TO THE FRONT
The two most important ports of disembarkation A were Capetown and
Durban. East London and Port Elizabeth necessarily came in for their
share of the troops, but that share was only small.
It was therefore at Capetown and Durban that Christian workers specially
prepared to receive our soldiers and do all that was possible for their
comfort ere they departed for the front. These towns had already
thousands of refugees from the Transvaal upon their hands. Many of them
were absolutely destitute. They had left the Transvaal at almost a
moment's notice, and large numbers had only the clothes they were
wearing. But the generosity of the colonists knew no bounds, and gladly
they gave of their abundance and often of their poverty to help their
poor distressed brethren. Daily relief was granted where needed, and all
things possible were done for their comfort.
=South African Generosity.=
And now the coming of the army gave fresh opportunity for the display of
generosity. Not only were the soldiers received with hearty cheers, but
lavish gifts were showered upon them. Flowers, fruits, tobacco, dainties
of all kinds were handed to them as they departed to the front, and in
many cases sent up after them.
A gentleman from 'up country' wrote to Capetown to ask when any troops
would be going through a certain railway station, and he would undertake
to supply with fruit all troops passing for the next two months.
At Christmas a number of ladies at one of the stations up the line had
all sorts of good things for the men who had to travel on Christmas Day.
Another gentleman accidentally heard that a certain train was going to
stop at the railway station nearest his house, and hastily collected
twenty-four dozen new-laid eggs for the men to have for breakfast! Such
Christian kindness as this appeals powerfully to Mr. Thomas Atkins, as
it does to most men, and he deserved all that South Africa could give
him.
=The Soldiers' Christian Association in South Africa.=
At Capetown the Soldiers' Christian Association was specially active.
This enterprising and successful Association was inaugurated seven years
ago as the direct result of a series of recommendations submitted to the
National Council of Young Men's Christian Associations. It has its
branches in most military centres and is exceedingly popular with the
men. In connection with this war the S.C.A., as it is familiarly called,
has taken an entirely new departure. It has taken a leaf, and a very
valuable leaf, out of the book of the American Young Men's Christian
Association. That enterprising Association did a great deal of tent work
during the late war with Spain, and such work proving of the greatest
value, the S.C.A. has followed the same course during the war in South
Africa. At first there was considerable difficulty in getting permission
from headquarters; but at last it came, and on Saturday, Nov. 11, 1899,
Messrs. Hinde and Fleming sailed. A further band of seven workers
accompanied Mr. A.H. Wheeler, the General Secretary of the Association a
fortnight later, and on their arrival they found that a general order
had been issued to the following effect--'Permission has been given to
the Soldiers' Christian Association to send out tents and
writing-material for the troops. Facilities are to be accorded to the
Association to put up tents at fixed stations, as far as military
requirements will permit.'
How well the work of the Association has been done has been told in the
organ of the S.C.A.--_News from the Front_.
'Eight tents, fully equipped and capable of seating two hundred and
fifty men, made of green rot-proof canvas, and ten smaller ones
made of the same material for sleeping purposes, besides four iron
buildings to take the place of tents in the colder districts, have
been sent out from the mother country The tents have been stationed
at Wynberg (No. 1 General Hospital), Orange River, Enslin Camp,
Sterkstroom, Dordrecht, Kimberley (after the siege), Bloemfontein,
Ladysmith (after the siege), Dewdrop Camp, Arcadia, Frere Camp, and
other places. It was Lord Roberts' special wish that two of the
iron buildings should be erected at Bloemfontein and one each at
Kimberley and Ladysmith.'[1]
Lord Roberts himself opened the first S.C.A. tent pitched in
Bloemfontein, and the late Earl of Airlie, whose death none more than
his gallant lads of the 12th Lancers mourn, opened the tent at Enslin.
These tents became the Soldiers' Homes, and are free to men of all
denominations. In them stationery, ink, and pens are all free; and there
are books to read and games to play.
Occasionally they have been put to other uses, such as hospital depôts,
shelters for refugees, and temporary hospitals. Generals and their
staffs have been quartered in them for the night, and, in fact, they
have accompanied the British soldier to the front as his 'home from
home' wherever he has gone.
But to return to the work of the S.C.A. at Capetown. When this work
began it was found that there was no post-office at the south arm or
jetty where the troops disembarked, and thousands of the troops were
proceeding to the front without the opportunity of posting the letters
they had written, or sending home the money they had received during
the voyage. With his usual carelessness, 'Tommy' was leaving his letters
with any one he saw on the jetty, and even confiding his money to be
sent home by any chance passer-by.
