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 for days at a time, as
we strove to make it more and more workmanlike, and more and more
original and attractive.
We began, as I have said, with advertisement "ear-tabs" on either side
of the heading. Then we put the Royal coat-of-arms in their places.
Next we put the arms in the middle of the title space and published
mottoes and notices in new "ear-tabs." At first we put double leads
only between the lines of the leading article each day, but presently
we dignified the cable news and Mr. Kipling's contributions in that
way. We once put some editorial notices in rhyme, and set them up in
black job type--when we changed the price of the paper to one penny
for everybody.
We knew that our money returns were in confusion, but because we had
taken over a business manager from one of the two commandeered
newspapers, whom we could hardly expect to be in sympathy with us, and
because we had established two prices for the paper and were being
victimised by some of our customers, we could not see how the finance
of our venture was likely to come out.
A practised man of affairs, from the City Imperial Volunteer Mounted
Force, Mr. Siegfried Blumfeld, most kindly took the trouble to look
into our accounts, and we learned from his report that we were making
money, but not nearly enough to satisfy our pride and hopes. However,
as events proved, we gained a splendid profit, and were able to make
Tommy Atkins's newspaper pay a handsome sum toward "Tommy's" relief.
All that any of us have even thus far learned of the profits is to be
found in the following formal letter I received from Lord Stanley:--
ARMY HEADQUARTERS, PRETORIA, _3rd October, 1900_.
SIR,--I have been asked by Major-General Pretyman, C.B., to forward
you a copy of a letter which he has received bearing reference to the
use made of the profits of THE FRIEND newspaper.
General Pretyman adds that there will be a further cheque, which he
proposes to send to some other charity, but which he does not specify
to me.
Yours sincerely,
STANLEY.
Julian Ralph, Esq.,
(_Enclosure._)
STELLENBERG, KENILWORTH, CAPE COLONY,
20/8/00.
SIR,--As Honorary Treasurer of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families
Association, I enclose a formal acknowledgment of the cheques for L136
17s. 3d. so kindly sent to our Association by the War Correspondents.
Should you have an opportunity of doing so, I should be very glad if
you would convey to Lord Stanley and the other gentlemen our great
appreciation of this kind and thoughtful gift.
Yours very truly,
(_Signed_) W. L. Sclater.
Had we been able to "inspan" a proof-reader with a Lee-Metford rifle
and a determination to use it to enforce his "corrections," we should
not have announced the Queen's reception in Dublin as a great tribute
by London, neither should we have made Mr. Kipling speak of a
"shixlvl" when he wrote a "shovelful." Four of us had to fill a great
chasm nine columns long and wide every day, and to do proof-reading as
well. We produced the nine columns incidentally as a thing done with
our left hands, the while that our minds and souls and master-hands
were devoted to correcting proofs. Bravely as we battled with them,
they kept coming like a swift tide, until, in a reckless way of
putting it, they were heaped on our table as high as the top button on
each of our coats. When it came to time to go to press we regularly
and daily observed that we had not only overlooked errors enough to
wreck our reputations, but that the compositors had failed to correct
many of those which we had marked. Gravely, in a body, we used to
march to the printing-office and threaten to send the guiltiest
culprits as prisoners to Simonstown, charged with being hostile to the
blessings of enlightened government. Then we would go to lunch and the
paper would come out--so full of mistakes that there was clearly
nothing to do but to allow the humour of the situation to have its
way, and to laugh until we almost cried at the extravagance of the
offences we were committing against journalism and "the art
preservative of arts."
Despite its whimsicalities, THE FRIEND was a dignified newspaper, and
very nearly a complete one. The largest daily circulation of any
Bloemfontein newspaper had been 400 copies, but we regularly sold from
5,000 to 5,500 copies. We published Reuter's telegrams from all over
the world (semi-occasionally when military messages did not block the
wires), and the _Capetown Argus's_ tidings of what went on in South
Africa.
As I have written elsewhere, "its unique origin and purpose, and its
eccentricities, combined to make it the basis of a collecting mania."
