of outrage or ill-treatment. One and all
indignantly denied the accusations against our soldiers, and have given
us many instances of great kindness shown by the troops towards helpless
women and children.

'We ourselves saw nothing which we could not tell to a gathering of
schoolgirls.

'When living in the Orange River Colony we were in the midst of the
farm-burning district, and witnessed Lord Roberts's efforts to spare the
people suffering by issuing warning proclamations. We saw how the
officers waited till the farmers had had time to digest these repeated
warnings, and then with what reluctance both officers and men went to
carry out the work of destruction, but we never heard of a case where
there had not first been some overt act on the part of the enemy.

'A story of reported outrage at a Dutch mission-house in the slums of a
large town was found after personal investigation to have been anything
but an outrage as the result proved. The young soldiers who entered the
house when the door was opened in answer to their knock, withdrew after
they had discovered that the ladies who occupied the house were
missionaries, nor had anything been removed or injured. But the garbled
story, with its misuse of the word "outrage," reached a district in Cape
Colony where it did no little mischief in fanning the flames of
animosity and rebellion. Thus the reported "outrage" was not even a
common assault.

'It may be said that our love for the soldiers has warped our judgment.
We woul