The S.C.A. got permission to undertake this work and soon had an amateur
post-office in full working order. In this way thousands of letters
reached anxious friends at home which might otherwise have been delayed
for weeks. And more than this, thousands of pounds in money were
received by the workers and safely transmitted home, one regiment alone,
the King's Own Scottish Borderers, committing to the care of the S.C.A.
workers no less than £800. Large quantities of writing-material and
religious literature were also distributed amongst the troops before
they proceeded on their long and tedious journey up country.
[Footnote 1: _Our Soldiers_.]
=Work Among the Refugees.=
It will be remembered that when the war broke out the missionaries were,
with very few exceptions, compelled to leave the Transvaal. The General
Superintendent of Wesleyan Missions in the Transvaal District, the Rev.
Geo. Weavind, had been so long resident in the country as to be able to
take up his rights as a burgher. He therefore stayed to look after his
few remaining people, and four other Wesleyan missionaries remained by
special permission with him. For the rest, the missionaries were
scattered: some to Capetown, some to Durban, some to obtain
appointments as acting-chaplains, or officiating clergymen; but all of
them to work in some way or other for the Master, to whose service they
had given their lives.
At Durban, similar work was done. The Transvaal Relief Committee (a
sub-committee of the Durban Town Council Relief Committee), with the
Rev. Geo. Lowe as chairman, did splendid work among the refugees, of
whom at one time there were 21,000 in Durban alone. This relief work was
splendidly organized and most effective.
The Sisters Evelyn and Miriam, who organized much of this work, were
Wesley deaconesses employed in South Africa. Sister Evelyn Oats was
resting in England after five years' most exhausting and successful
work, but hurried back to South Africa on the first news of the outbreak
of war, and was soon hard at work among the refugees. Sister Miriam had
been employed at Johannesburg, and remained there until nearly every one
had gone, and she was left alone in the house. And then she also left
and found her way to Durban, where her nursing skill was of the utmost
value among the poor women, homeless and destitute, in the hour of their
deepest need.
The rate of relief was one shilling per day for adults, and sixpence for
each child under fourteen; and the utmost care was taken in the
distribution of the money. Funds were most generously provided, but it
was a great relief when an application for 1,500 stretcher-bearers came
from the front, and thus the congestion among the men was rendered less
severe How eagerly the poor fellows accepted the offered employment,
and the drill hall was in a few minutes crowded with those eager to go!
=Welcoming the Troops at Durban.=
At Durban also the heartiest of hearty welcomes was given to the
incoming troops. In connection with the Transvaal Relief Committee there
was a commissariat department for the purchase of bread and fruit, etc.,
and a Welcome Committee to receive the soldiers as they came.
At first the idea was only to provide bread and fruit for the men on
landing, but it was soon found, as at Capetown, that the men had letters
to post and money to send home. It was also found that the men wanted
some one to write letters for them, and this work also was undertaken,
young ladies gladly giving of their time to this work; and thousands of
friends by their assistance heard of the arrival of their dear ones at
Durban.
Christmas cards were also freely given to the men, who wanted in this
way to send Christmas greetings home; and, in fact, Tommy Atkins had
hardly been so spoilt before--not even by some good ladies in
England--as he was during these eventful weeks at Durban. The letters
and messages sent home were in many cases of a most touching and tender
character, and once more Tommy Atkins proved himself to be anything but
an 'Absent-minded Beggar.'
As at Capetown, money in large sums was entrusted to the workers to
send home, and quite a large number of watches were handed over for the
same purpose. In this work ministers and members of all Churches took
part. The military authorities cleared as many difficulties as possible
out of their way, and all who took part in it found it a labour of love.
There was no time to do much direct spiritual work at either Capetown or
Durban. The troops were hurried to the front as fast as possible. But
whenever it was possible to speak a word for Christ that word was
spoken, and the kindly act was a sermon in itself.
Thus were our soldier lads welcomed by our children across the sea. And
by their kindness to our men they have forged another link in the chain
of love which binds the colonies to the homeland.
'Britannia's piccanini,' as Natal loves to call herself, has proved
worthy of the old mother; and the old mother who is making such
sacrifices for her children in South Africa will not forget that they
are striving hard to show themselves worthy of her care.