Copies with a mistake in a date line, corrected after one hundred
papers had been struck off, brought five shillings on the date of
issue, and ten shillings two days later, and the price had risen to a
guinea by the time the newspaper was turned over to the managers of
the _Johannesburg Star_ and _Capetown Argus_. This took place when it
was apparent to all of us that two or three of us were not in the
physical trim to serve THE FRIEND and our distant employers without
causing one or the other to suffer great neglect.
The competition for complete sets of the newspaper ran the price up
to L10, and this strife ran neck and neck with the rivalry to obtain
sets of Free State postage stamps made British by the letters V.R.I.
on an overline of printing. One of these stamps was quoted at L10
while the army lingered in Bloemfontein, but I have my own reason for
thinking that THE FRIEND will receive a higher valuation than any
"pink sixpenny stamp" or any set of stamps, for it fell to the lot of
that journal to emphasise the present power and usefulness of the
press as no other journal has ever done.
A single copy of this newspaper is reported to have fetched L25 at a
London charity bazaar.
* * * * *
Since the return to England of three of the editors we have decided to
perpetuate the little organisation in a fraternal "Order of
Friendlies," and Rudyard Kipling has designed a badge which Messrs.
Tiffany & Co., jewellers, of Regent Street, have most ably and
artistically executed in gold and enamel. Facsimiles of it adorn the
cover of this book. It is of the size of a two-guinea coin. On its
obverse side are the colours of the old Free State and Transvaal, upon
which is imposed the red cross of Saint George. In the ends of the
cross are the initials of the four editors in Greek capitals. Lord
Roberts's badge has his initials in the centre of the cross in green
under a golden coronet, and where the ring is, on top of our badges,
his has a green enamel shamrock leaf. On the reverse side are four
pens crossed and surrounded by a motto, "Inter Praelia Prelum," "In the
Midst of War the Printing Press," here couched in monkish Latin. Lord
Roberts's badge has a drawn sword of gold on top of the crossed pens.
Only seven men in all the world belong to this order: Lord Roberts,
Lord Stanley, Messrs. Gwynne, Kipling, Landon, Buxton, and myself. All
others are eligible, however, who have dedicated themselves to
"telling the truth at all costs and all hazards," so that the mind
fails to grasp the future possibilities of its membership.
THE END.
INDEX
Barnes, James--
Anecdotes by, 223
Edits the thirteenth No. of THE FRIEND, 221
Battersby, Prevost, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 132
Bloemfontein--
Concert in, 227
Cronje warned that we should march to, 2
Evening Concert in Aid of the Widow' and Orphans' Fund, 408
Fooled by the Boers in, 283
"Free State Hospital" and Staff, 207
Settles down under Lord Roberts' Rule, 115
State of the Army on arrival at, 1
The Boer women in, 350
The Club at, 48
War Trophy Mania in, 318
Women of, The, 353
Burleigh, Bennet, Experience of, 35
Buxton, F. W., Facts about, 10
Canadians on Majuba Day, Description of, 22
Christian, Pt. Ewan, Story of a Colonial Hero, 39
Colvile, Gen. Sir Henry, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 131
Conan Doyle, Dr. A.--
Arrival of in Bloemfontein, 305
Contributor to THE FRIEND, 312
Enteric and its Ravages in Bloemfontein, 275
Eyre, Fred, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 292
Faulkner, Chaplain T. E., Contributor to THE FRIEND, 295
Gatacre and Clements join hands, Account of how, 76
Guards, The, Splendid characteristics of, 249
Guthrie, M.P., Mr. Murray, And the soldiers' comforts, 346
Gwynne, Mr. H. A., Facts about, 9
Hospitals and supplies from civilians, 260
I (Julian Ralph)--
Get ill and dispirited, 362
Replenish the Mess, 184
Visit Miss Bloemfontein, 160
James, Mr. Lionel, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 132, 301
Jenkins, J. W., Reporter to THE FRIEND, 395
Kellner, Dr., Tribute to, 362
Kipling, Rudyard--
And myself lunch with Lord Roberts, 113
And the Tommies in hospital, 259
And Tommy's poetry, 83
As Associate Editor, 99
At work for THE FRIEND, 133
Birthday Greeting by, 226
Departure of from Bloemfontein, 258
Editorial on, 86
Enthusiasm of, 132
"Fables for the Staff" by, 134, 167, 211, 225, 242, 250
"General Joubert" by, 241
I toast, 205
"Kopje-Book Maxims" by, 168, 251
Pen portrait of, 113
"St. Patrick's Day" by, 31, 116
Sends his first contribution to THE FRIEND, 28
"Song of the White Men, A," by, 262
Landon, Perceval, Facts about, 9
Langman Hospital, The, Facts about, 306
Love Letter, to Miss Bloemfontein, 32
Lowther, Capt. Cecil, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 392
Menpes, Mortimer, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 381
Milner, Sir Alfred, Speech by, at our Dinner, 204
Newman, R.N., Lieut. E. J. K., Contributor to THE FRIEND, 141
Nicholson, K.C.B., Sir William, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 131
Order of the Friendlies, The, Seven members of, 414
Paterson, A. B., Contributor to THE FRIEND, 92, 309, 376
Poems--
"Advice to an Officer on going to the War," 180
"Ballade of Ten-a-Penny, A," 324
"Barrack-Room Ballads," 342
"Birthday Greeting, A," 226
"Commandeering," 134
"Driving the Ox," 210
"Empire's Defenders, The," 244
"Fed up," 92
"For Freedom's Cause," 267
"General Joubert," 241
"Grumbles from the Ranks," 246
"Moderate Drinker's Lament, The," 315
"My Comrades' Conversation," 389
"Old Friends," 347
"'Orse or Fut?" 328
"Poor Old Cronje," 271
"Prices in Bloemfontein," 252
"Quartermaster's Yarn, The," 141
"St. Patrick's Day," 31, 116
"Silent Army, The," 245
"Smart," 368
"Socialism in Verse," 366
"Soldiers of the Queen," 292
"Song of the White Men, A," 262
"Sons of Britain," 254
"That V.C.," 309
"The N.C.O.," 233
"The Weary Trek," 110
"To the Soldiers' Poet," 59
"United we Stand," 215
"Voices from over the Sea," 299
Pole-Carew, General--
Headquarters of, 248
In War, 248
Press Censors, Examples of, 4
Prince Francis of Teck, H.H.--
And the Artist, 101
Duties of, The, 100
Our guest at dinner, 319
Ralph, Lester, Ill with enteric, 207
Roberts, V.C., Field-Marshal Lord--
And THE FRIEND, 84
Communication to Kruger from, 387
Dines with the Staff of THE FRIEND, 202
I am introduced to, 114
Speech of, at our Dinner, 205
Telegram of sympathy on General Joubert's Death from, 240
Scott, H. Owen, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 357
Shelley, H. C., Contributor to THE FRIEND, 401
Simes, Tr. George, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 215, 267, 299
Smith-Dorrien, Maj.-Gen., Letter from, 37
Stanley, Lord--
Contributor to THE FRIEND, 269
Daily visits of, to THE FRIEND Office, 164
Office of, at Bloemfontein, 5
Tribute to, as Press Censor, 3
THE FRIEND, and its Contents--
"Absent-bodied Burgher, The," 376
Advertisement in, 14
"Advice to an Officer on going to the War," 180
All Ranks contribute to, 131
"Anecdotes," 8, 66, 380
"Another Letter Home," 392
"Army Orders," 15, 49, 50, 108, 295
"As to the Future," 222
"Australian Correspondent, The," 67
"Ballade of Ten-a-Penny, The" (Poem), 324
"Barrack-room Ballads" (Poem), 342
"Birthday Greeting, A" (Poem), 226
"Boer Plans and Views," 333
"Brave Canadian, A," 242
"Brave young Highlanders," 349
"British Leniency," 290
"Canadians on Majuba Day," 22
"Caught by the Boers," 278
Christening Competition in, 274
Circulation of, 413
"Colonel de Villebois-Mareuil," 322
"Colonial Hero, A," 39
"Commandeering" (Poem), 134
Concerning Acrostics, 188
"Confession of a Horse-stealer," 46, 53
"Corne Drift," 339
Correspondence, 37, 90, 111, 188, 406
"Death of General Joubert," 241
"Don't" (Advice to Looters), 197
"Dots or no Dots" (Stamps), 381
"Driving the Ox" (Poem), 210
Editorial Announcements in, 17
"Empire's Defenders, The" (Poem), 244
"Enteric Fever," 281
"Fables for the Staff," 134, 167, 211, 225, 242, 250
"Facts and Otherwise," 22, 120
"Fed up" (Poem), 92
"First Impression, A," 312
First Issue of, 14
"For Freedom's Cause" (Poem), 267
From Enslin to Bobsfontein, 153
Gatacre and Clements join Hands, 76
"General Joubert" (Poem), 241
"Gleanings from Great Minds," 391
"Grumbles from the Ranks" (Poem), 246
"G. W. Steevens," 155
"How the Calf was Avenged," 325
"Humorous Side of the Campaign Recorded," 20
"Hungry Bloemfontein," 395
"Is the Art of War Revolutionised?"--
Artillery, 172
Cavalry, 234
Infantry, 148
Its Infancy, 12
"Jokes to Burn," 294
"Karree Siding," 195
"Kopje-Book Maxims," 168, 251
"Lesson Learned, A," 269
"Love Letter to Miss Bloemfontein," 29, 32
"Military Law," 118
"Military Letter Writer, The," 212
"Miss Bloemfontein's Answer," 70
"Miss Uitlander replies to Miss Bloemfontein," 169
"Moderate Drinker's Lament, The" (Poem), 315
Money Profit on, handed over, 412
"My Comrades' Conversation" (Poem), 389
Names sent in for the New Colony, 330
"New Machine Gun, The," 179
Offices of, 12
Official Dinner at Government House, 129
"Old Friends" (Poem), 347
"Orange Peel," 255
"'Orse or Fut?" (Poem) 328
"Our Friend" no longer, 399
"Our Portrait Gallery," 370, 375, 392, 401
"Our Reply to Miss Bloemfontein," 74
Parodies, 65
Peculiarities of, 410
"Pont filled with Bullion," 218
"Poor Old Cronje" (Poem), 271
Price of, The, 85
"Prices in Bloemfontein" (Poem), 252
Printing Machines used for, 44
"Proclamations" in, 25, 45, 62, 107, 208, 272, 276, 291, 374
Queen's English and Dutch Compositors, 83
"Ration Scale," 394
"Realistic Comedy, A," 227
"Recent Engagements," 301
"Recent Experience of Mr. Bennet Burleigh," 35
Rights of Purchased for L200, 8
"Rudyard Kipling" (Welcome and Farewell to), 86, 263
"St. Patrick's Day" (Poem), 31, 116
Second Issue of, 28
"Second Relief of Kimberley," 142
"Serious Matter, A," 60
"Should Beards be worn in War?" 157
"Silent Army, The," 104, 245
"Sir Alfred Milner," 209
"Sir William Lockhart," 136
"Smart" (Poem), 368
"Socialism in Verse" (Poem), 366
"Society's Doings," 364
"Soldiers' Battles and Generals' Campaigns," 125
"Soldiers of the Queen" (Poem), 292
"Song of the White Men, A" (Poem), 262
"Sons of Britain" (Poem), 254
Strange Editorial Adventure, 42
"Sulk or Duty," 18
"Ten-a-Penny's," 216
"That V.C." (Poem), 309
"The Bravest Deed," 256
"The Down-trodden (?) Negro," 63
"The Great Ride," 94
"The late Colonel the Hon. G. Gough," 265
"The N.C.O." (Poem), 233
"The Quartermaster's Yarn," (Poem), 141
"The Russians Capture London!" 277
"The Soberest Army in the World," 88
"The Steynless City" (Loot News), 31
"The Weary Trek" (Poem), 110
"They Want More of Tommy," 343
"To the People of the Free State," 311
"To the Soldiers' Poet" (Poem), 59
"Tommy in a Lady's Eyes," 182
"Towards War," 189
"United we Stand" (Poem), 215
"Voices from over the Sea" (Poem), 299
We begin to feel at Home, 41
We Retire from, 398
Working Staff of, 12
"War Artist of To-day, The," 357, 379, 401
Thyme, Mark, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 315, 328, 342, 366, 368
"Tommy"--
As a Poet, 82
In Bloemfontein, 184
Tucker, Charles, Contributor to THE FRIEND, 59, 244
Villebois-Mareuil, Colonel de, Facts about his Death, 321
War Correspondents--
Battersby, Prevost, 132
Burleigh, Bennet, 35
Buxton, F. W., 6, 10
James, Lionel, 132, 301
Gwynne, H. A., 6, 9
Landon, Perceval, 6, 9
We Four--
Asked to undertake the bringing out of a Paper, 6
Grand Dinner-party given by, 202
Leave THE FRIEND to see a Fight, 221
Sent for by Lord Stanley, 3
Wilkinson, F., Contributor to THE FRIEND, 67
Wollen, R.I., Mr. W. B., Contributor to THE FRIEND, 379
_The Gresham Press_,
UNWIN BROTHERS,
WOKING AND LONDON.
_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 the Lion of Judah.
By HERBERT VIVIAN, Author of "Tunisia," "Servia." Demy 8vo. With 2
Maps and 80 Illustrations. Price 15s.
The Land of the Lion offers much that is of great interest
to the student of ethnology and geography. Mr. VIVIAN has
made a valuable addition to the library of travel. His
observations show a keen appreciation of surroundings,
whether social, religious, or political. His style is
bright, and holds the reader's interest to the last page.
=CYPRUS TO ZANZIBAR BY THE EGYPTIAN DELTA.=
The Adventures of a Journalist in the Isle of Love, the Home of
Miracles, and the Land of Cloves.
By EDWARD VIZETELLY. With many Illustrations. Demy 8vo. Price 15s.
Few have had better opportunities of studying the
vicissitudes through which the little island of Cyprus has
passed than Mr. VIZETELLY. From Cyprus he leads the reader
through the stirring times of the occupation of Egypt, and
thence to Zanzibar. He has clothed the dry bones of
political history with the living flesh of graphic
description and humorous incident.
=AT PRETORIA=
The Capture of the Boer Capitals, and the Hoisting of the Flag at
Pretoria. A Companion Volume to "Towards Pretoria."
By JULIAN RALPH, Author of "Towards Pretoria." Extra crown 8vo. Price
6s.
=A SACK OF SHAKINGS=: Essays from _The Spectator_, &c.
By FRANK T. BULLEN, Author of "The Cruise of the 'Cachalot,'" &c. &c.
Extra crown 8vo. Price 6s.
Mr. FRANK BULLEN has taken advantage to the full of the
opportunities which are granted only to those who go down to
the deep waters, and has embodied his experiences in a
collection of delightful essays. These show the writer to be
possessed of deep sympathies, quick perception, and vivid
power of narration. The style shows distinction of thought
and expression, and the book may be summed up as
"fascinating."
=THE SPANISH PEOPLE=
By MARTIN A. S. HUME, Author of "The Courtships of Queen Elizabeth,"
&c. Vol. I. THE GREAT PEOPLES SERIES. Edited by F. YORK POWELL, M.A.,
Regius Professor of Modern History in the University of Oxford. Crown
8vo. Price 6s.
=THE GAME OF BILLIARDS AND HOW TO PLAY IT=
By JOHN ROBERTS. With about 400 Diagrams, including complete sets of
some famous breaks. Demy 8vo. Price 6s.
The latest book on the game, and one for novice and skilled
player alike. Almost every imaginable stroke on the table is
explained in the clearest possible manner, and the
explanation is assisted by well-drawn diagrams.
=WAR'S BRIGHTER SIDE=
By JULIAN RALPH. Crown 8vo, cloth. Price 6s.
This consists of the History and Contents of the Unique
Newspaper published at Bloemfontein at the special request
of Lord ROBERTS, and during his occupation.
It contains many contributions by RUDYARD KIPLING, Dr. CONAN
DOYLE, Lord STANLEY, and many Officers and other eminent
men, and was edited by RUDYARD KIPLING, JULIAN RALPH
(Special War Correspondent to the _Daily Mail_), Mr. LANDON
(Special War Correspondent to _The Times_), Mr. GWYNNE
(Reuter's Special War Correspondent).
Most of RUDYARD KIPLING'S contributions to this paper are
now published in this country for the first time, and the
contents of the book make one of the most interesting and
entertaining books of the war.